promptcat

README

promptcat

promptcat turns a set of source or text files into one prompt-friendly document.

It is designed for the common workflow of collecting a focused slice of a repository and pasting it into ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot Chat, or another LLM without manually opening and copying files one by one.

<<<FILE: cmd/promptcat/promptcat.go>>>
package main
...
<<<END FILE>>>

Why promptcat

• Concatenate multiple files into one stable text stream
• Expand glob patterns inside the tool for predictable cross-shell behavior
• Filter inputs with --include, --exclude, and --ignore-dir
• Skip binary files automatically by extension and content detection
• Output relative paths by default or absolute paths with --fullpath

Installation

promptcat currently installs from source with Go.

Requirements:

• Go 1.26 or newer

Windows

PowerShell:

go install github.com/Vortex93/promptcat/cmd/promptcat@latest
promptcat --version

If promptcat is not found, add $(go env GOPATH)\bin to your PATH. The default location is usually %USERPROFILE%\go\bin.

Current terminal session:

$env:Path += ";$(go env GOPATH)\bin"

macOS

go install github.com/Vortex93/promptcat/cmd/promptcat@latest
promptcat --version

If promptcat is not found, add $(go env GOPATH)/bin to your PATH. The default location is usually ~/go/bin.

Current terminal session:

export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH"

Linux

go install github.com/Vortex93/promptcat/cmd/promptcat@latest
promptcat --version

If promptcat is not found, add $(go env GOPATH)/bin to your PATH. The default location is usually ~/go/bin.

Current terminal session:

export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH"

Build From a Clone

git clone https://github.com/Vortex93/promptcat.git
cd promptcat
go test ./...

Build the binary locally:

macOS and Linux:

go build -o promptcat ./cmd/promptcat

Windows:

go build -o promptcat.exe ./cmd/promptcat

Quick Start

Collect all Go files under cmd/:

promptcat "cmd/**/*.go"

Collect only Go and Markdown files while ignoring noisy directories:

promptcat --include=go,md --ignore-dir=.git,node_modules "**/*"

Include absolute paths in the output:

promptcat --fullpath README.md "cmd/**/*.go"

Write the result to a file you can paste elsewhere:

promptcat --include=go,md README.md "cmd/**/*.go" > prompt.txt

Usage

promptcat [options] <files...>

Inputs can be a mix of direct file paths and glob patterns. Directories passed directly are skipped.

Options

Option	Description
-h, --help	Show help output
-v, --version	Show version and build metadata
--fullpath	Output absolute paths instead of the provided relative paths
--include=go,md	Include only these extensions
--exclude=json,lock	Exclude these extensions
--ignore-dir=.git,node_modules	Skip files whose path contains any of these directory names

Notes:

• Extensions can be written with or without a leading dot
• --include, --exclude, and --ignore-dir accept comma-separated values
• Binary files are skipped automatically

Globs and Shells

Quote glob patterns so promptcat expands them itself instead of letting your shell do it first. That keeps behavior more consistent across Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell, and cmd.exe.

Recommended forms:

• macOS and Linux shells: promptcat "cmd/**/*.go"
• PowerShell: promptcat 'cmd/**/*.go'
• Windows Command Prompt: promptcat "cmd/**/*.go"

Prefer forward slashes in patterns even on Windows. Examples such as cmd/**/*.go work across platforms.

Supported pattern features:

• * matches within a single path segment
• ? matches a single character within a path segment
• ** matches across directories

Output Format

Each file is wrapped in markers:

<<<FILE: path/to/file>>>
<file contents>
<<<END FILE>>>

This makes the output easy to paste into prompts and easy for downstream tooling to split or parse again later.

Development

The repository includes a small Taskfile for local workflows.

task build
task test
task install

Direct Go commands work as well:

go build ./cmd/promptcat
go test ./...
go install ./cmd/promptcat

Continuous integration runs the build and test workflow on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Contributing

Guidelines live in CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.