File Selection

Every file can be included in one of three modes, giving you fine-grained control over token usage.

Selection Modes

Mode	What's Included	Token Impact	Best For
Full	Complete file content	Highest	Files you're actively editing
Slices	Specific line ranges	Medium	Large files where only part matters
Codemap	Function/type signatures only	Lowest (~10x smaller)	Reference files, APIs, dependencies

Switching Modes

• Click a file to select it (Full mode by default)
• Right-click for mode options: show as Full or Codemap ("Show as API only")
• Files marked with + in the tree have codemaps available

Selected Files Panel

The selected files panel shows your current selection with token counts. Use the controls to manage your context:

• Sort: Order by Name (A-Z, Z-A) or Tokens (Low-High, High-Low)
• Gear menu: View Mode, Collapse All Folders, Clear All Line Slices, Clear File Selection
• Per-file actions: Right-click to switch modes or clear slices on individual files

Using Slices

Slices let you include only specific line ranges from a file. Slices are created through MCP-connected agents:

• Context Builder: Automatically creates slices when curating context—it reads files and extracts only the relevant sections to fit your token budget
• MCP Agents: Any agent connected via MCP can use the manage_selection tool to create slices with specific line ranges and descriptions

When a file has slices, you'll see the line range (e.g., "L1-107") and a scissors icon. You can clear slices via right-click or the gear menu's "Clear All Line Slices" option.

tip

Slice Power: Context Builder can turn a 2000-line file into a 50-line slice containing just the relevant function—massive token savings while preserving the context AI needs.

File Tree Options

The file tree helps AI understand your project structure and navigate relationships between files.

Option	What It Shows	Tokens
Auto	Balanced tree, trimmed if needed	Low-Medium
Full	Complete directory structure	Higher
Selected	Only selected files and parents	Lowest
None	No file tree	Zero

Files with available codemaps show a + marker in the tree. This helps AI know which files have structural information available.

File Filtering

RepoPrompt respects your .gitignore files automatically. If files are missing from the tree, they may be filtered out. Access filter settings via the filter icon in the file tree toolbar.

Filter options:

• Local ignore file: Create workspace-specific ignore patterns via the UI
• Global ignores: Set patterns that apply to all workspaces
• Negative patterns: Use ! prefix to counter gitignore patterns you need to override (e.g., !dist/important.js)

tip

Tip: If a file you need isn't showing up, check your gitignore patterns and use negative patterns to override them.

Git Integration

Include diffs of changed files in your prompt. Access git controls via the "Git" button in the bottom bar.

Git controls:

• Compare with: Select which branch or tag to diff against (HEAD, main, etc.)
• Include diff in prompt: None, Selected files only, or All changed files
• Pending changes: View all modified files with line counts (+/-)
• Select files: Check files to include their diffs in context

Both Compose and Chat have separate git settings. The Review and Diff Follow-up presets auto-configure this to include diffs for selected files.

tip

Tip: Use git diffs to give AI context about recent changes when debugging issues or continuing work on a feature.