Skip to main content

Where does GhostMap store data?

Short answer: everything stays on your machine. GhostMap does not send anything to any server.

This page details what it stores, where it stores it, and how to wipe it if you want to start fresh.

The .ghostmap/ghostmap.json cache​

Location: inside each open workspace, at .ghostmap/ghostmap.json.

Contents: snapshots of the symbol and anchor trees for the files you have opened in that workspace. Each entry includes:

  • File URI
  • Language
  • Line and byte counts
  • SHA-256 fingerprint of the content (to detect changes)
  • Extracted symbol list (classes, functions, etc.)
  • Resolved hierarchy
  • Parsed @ghost anchor list
  • Capture timestamp

Maximum size: 2 MB per workspace. When the limit is hit, the oldest entries are removed first (FIFO by capturedAt).

Format: JSON with schemaVersion: 1.

VS Code settings​

ghostmap.* settings live where VS Code stores any setting:

  • User settings: %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json (Windows), ~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/settings.json (macOS), ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json (Linux).
  • Workspace settings: .vscode/settings.json inside the project.

GhostMap never writes settings automatically; you decide when to change one.

The extension itself​

VS Code installs extensions in:

  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.vscode\extensions\ghostmap.ghostmap-<version>
  • macOS / Linux: ~/.vscode/extensions/ghostmap.ghostmap-<version>

Inside the extension folder live the compiled code, the WASM grammars, and the snippets. GhostMap does not touch this folder at runtime except to read resources.

What GhostMap NEVER stores​

  • No local log outside the VS Code Output console (when you enable performanceLogging).
  • No telemetry.
  • No user, machine, or session identity.
  • No history of opened files outside the persistent snapshot for the active workspace.

Should I add it to .gitignore?​

Yes, to avoid polluting the repo with generated cache. Add to your .gitignore:

.ghostmap/

Reasons:

  1. The snapshot depends on the state of files on your disk. Every dev on the team would regenerate it with their own content.
  2. The SHA-256 fingerprint invalidates most of the cache when someone pulls, so checking it in does not speed anything up for the team.

Manual cleanup​

If you want to force GhostMap to recompute everything cached for a workspace:

# From the workspace root
rm -rf .ghostmap/
# PowerShell
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force .ghostmap\

GhostMap regenerates the snapshot the next time you open a file in that workspace. The first open of each file pays the full extraction cost; later opens are instant again.

Global cleanup (uninstall)​

If you want to remove GhostMap completely from the machine, see How to uninstall.

Last updated on