Feature Request: Add --include-from-file option

[jurnalanas]

Add support for reading include patterns from a file to improve usability when dealing with many specific files or complex patterns.

Problem

Currently, when using the --include option with many specific file paths, the command line becomes unwieldy and difficult to manage. For example:

repomix --include "file1.ts,file2.ts,file3.ts,file4.ts,file5.ts,..." # Very long command line

This becomes problematic when:

• Including many specific files (10+ files)
• Files have long paths
• You want to reuse the same set of files across multiple runs
• Working with version control where command history becomes messy
• Command line length limits are reached

Proposed Solution

Add a new option --include-from-file (or --include-file) that reads include patterns from a file, one per line.

Usage Example

# Create a file with patterns/files to include
echo "src/components/**/*.tsx
src/hooks/*.ts
src/lib/utils/dateUtils.ts
src/pages/dashboard/**/store.ts" > include-patterns.txt

# Use the file with repomix
repomix --include-from-file include-patterns.txt

File Format

• One pattern per line
• Empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored (comments)
• Both glob patterns and specific file paths are supported

Example include file:

# UI Components
src/components/molecules/**/*.tsx
src/components/ui/*.tsx

# Utility functions
src/lib/utils/common.ts
src/lib/utils/dateUtils.ts

# Dashboard hooks
src/lib/hooks/dashboard/*.ts

Benefits

1. Cleaner command line: Avoid extremely long command lines
2. Reusability: Save and reuse file lists across different runs
3. Version control friendly: Include patterns can be committed to the repository
4. Better organization: Group related files with comments
5. Easier maintenance: Modify file lists without retyping entire commands

Would love to see this feature added to make repomix even more flexible for complex project structures!

[yamadashy]

Hi, @jurnalanas !
Thank you for the suggestion!
I agree that allowing a list of patterns to be passed in would greatly improve usability.

I’m still weighing the exact flag name, but the feature itself looks excellent.
While names like --include-list or --file-include could work, I currently feel that --include-from-file is the best fit.