r2md

A Rust-based command-line tool that scans a local repository, extracts just the code files (for ~20 popular languages), and produces a single Markdown file. It helps you ignore common dependency folders (e.g., node_modules, venv, target) and dotfiles while preserving the essential directory structure and file contents. Useful for quickly sharing or analyzing a project in a single file, or for feeding that file to Large Language Models (LLMs).

What Problem Does It Solve?

1. Single-File Snapshot: Gather all code (excluding dependencies) in one Markdown for easy review or sharing.
2. Automated Filtering: Respects .gitignore, common hidden folders, and typical dependency directories to avoid clutter.
3. Cross-Language Support: Recognizes ~20 popular programming languages (by file extension) and ignores the rest.
4. Convenient Output: Generate Markdown for easy reading, without manual or complicated steps.

How to Compile

1. Install Rust (with rustup) if you haven’t already:

   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

2. Clone or download this repository (or place the two main files, Cargo.toml and src/main.rs, in a new directory).
3. In that directory, run:

   cargo build --release

   This creates a release build in target/release/r2md (on macOS/Linux) or target\release\r2md.exe (on Windows).

How to Run

• Basic usage (scan the current directory, output to r2md_output.md):

  cargo run

  or, if you prefer the release binary:

  ./target/release/r2md

  (on Windows: .\target\release\r2md.exe).

• Specifying a repo path and custom output:

  ./r2md /path/to/your/repository -o myoutput.md

  This scans the specified directory, ignoring non-code files, and writes the result to myoutput.md.

• Include a PDF using the -p or --pdf flag:

  ./r2md . --pdf

  This generates both r2md_output.md and r2md_output.pdf.
  Or if you specify an output name, e.g. -o myexport.md, a myexport.pdf will also be produced.

Command-Line Arguments

Usage: r2md [PATH] [OPTIONS]

Arguments:
  [PATH]    Path to the repository (default: current directory)

Options:
  -o, --output <FILE>     Output Markdown file name (default: r2md_output.md)
  -p, --pdf               Also produce a PDF file (default: r2md_output.pdf if no output is specified)
  -h, --help              Print help information
  -V, --version           Print version information

How to Install System-Wide (macOS, Linux, Windows)

macOS/Linux

1. Build the release version:

   cargo build --release

2. Copy the binary (r2md) to a directory in your $PATH, for example:

   sudo cp target/release/r2md /usr/local/bin/

3. Now you can run:

   r2md --help

Windows

1. Build the release version:

   cargo build --release

2. You will get an executable at target\release\r2md.exe.
3. Copy or move this .exe to a folder in your PATH. For example:
   • Create a folder C:\bin if it doesn’t exist.
   • Copy:

     copy .\target\release\r2md.exe C:\bin\

   • Add C:\bin to your Windows system PATH if it isn’t there already.
4. You can now run:

   r2md --help

   from any folder.