Folder Organizer

A lightweight desktop application that monitors user-configured folders and automatically organizes files based on composable rules.

Windows only — available as .msi and .exe (NSIS) installers.

Features

What it does

• Auto-move/delete files based on rules that can be set up in seconds!

• Right-click any folder in Explorer → Watch with Folder Organizer to start watching it in one click. You're asked once on first startup, and can toggle it anytime in Settings. (On Windows 11 the entry lives under Show more options.)

• Match testing Not sure if a file/folder name matches the condition? Easy way to confirm it!

• Log all changes done/will be done Logs stored in a local SQLite database. And you will be able to see all the files scheduled for moving/deletion.

• Full control of updates. You own your system, feel free to choose between silent auto-update, update with confirmation, and version freeze.

What it doesn't do

• Steal your data: All data is stored locally. The only time it needs internet access is checking for updates, and you can turn that off.
• Modify without logging: All file operations are logged.
• Affect whitelisted items: Files/folders on the whitelist are never modified by rules.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Desktop shell	Tauri v2
Backend	Rust
Frontend	React 19 + TypeScript
Styling	Tailwind CSS v4
Database	SQLite (via rusqlite)
File watching	notify + notify-debouncer-mini

Development

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain (stable)
• Node.js 18+
• npm

Commands

npm install              # Install frontend deps
npm run tauri dev        # Start dev mode (Vite + Rust, hot reload)
npm run tauri build      # Production build
cd src-tauri && cargo test  # Run Rust unit tests

First build takes several minutes to compile Rust dependencies. Subsequent builds are incremental (~5-10s).

Project Structure

src/                  # React frontend
  pages/              # Dashboard, Folders, Rules, Activity, DataExplorer, Settings
  components/         # Layout, Sidebar
  i18n/               # Translations (en, fr, zh)
  api.ts              # Typed wrappers for Tauri IPC calls
  types.ts            # TypeScript mirrors of Rust types
src-tauri/src/        # Rust backend
  config.rs           # App config types, load/save JSON
  condition.rs        # Condition parser, evaluator, tests
  context_menu.rs     # Explorer right-click menu registration (HKCU)
  rules.rs            # Rule engine: evaluate + execute
  watcher.rs          # File system watcher (notify)
  scheduler.rs        # Periodic cleanup, deletion processing
  db/                 # SQLite database module
  commands/           # Tauri IPC command handlers
  lib.rs              # App entry point
claudeDoc/            # LLM context docs (architecture, progress, TODO)

Data Storage

All data is stored locally in %APPDATA%/folder-organizer/:

File	Contents
config.json	Watched folders, rules, app settings
data.db	Activity log, file index, undo history, scheduled deletions
trash_staging/	Safe-deleted files (recoverable for 7 days)

License

MIT