Output Formats Guide¶

Flort provides multiple output formats to suit different use cases. This guide covers all available formats and when to use each one.

📊 Output Format Overview¶

Format	Description	Best For
Standard	Tree + File Contents	LLM context, full analysis
Tree Only	Directory structure only	Project overview, documentation
Outline	Python API signatures	API documentation, code review
Manifest	File listing with metadata	Inventory, file analysis
Archive	Compressed output	Sharing, storage

🌳 Standard Format (Default)¶

The default output includes directory tree and full file contents:

flort . --extensions py --output project.txt

Output Structure¶

## Florted: 2025-06-02 10:30:15
## Directory Tree
project/
├── main.py
├── src/
│   ├── utils.py
│   └── config.py
└── tests/
    └── test_main.py

## File Data
--- File: main.py
--- Characters: 1,234
--- Token Count: 256
def main():
    print("Hello, World!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

--- File: src/utils.py
--- Characters: 567
--- Token Count: 123
def helper_function():
    return "helper"

Use Cases¶

LLM context preparation - Complete code understanding
Code sharing - Full project in single file
Documentation - Comprehensive project view
Backup - Readable project snapshot

🌲 Tree-Only Format¶

Generate directory structure without file contents:

flort . --extensions py --no-dump --output structure.txt

Output¶

## Florted: 2025-06-02 10:30:15
## Directory Tree
project/
├── main.py
├── src/
│   ├── utils.py
│   ├── config.py
│   └── models/
│       ├── user.py
│       └── product.py
├── tests/
│   ├── test_main.py
│   └── test_utils.py
└── docs/
    └── README.md

Use Cases¶

Project structure documentation
Architecture overview
Directory planning
Quick project scan

🐍 Python Outline Format¶

Extract class and function signatures from Python files:

flort . --extensions py --outline --output api.txt

Output Structure¶

## Florted: 2025-06-02 10:30:15
## Directory Tree
[tree structure]

## Python Code Outline

### File: main.py

FUNCTION: main() -> None
  DOCSTRING:
    Main entry point for the application.

    Initializes the system and starts processing.

CLASS: Application
  DECORATORS: @dataclass
  DOCSTRING:
    Main application class handling core functionality.

  METHOD: __init__(self, config: Config)
    DOCSTRING:
      Initialize application with configuration.

  METHOD: run(self) -> bool
    DECORATORS: @retry(max_attempts=3)
    DOCSTRING:
      Run the main application loop.

      Returns:
        bool: True if successful, False otherwise.

### File: src/utils.py

FUNCTION: helper_function(data: str) -> dict
  DOCSTRING:
    Process input data and return structured result.

CLASS: DataProcessor
  METHOD: process(self, input_data: Any) -> ProcessedData

Use Cases¶

API documentation generation
Code review preparation
Architecture analysis
Interface documentation

Outline with File Contents¶

# Outline + full file contents
flort . --extensions py --outline --output complete_api.txt

Outline Only (No File Contents)¶

# Just the outline, no file contents
flort . --extensions py --outline --no-dump --output signatures_only.txt

📋 Manifest Format¶

Generate a file listing with metadata:

flort . --extensions py --manifest --output inventory.txt

Output Structure¶

## Florted: 2025-06-02 10:30:15
## File Manifest

  1. main.py (1,234 bytes)
  2. src/utils.py (2,345 bytes)
  3. src/config.py (567 bytes)
  4. src/models/user.py (3,456 bytes)
  5. tests/test_main.py (890 bytes)
  6. tests/test_utils.py (1,234 bytes) [BINARY]
  7. docs/README.md (2,345 bytes)

Total: 7 files, 12,071 bytes

Use Cases¶

File inventory
Size analysis
Preview before processing
Project statistics

🗜️ Archive Formats¶

Create compressed archives of your output:

ZIP Archive¶

flort . --extensions py --archive zip --output project.txt
# Creates: project.txt.zip

TAR.GZ Archive¶

flort . --extensions py --archive tar.gz --output project.txt
# Creates: project.txt.tar.gz

Use Cases¶

Sharing projects
Backup storage
Email attachments
Version snapshots

⚙️ Configuration Display¶

Show the exact settings used:

flort . --extensions py --show-config --output project.txt

Added Section¶

## Flort Configuration
Working Directory: /home/user/project
Output File: project.txt
Target Directories: .

### Inclusion Criteria:
- Extensions: py

### Exclusion Criteria:
- Patterns: *test*, *cache*
- Directories: __pycache__, venv

### Processing Options:
- Content cleaning: enabled
- Directory tree: enabled
- Python outline: disabled
- Maximum depth: unlimited

### Mode: Directory Scanning
Scanning directories with applied filters

---

📤 Output Destinations¶

File Output¶

# Specific file
flort . --extensions py --output my_project.txt

# Auto-generated name
flort . --extensions py
# Creates: {directory_name}.flort.txt

Console Output¶

# Print to stdout
flort . --extensions py --output stdio

# Pipe to other commands
flort . --extensions py --output stdio | grep "def "

Multiple Outputs¶

# Generate different formats
flort . --extensions py --outline --output api_docs.txt
flort . --extensions py --manifest --output file_list.txt
flort . --extensions py --no-tree --output code_only.txt

🎨 Customization Options¶

Content Processing¶

# Clean whitespace (default)
flort . --extensions py --clean-content

# Preserve original formatting
flort . --extensions py --no-clean

# Skip directory tree
flort . --extensions py --no-tree

Depth Control¶

# Limit directory depth in tree
flort . --extensions py --max-depth 2

Token Information¶

All formats include token counting:

## Concatenation Summary
Files processed: 15
Files skipped: 2
Total characters: 50,432
Total tokens: 12,108

Completed at: 2025-06-02 10:30:15

🔄 Format Combinations¶

Multiple Features¶

# Tree + Outline + Config
flort . --extensions py --outline --show-config --output complete.txt

# Manifest + Archive
flort . --all --manifest --archive zip --output inventory.txt

# Outline only + Archive
flort . --extensions py --outline --no-dump --archive tar.gz --output api.txt

Conditional Processing¶

# Large projects: manifest first
flort . --all --manifest --output preview.txt
# Review, then:
flort . --extensions py,md --outline --output final.txt

# Documentation: tree + specific files
flort . --extensions md --no-dump --include-files "README.md,CHANGELOG.md"

📊 Format Comparison¶

Feature	Standard	Tree Only	Outline	Manifest
File contents	✅	❌	✅	❌
Directory tree	✅	✅	✅	❌
Python signatures	❌	❌	✅	❌
File metadata	✅	❌	✅	✅
Size	Large	Small	Medium	Small
Processing time	Slow	Fast	Medium	Fast

🎯 Best Practices¶

Choose the Right Format¶

Exploring new codebase: Start with tree-only or manifest
LLM context: Use standard format with outline for Python projects
Documentation: Use outline-only for API docs, tree-only for structure
Sharing: Use archive format for easy distribution

Optimize for Use Case¶

# Quick project scan
flort . --all --manifest --max-depth 2

# LLM-ready Python context
flort . --extensions py,md --outline --exclude-patterns "*test*"

# Complete project backup
flort . --all --archive zip --exclude-patterns "*cache*,*build*"

# API documentation
flort . --extensions py --outline --no-dump --exclude-patterns "*test*"

Performance Considerations¶

Manifest format: Fastest, good for previews
Tree-only format: Fast, good for structure analysis
Standard format: Slowest, most complete
Archive creation: Adds processing time but saves space

Choose the right output format for your specific needs and optimize your Flort workflow! 📊

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