File Organizer

A Rust-based command-line tool that automatically organizes files into folders based on their extension, modification date, and custom recipes. Perfect for organizing photos, documents, downloads, and other files into a structured folder hierarchy.

Yes, the name is very uninspired...

Features

• 📁 Smart File Organization: Automatically sorts files based on file extensions and modification dates
• 📅 Date-based Folder Structure: Create year/month/day folder hierarchies using customizable date formats
• 🔄 Flexible File Operations: Move or copy files based on your preferences
• 📋 Recipe-based Configuration: Define multiple organization rules in JSON recipe files
• 🧪 Dry Run Mode: Test your organization rules before actually moving files

Usage

Basic Command Structure

file_organizer <RECIPES> [OPTIONS]

Arguments

• RECIPES - Required: Path to the JSON file containing organization recipes

Options

• --dry_run - Performs a dry run test (no files will be moved or copied)
• --iterative - Runs recipes iteratively over the files rather than in parallel (default behaviour). Slower, but treats the files in file name order. The recipes are still executed iteratively one after another.

Examples

Basic Usage

# Organize files using a recipe file
file_organizer recipes/photos.json

# Test your recipe without actually moving files, iteratively
file_organizer recipes/photos.json --dry_run --iterative

Recipe File Structure

The recipe file is a JSON array containing one or more organization recipes. Each recipe defines how files from a source folder should be organized into a destination folder.

Recipe Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
name	String	✅	Unique identifier for the recipe.
source_folder	String	✅	Path to the folder containing files to organize.
destination_folder	String	✅	Path to the folder where organized files will be placed.
subfolders	Array[String]	❌	Date format for each level of subfolders (e.g., "%Y" for year). If not set no folder will be created.
allowed_extensions	Array[String]	❌	List of file extensions to process (empty array = all extensions). If not set no folder will be created.
move_files	Boolean	❌	If true, files are moved; if false, files are copied (default: false, files are copied).
last_run	String	❌	Date of last execution (automatically managed) that allows resuming the organization from the last execution/the date set manually. If not set, all files are considered.
date_comparator	String	❌	Which date to use for file comparison: CreationDate or ModificationDate (default: ModificationDate).

Date Comparison and Format Patterns

The tool can use either the file's creation date or modification date for organization. This is controlled by the date_comparator field in your recipe:

• CreationDate - Uses the file's creation timestamp
• ModificationDate - Uses the file's last modification timestamp (default)

We ecommand using ModificationDate when the target files are backup file that may have been created way after the initial file. Use a dry run before any real copy/move to make sure the behaviour is the one expected.

Example Recipe File

[
	{
		"name": "Photo_Organization",
		"source_folder": "/Users/user/Downloads/Photos",
		"destination_folder": "/Users/user/Pictures/Organized",
		"subfolders": ["%Y"],
		"allowed_extensions": ["jpg", "jpeg", "png", "heic", "heif", "dng", "gif"],
		"move_files": false,
		"date_comparator": "CreationDate",
		"last_run": "2024-01-15"
	},
	{
		"name": "Document_Backup",
		"source_folder": "/Users/user/Documents/Inbox",
		"destination_folder": "/Users/user/Documents/Archive",
		"subfolders": ["%Y", "%m", "%d"],
		"allowed_extensions": ["pdf", "doc", "docx", "txt", "rtf"],
		"move_files": true,
		"last_run": "2024-01-15"
	},
	{
		"name": "Video_Collection",
		"source_folder": "/Volumes/External/Videos",
		"destination_folder": "/Users/user/Videos/Organized",
		"subfolders": ["%Y", "%Y-%m-%d - Videos"],
		"allowed_extensions": ["mp4", "avi", "mov", "mkv", "wmv"],
		"move_files": false,
		"last_run": "2024-01-15"
	}
]

Use Cases

• Photo Organization: Sort photos by year/month/day
• Document Management: Archive documents by creation date
• Download Cleanup: Organize downloads into structured folders
• Media Library: Sort videos, music, and other media files
• Backup Organization: Structure backup files chronologically

Dependencies

• anyhow - Error handling
• clap - Command-line argument parsing
• serde_json - JSON serialization/deserialization
• serde - Serialization framework
• log - Logging facade
• simple_logger - Simple logging implementation
• chrono - Date and time handling
• colored - Terminal color support
• rayon - Parallel iteration

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for bugs and feature requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.