Declutter your editor with a single click. Hide AI Files adds a button to the status bar (bottom-right) that instantly hides — or shows — all the AI-specific files and folders that modern tools sprinkle across a repository: .cursor, .claude, CLAUDE.md, Copilot instructions, .windsurf, .trellis, .roo, .codex, .gemini, AGENTS.md, mcp.json, and many more.

Usage

Click the $(eye) AI Files button in the status bar to hide all AI files.
The button flips to $(eye-closed) AI Files — click again to bring them back.
Or run Toggle AI Files Visibility, Hide AI Files, or Show AI Files from the Command Palette.

How it works

The extension toggles its list of glob patterns in and out of VS Code's files.exclude setting. Changes are written to your user (global) settings, so one click hides AI files in every project, and your repositories are never modified.

Only the configured patterns are ever added or removed — any other entries you already have in files.exclude are left untouched.

Customizing the hidden set

The full list lives in the hide-ai-files.patterns setting. Edit it to add tools or stop hiding something:

"hide-ai-files.patterns": [
  "**/.cursor",
  "**/.claude",
  "**/CLAUDE.md",
  "**/.trellis",
  "**/my-custom-ai-folder"
]

Patterns use the standard files.exclude glob syntax; the **/ prefix matches at any depth in the tree.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`hide-ai-files.patterns`	comprehensive list	Glob patterns the toggle controls.
`hide-ai-files.showStatusBarItem`	`true`	Show the toggle button in the status bar.
`hide-ai-files.showLabel`	`false`	Show the "AI Files" text label next to the icon. When off, only the icon is shown.