Name: 'dossier'
Author: 'karanjaswal-dev'

A Notion-like block editor inside VS Code. Create rich pages with structured blocks, link them in a nested hierarchy, and export to markdown — all without leaving your IDE.

Features

Block Editor

15 block types — paragraph, headings (H1-H3), bullet list, numbered list, to-do, code (syntax highlighted), callout, toggle, table, divider, image, page link, mermaid diagram
Slash commands — type / to insert any block type with filtering
Inline formatting — bold, italic, code, strikethrough, links
Markdown paste — paste markdown text and it auto-converts to proper blocks
Copy as markdown — copied blocks produce clean markdown in external apps

Page hierarchy — nest pages as children, navigate via sidebar tree or breadcrumbs
Page linking — @ or [[ triggers insert inline link chips or full-width cards
Drag-and-drop — rearrange pages in the sidebar (with circular reference prevention)
Back/forward — Alt+Left / Alt+Right navigation history
Search — full-text search across all pages with highlighted results

Data Management

Version history — automatic snapshots with restore via QuickPick
Trash — soft delete with 30-day retention, restore or permanent delete
Image handling — paste or drop images, drag-to-resize
Templates — save pages as templates, create new pages from them
Markdown export — single page or bulk export preserving directory hierarchy
Auto markdown sync — optionally mirror pages as .md files on every save
Atomic writes — crash-safe saves via tmp+rename
Read-only protection — .dossier files are marked read-only at the OS level to prevent manual edits

Developer Experience

Theme-aware — adapts to VS Code light, dark, and high-contrast themes
Workspace or global storage — store pages per-project (.dossier/) or globally
Git-friendly — each page is a separate JSON file; .gitignore suggestions included

Getting Started

Prerequisites

VS Code v1.85+
Node.js v18+

Install & Run

git clone https://github.com/karan62kj/dossier.git
cd dossier
npm install

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Commands

Command	Description
`Dossier: Init Workspace`	Set up `.dossier/` folder
`Dossier: Create Page`	Create a new page
`Dossier: Create Child Page`	Nest a page under another
`Dossier: Rename Page`	Rename an existing page
`Dossier: Delete Page`	Soft-delete a page
`Dossier: Search Pages`	Full-text search across pages
`Dossier: Export Page as Markdown`	Export single page to `.md`
`Dossier: Export All Pages as Markdown`	Bulk export preserving hierarchy
`Dossier: Restore from History`	Restore a previous version
`Dossier: Save as Template`	Save page as reusable template
`Dossier: New Page from Template`	Create page from a template
`Dossier: Insert Link`	Insert/edit a hyperlink

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl/Cmd+B`	Bold
`Ctrl/Cmd+I`	Italic
`Ctrl/Cmd+E`	Inline code
`Ctrl/Cmd+K`	Insert link
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+S`	Strikethrough
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+1-3`	Heading 1-3
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+4`	Toggle to-do
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+5`	Toggle bullet list
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+6`	Toggle numbered list
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+7`	Toggle code block
`Ctrl/Cmd+D`	Duplicate block
`Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Delete`	Delete block
`Alt+Left/Right`	Back/forward navigation
`/`	Open slash command menu
`@` or `[[`	Open page link picker

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`dossierEditor.storageMode`	`workspace`	`workspace` stores in `.dossier/` inside the workspace; `global` uses VS Code's global storage
`dossierEditor.autoExportMarkdown`	`false`	Auto-export pages to `.dossier/md/` as markdown on every save

Architecture

Two isolated runtimes communicating via postMessage:

Host (Node.js)                    Webview (Browser)
├── extension.ts                  ├── main.tsx
├── providers/                    ├── App.tsx
│   ├── DossierEditorProvider.ts    ├── Editor.tsx
│   ├── PageTreeProvider.ts       ├── components/
│   ├── TrashTreeProvider.ts      ├── extensions/
│   └── SearchViewProvider.ts     ├── utils/
├── services/                     │   ├── serialization.ts
│   ├── StorageService.ts         │   ├── markdownParser.ts
│   ├── SearchService.ts          │   └── markdownSerializer.ts
│   ├── HistoryService.ts         └── styles/
│   ├── TemplateService.ts
│   ├── MarkdownExporter.ts
│   └── NavigationService.ts
└── models/ (shared types)
    ├── types.ts
    └── messages.ts

Storage Layout

.dossier/
├── index.json           # Page manifest
├── pages/               # One JSON file per page
├── assets/              # Pasted/dropped images
├── history/             # Version snapshots
├── trash/               # Soft-deleted pages
├── templates/           # Saved page templates
└── md/                  # Auto-exported markdown (if enabled)

Build Scripts

npm run build          # Production build (host + webview)
npm run watch          # Dev mode — watches both pipelines
npm run build:host     # esbuild → dist/extension.js
npm run build:webview  # Vite → dist/webview/

License

MIT

dossier