print-code.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

#=============================================================================
# NAME
#   print-code
#
# DESCRIPTION
#   Outputs the contents of matching files in a directory or Git repository,
#   excluding ignored and binary files. Each file's content is wrapped with
#   separators and includes the filename as a header.
#
# USAGE
#   print-code [OPTIONS]
#
# OPTIONS
#   -i, --include <patterns>   Comma-separated glob patterns to include
#                              (defaults to '*').
#   -d, --directory <path>     Directory or Git repository path (defaults to
#                              current directory).
#   -e, --exclude <patterns>   Comma-separated glob patterns to exclude
#                              (defaults to none).
#   -h, --help                 Show this help message and exit.
#
# EXAMPLES
#   print-code -i "*.go,*.md" -d /path/to/repo -e "*.json"
#=============================================================================

usage() {
  cat <<EOF
Usage: $(basename "$0") [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -i, --include <patterns>   Comma-separated glob patterns to include (default "*")
  -d, --directory <path>     Directory or Git repository path (default current directory)
  -e, --exclude <patterns>   Comma-separated glob patterns to exclude (default none)
  -h, --help                 Show this help message and exit

Examples:
  $(basename "$0") -i "*.go,*.md" -d /path/to/repo -e "*.json"
EOF
}

# Default values
glob="*"
repo="$(pwd)"
exclude_glob=""

# Parse flags
while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
  case "$1" in
  -i | --include)
    glob="${2:-}"
    shift 2
    ;;
  -d | --directory)
    repo="${2:-}"
    shift 2
    ;;
  -e | --exclude)
    exclude_glob="${2:-}"
    shift 2
    ;;
  -h | --help)
    usage
    exit 0
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Error: Unknown option $1"
    usage
    exit 1
    ;;
  esac
done

# Validate directory
if [[ ! -d "$repo" ]]; then
  echo "Error: '$repo' is not a valid directory."
  exit 1
fi

# Navigate to the specified directory
pushd "$repo" >/dev/null || {
  echo "Error: Could not enter directory '$repo'."
  exit 1
}

# Split include globs
IFS=',' read -r -a globs <<<"$glob"

# Split exclude globs
IFS=',' read -r -a exclude_globs <<<"$exclude_glob"

if [[ -d ".git" ]]; then
  # Git repository handling
  git_args=()
  for g in "${globs[@]}"; do
    git_args+=("--" "$g")
  done

  # Gather files not ignored by git (cached & untracked)
  mapfile -t all_files < <(git ls-files --cached --others --exclude-standard -- "${git_args[@]}")

  # Exclude certain files if requested
  if [[ -n "$exclude_glob" ]]; then
    for excl in "${exclude_globs[@]}"; do
      # Convert simple '*' patterns into a grep-friendly pattern
      # (Not perfect for every case, but works for most typical use-cases)
      pattern="$(echo "$excl" | sed 's/\*/.*/g')"
      all_files=($(printf "%s\n" "${all_files[@]}" | grep -v -E "$pattern"))
    done
  fi

  # Check if any files matched
  if [[ ${#all_files[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "No files matched the patterns '$glob' excluding '$exclude_glob' in repository '$repo'."
    popd >/dev/null || exit
    exit 0
  fi

  # Filter out binary files using git grep
  mapfile -t text_files < <(git grep -Il . -- "${all_files[@]}")
else
  # Non-Git repository handling
  find_expr=""
  for ((i = 0; i < ${#globs[@]}; i++)); do
    find_expr+="-name \"${globs[i]}\""
    if [[ $i -lt $((${#globs[@]} - 1)) ]]; then
      find_expr+=" -o "
    fi
  done

  # Append exclude patterns
  for excl in "${exclude_globs[@]}"; do
    find_expr+=" ! -name \"$excl\""
  done

  # Perform the find command
  eval "mapfile -t all_files < <(find . -type f \( $find_expr \))"

  # Check if any files matched
  if [[ ${#all_files[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "No files matched the patterns '$glob' excluding '$exclude_glob' in directory '$repo'."
    popd >/dev/null || exit
    exit 0
  fi

  # Filter out binary files using the `file` command
  text_files=()
  for file in "${all_files[@]}"; do
    if file "$file" | grep -q "text"; then
      text_files+=("$file")
    fi
  done

  # Check if any text files matched
  if [[ ${#text_files[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "No text files matched the patterns '$glob' excluding '$exclude_glob' in directory '$repo'."
    popd >/dev/null || exit
    exit 0
  fi
fi

# Iterate through each text file and output its contents with headers
for file in "${text_files[@]}"; do
  echo "## $file"
  echo '```'
  cat "$file"
  echo '```'
  echo
done

# Return to the original directory
popd >/dev/null || exit

Usage

The most basic usage looks like the following:

$ ./print-code.sh

I just add the script to my $PATH so it can be invoked as simply copy-code.

When run from the root of a git repo, this will print all text files in the repo that aren't in .gitignore in a format like:

## package.json
```
{
  "name": "my-kewl-project",
  "description": "very kewl project",
  ...
}
```

## index.js
```
console.log("Hello World");
```

Basically, all of your repo's files get an H2 (##) heading with its contents surrounded by code fences.

On macOS, you can pipe the output of this to something like pbcopy:

$ print-code | pbcopy

You can also filter which files are included/excluded, as well as the directory the script should start from:

$ print-code -i "*.go,*.md" -d /path/to/repo -e "*.json"