meta-bonsai

meta-bonsai generates a pruned ASCII tree that highlights only developer-marked files and directories, keeping ancestor paths to preserve structure.

Features

• Generate a pruned ASCII tree that focuses on marked files and directories
• Preserve ancestor paths so the output stays navigable and keeps context
• Keep trees readable for sharing in docs, reviews, and discussions
• Respect .gitignore and extra ignore patterns to match real project workflows
• Provide both a CLI and a library API for scripting and integration

Installation

This package is intended to be used via npx meta-bonsai or as a library dependency in Node.js projects.

CLI

• Run in the current directory: npx meta-bonsai
• Run with a target path: npx meta-bonsai ./src
• Ignore paths (repeatable or comma-separated): --ignore dist --ignore node_modules,coverage

If no marked nodes are found, the CLI prints a friendly message and exits normally.

npx output example

When marked nodes exist, it prints a pruned ASCII tree:

project
├── src // core
│   └── main.ts // entry
└── README.md // docs

Marking Rules

• Directory: create __meta.json under the directory and set desc or name
• File: start the file with /** @meta Description */

Only .ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx, and .vue files are scanned for file-level marks.

Writing examples

__meta.json (directory)

Place it in the directory. Valid JSON; desc takes precedence over name:

{ "desc": "core business" }

Or use name only:

{ "name": "src" }

When both exist, desc is used: { "name": "src", "desc": "core business" } → displays "core business".

@meta comment (file)

Must be at the very beginning of the file (no characters, including newlines, before /**). Only .ts, .tsx, .js, .jsx, and .vue are scanned:

/** @meta page entry */

/** @meta entry */

If there is a newline or any content before the comment, it will not match.

Library API

Exports are available from the package root:

• scanAndPruneTree: scan a directory and return a pruned tree
• renderTree: render a pruned tree as ASCII
• createIgnoreMatcher: build an ignore matcher from .gitignore plus CLI patterns
• parseMetaComment: parse @meta from a file prefix
• parseMetaJson: parse __meta.json
• MetaNode, IgnoreMatcher: exported types

Code example

import { scanAndPruneTree, renderTree, createIgnoreMatcher } from "meta-bonsai";

// Basic usage: scan a directory and print
const tree = await scanAndPruneTree("./src");
if (tree) {
  console.log(renderTree(tree));
}

// With custom ignore rules (.gitignore + extra patterns)
const ignoreMatcher = await createIgnoreMatcher(".", ["dist", "coverage"]);
const tree2 = await scanAndPruneTree(".", { ignoreMatcher });
if (tree2) {
  console.log(renderTree(tree2));
}

Development

• Run tests: npm test
• Build: npm run build
• Typecheck: npm run typecheck

License

MIT