printtree prints a compact directory tree for R projects or any folder.
It can optionally detect project roots associated with common R workflows (e.g., RStudio projects via .Rproj files) and print the tree from the appropriate root directory. A snapshot of the tree directory can be generated using the snapshot feature.
The package is IDE-agnostic: if no project metadata is detected, it simply prints the directory tree for the specified folder.
Usage
library(printtree)
# Current working directory
print_rtree()
# Explicit path
print_rtree("~/Projects/myproj")
# Project name (searched in search_paths)
print_rtree("myproj", search_paths = c("~/Projects", "~/Documents"))
# Limit depth
print_rtree(max_depth = 2)
# Unicode tree (if your terminal supports it)
print_rtree(format = "unicode")
# Save a PNG snapshot
print_rtree(snapshot = TRUE)
# Dark background snapshot
print_rtree(snapshot = TRUE, snapshot_bg = "black", snapshot_file = "tree-dark.png")
#or White background with dark text
print_rtree(snapshot = TRUE, snapshot_bg = "white", snapshot_file = "tree-white.png")
# Save to a specific directory
print_rtree(snapshot = TRUE, snapshot_path = "~/Pictures")Project root detection
When project = “root”, printtree can walk upward from the given path to detect a project root using simple markers:
.Rproj files (RStudio / Posit projects)
DESCRIPTION files (R package roots)
This behavior can be customized using the root_markers argument.
# Detect R package root (DESCRIPTION)
print_rtree(project = "root")
# Include Quarto projects
print_rtree(project = "root",
root_markers = c(".Rproj", "DESCRIPTION", "_quarto.yml"))If no project root is detected, the tree is printed from the provided path.