foldpak

A tiny CLI to package a folder into a zip archive with simple include, exclude, and .gitignore support.

Install

npm install -g foldpak

Or run directly with npx:

npx foldpak .

Usage

foldpak [source]

Options

• -o, --output <file> — Output zip file path
• --no-gitignore — Don't use .gitignore rules (by default, .gitignore is respected)
• --ignore-file <file> — Load ignore patterns from custom file (can be repeated)
• -i, --include <glob> — Include files matching glob (can be repeated)
• -e, --exclude <glob> — Exclude files matching glob (can be repeated)
• --verbose — Show detailed output

Examples

# Package current directory
foldpak .

# Package a specific directory
foldpak ./my-project

# Specify output file
foldpak . -o my-app.zip

# Ignore .gitignore rules
foldpak . --no-gitignore

# Include only specific files
foldpak . -i "src/**" -i "package.json"

# Exclude specific files (in addition to .gitignore)
foldpak . -e "dist/**" -e "node_modules/**"

# Combine options
foldpak . --include "dist/**" --exclude "**/*.map"

# Use custom ignore file
foldpak . --ignore-file .foldpakignore

# Use multiple ignore files
foldpak . --ignore-file .foldpakignore --ignore-file .dockerignore

Rule Summary

• Files are archived relative to the source root
• .gitignore rules are applied by default (use --no-gitignore to disable)
• --include narrows the file set to matching files
• --exclude removes matching files (always wins last)

Building

npm install
npm run build

The compiled CLI will be at dist/cli.js.

Testing

npm test

Roadmap

We are committed to making foldpak the most intuitive and versatile packaging tool for developers. Here are the features we are planning for future releases:

Archive Format Support

• Tar & Tar.GZ — Support for .tar and .tar.gz archives for Unix-friendly workflows
• 7-Zip — Support for .7z format with higher compression ratios
• Tar.ZST — Support for Zstandard-compressed tarballs for modern compression speeds

Enhanced Functionality

• Nested .gitignore Support — Respect .gitignore files recursively throughout the project tree
• Config File Support — Per-project configuration via .foldpakrc or foldpak.config.js
• Watch Mode — Auto-repackage on file changes during development

Developer Experience

• Dry Run Mode — Preview what would be packaged without creating the archive
• List Contents — View archive contents without extracting
• Strip Root Option — Option to include/exclude the root directory in the archive
• Progress Indicators — Visual feedback for large directories

Distribution & Integration

• Prebuilt Binaries — Standalone executables for major platforms (no Node.js required)
• GitHub Action — Official action for CI/CD workflows
• Checksum Generation — Automatic SHA256 checksums for integrity verification

Have a suggestion? Open an issue — we'd love to hear from you!