Project Dashboard

A local dashboard to manage and navigate your development projects. Scan your projects folder, track what you're working on, and quickly open projects in VS Code, Explorer, or Terminal.

Available as both a web app and a standalone Electron desktop app.

Features

• Project Scanner - Automatically detects projects and their tech stack (Next.js, React, Vue, Python, etc.)
• Git Status - See last commit date and uncommitted changes at a glance
• Focus Projects - Pin important projects to the top
• Favorites - Mark projects you access frequently
• Quick Actions - Open any project in VS Code, File Explorer, or Terminal with one click
• Archive - Move stale projects to an archive folder
• Category Organization - Organize projects into customizable category folders
• Fast Loading - Cached data for instant load, background refresh for accuracy
• Desktop App - Run as a standalone Electron app with native folder picker

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Windows (Terminal integration uses Windows Terminal)
• VS Code (with code command in PATH)

Installation

1. Clone or download this repository to your preferred location:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/project-dashboard.git
   cd project-dashboard

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

4. Open your browser to http://localhost:3000

Running as Desktop App (Electron)

npm run electron:start

This starts both the Next.js dev server and Electron app together. The desktop app provides native features like a folder picker dialog for selecting your projects directory.

5. Configure your settings:
   • Click "Settings" in the top right
   • Set your Projects Root Directory (e.g., C:/Users/YourName/Projects)
   • Customize your Category Folders (subfolders in your root directory)
   • Customize your Ignored Folders (folder names to skip when scanning)

Project Structure

Your projects folder should be organized like this:

Your-Projects-Folder/
├── Category1/          # e.g., Finance, WebApps, etc.
│   ├── project-a/
│   └── project-b/
├── Category2/          # e.g., DevTools, Templates, etc.
│   ├── project-c/
│   └── project-d/
├── _Archive/           # Archived projects go here
│   └── old-project/
└── _Misc/              # Uncategorized projects

Usage

Viewing Projects

• All projects are displayed in a sortable table
• Click column headers to sort by name, category, last commit, or size
• Use the search box to filter by project name
• Filter by category using the dropdown
• Check "Stale only" to see projects with no commits in 90+ days

Managing Projects

• Star (★) - Mark as favorite (sorts to top)
• Target (◎) - Mark as focus project (appears in Focus section)
• Code - Open in VS Code
• Folder - Open in File Explorer
• Terminal - Open Windows Terminal at project path
• Archive - Move project to _Archive folder

Focus Projects

Projects marked as "Focus" appear in a highlighted section at the top of the dashboard. Click any focus card to open it directly in VS Code.

Configuration

Settings are stored in data/settings.json:

{
  "rootPath": "C:/Users/YourName/Projects",
  "ignoredFolders": [
    "node_modules",
    ".git",
    ".next",
    "dist"
  ],
  "editor": "vscode",
  "defaultAction": "editor"
}

Settings:

• rootPath - Your projects root directory
• ignoredFolders - Folder names to skip (also used to hide categories)
• editor - Your code editor: vscode or cursor
• defaultAction - What happens when clicking focus cards: editor, explorer, or terminal

Note: Categories are auto-detected from folders in your root directory. Use the Settings page to hide categories you don't want to see.

Tech Stack

• Next.js 16 - React framework with App Router
• React 19 - UI library
• TypeScript - Type safety
• CSS Modules - Scoped styling (no Tailwind)
• Electron 34 - Desktop app wrapper with native features
• Local JSON - Simple file-based persistence

Development

# Start Next.js dev server
npm run dev

# Start Electron desktop app (starts Next.js + Electron together)
npm run electron:start

# Start Electron in dev mode (requires Next.js running separately)
npm run electron:dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Start production server
npm start

# Run Electron (production mode)
npm run electron

Notes

• Ignored folders (like node_modules, .git) are configurable in Settings
• Git operations have a 5-second timeout to prevent hanging on large repos
• Directory sizes are estimated from top-level files only (for speed)
• Cache expires after 5 minutes; click "Refresh" to force a fresh scan

License

MIT