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Usage

Quick Start

# Generate context for current directory
pctx

# Copy to clipboard
pctx --clipboard

# Write to file
pctx --output context.md

# JSON output for scripts
pctx --json

# Filter specific files
pctx --include "*.rs" --include "*.toml"
pctx --exclude "*.test.ts" --exclude "__tests__"

# Pipe file list from other tools
find . -name "*.rs" -mtime -7 | pctx --stdin
pctx files list --quiet | grep -v test | pctx --stdin

# Preview without generating
pctx --dry-run

# Include file tree in output
pctx --tree

# Disable truncation for full file contents
pctx --no-truncation

Basic Commands

# Default: generate context from current directory
pctx [OPTIONS] [PATHS...]

# List files that would be included
pctx files list [OPTIONS]

# Show file tree structure
pctx files tree [OPTIONS]

# Configuration management
pctx config show      # Show current config
pctx config init      # Create .pctx.toml
pctx config defaults  # List default excludes

# Generate shell completions
pctx completions bash
pctx completions zsh
pctx completions fish

Output Options

FlagDescription
--clipboard, -cCopy output to system clipboard
--output FILE, -oWrite to file (use --force to overwrite)
--format, -fOutput format: markdown, xml, plain
--tree, -tInclude file tree at beginning of output
--stats, -sShow statistics summary
--jsonStructured JSON output (for scripts)
--stdinRead file paths from stdin (one per line)

Filtering Options

FlagDescription
--exclude PATTERN, -eExclude files matching pattern (repeatable)
--include PATTERN, -iInclude only files matching pattern (repeatable)
--hiddenInclude hidden files (starting with .)
--no-default-excludesDisable built-in exclusions
--no-gitignoreIgnore .gitignore rules
--max-size KBMaximum file size in KB (default: 1024)
--max-depth N, -dLimit directory recursion depth

Truncation Options

FlagDescription
--no-truncationDisable all truncation
--max-lines NMax lines per file before truncating (default: 500, 0 = unlimited)
--head-lines NLines to keep at file start (default: 20)
--tail-lines NLines to keep at file end (default: 10)
--max-line-length NMax chars per line (default: 500, 0 = unlimited)
--head-chars NChars to keep at line start (default: 200)
--tail-chars NChars to keep at line end (default: 100)

Stdin Mode

The --stdin flag allows reading file paths from standard input, enabling powerful integrations:

# Process only recently modified Rust files
find . -name "*.rs" -mtime -1 | pctx --stdin

# Process files from a list
cat files_to_review.txt | pctx --stdin

# Chain with pctx's own file listing
pctx files list --quiet | grep -v _test | pctx --stdin

# Use with git to process only changed files
git diff --name-only HEAD~5 | pctx --stdin

# Process files matching complex criteria
fd -e rs -e toml --changed-within 2weeks | pctx --stdin

When using --stdin:

  • Empty lines and whitespace-only lines are ignored
  • Non-existent files are skipped with a warning (in verbose mode)
  • Directories in the input are expanded recursively