The latest articles on DEV Community by Frederik Hudák (@frehu). https://dev.to/frehu https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3785090%2Ff46c58b5-5f1f-4211-b960-7c136d4d6f0a.jpeg https://dev.to/frehu en Frederik Hudák Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:30:53 +0000 https://dev.to/frehu/fresh-file-explorer-vscode-extension-for-navigating-recent-changes-13c1 https://dev.to/frehu/fresh-file-explorer-vscode-extension-for-navigating-recent-changes-13c1 <p>Do you have a large codebase where 98% of the files are not relevant at any given moment, but you have to scroll past them?</p> <p>Maybe you use the SCM view to keep track, but after you make a commit, your context disappears?</p> <p>That's my motivation behind making <strong>Fresh File Explorer</strong> — a VS Code extension that shows you a mix of your pending changes and recent history (x days ago, up to you), the way you'd see it in the file explorer.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fq0qhy3a4ej8cug5npfy0.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fq0qhy3a4ej8cug5npfy0.png" alt="main view" width="658" height="797"></a></p> <p>A few highlights:</p> <p><strong>Multi-repo support.</strong></p> <p><strong>Deleted files stay visible.</strong> You don't have to go through git history to find them again. Right-click → <em>Resurrect</em> to restore them in one step.</p> <p><strong>Search tools.</strong> Search scoped to only your fresh files. For not-so-fresh changes, there's Diff search (pickaxe), line/function history (<code>git log -L</code>), file history, and also searching inside search results.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F8a8qrpenw59igdzktba6.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F8a8qrpenw59igdzktba6.png" alt="diff search" width="665" height="1320"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F1fxdr4kund4p1pzw8ie5.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F1fxdr4kund4p1pzw8ie5.png" alt="file history" width="800" height="393"></a></p> <p><strong>Pinned section.</strong> Keep any file handy regardless of the time window. Readme on your desktop, a deleted file, or add short notes.</p> <p><strong>Grouping modes.</strong> Beyond the standard folder structure, you can group by author, commit, or moon phase.</p> <p><strong>Heatmap.</strong> Colorize files based on how recently they changed. This is not specific to the Fresh Files view and also works in the file explorer.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Flt4tck1mlqzy418q53f2.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Flt4tck1mlqzy418q53f2.png" alt="heatmap" width="660" height="983"></a></p> <p>The extension currently has more features than users, so I'd appreciate your feedback.</p> <p><a href="https://github.com/FreHu/vscode-fresh-file-explorer" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub</a> | <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=frehu.fresh-file-explorer" rel="noopener noreferrer">VS Code Marketplace</a> | <a href="https://open-vsx.org/extension/frehu/fresh-file-explorer" rel="noopener noreferrer">OpenVSX</a></p> vscode productivity git opensource