Will Smidlein's Blog

LLM Trick: Improve Project Directory Structure With tree


❯ tree -I 'node_modules|dist' | llm "How can I improve this project \
structure to follow best practices in 2025? Be verbose but format \
your response so that each line is less than 80 characters. Use as \
many newlines as necessary."

Improving your project structure involves adhering to best practices for organization,
maintainability, scalability, and clarity. Below are recommendations to enhance your
existing structure in line with current trends and methodologies.

### 1. Directory Organization

#### **Logical Grouping**
- Ensure that files are organized based on their functionality or purpose.
- Keep components, layouts, and utilities grouped logically and consistently.

#### **Feature-based Structure**
- Consider organizing files based on features or modules.
- For example, group related pages, components, and styles together.

#### **Example Structure**
src
├── features
│   ├── blog
│   │   ├── components
│   │   ├── pages
│   │   ├── utils
│   │   └── styles
│   └── about
│       ├── components
│       ├── pages
│       └── styles

### 2. Dedicated Folder for Hooks and Contexts

- If using React, create a dedicated folder for hooks and context providers. This
  enhances maintainability and encourages reusability.

src
├── hooks
│   ├── useAuth.ts
│   └── useFetch.ts
└── contexts
    ├── AuthContext.tsx
    └── ThemeContext.tsx

### 3. Asset Management

#### **Centralized Assets Folder**
- Move all assets (images, videos, fonts) into a designated directory for clarity.

src
├── assets
│   ├── images
│   ├── videos
│   └── fonts

### 4. Naming Conventions

- Use consistent naming conventions for files and directories. Opt for lowercase
  with hyphens for filenames (e.g., `header.astro`, `post-list.astro`).

- Ensure that folder names clearly describe the contents or purpose (e.g., use
  `components` instead of `component`).

### 5. Documentation

- Update the `README.md` to contain information on project setup,
  contributing guidelines, and architecture overview.

- Consider adding a **Contributing** folder to document coding standards, PR
  guidelines, and issue templates.

### 6. Typescript Organization

- Organize TypeScript files into dedicated folders depending on whether they
  are types, interfaces, or enums, enhancing structure and discoverability.

src
├── types
│   ├── global.d.ts
│   └── post.ts
└── interfaces
    └── user.ts

### 7. Tests Directory

- If not already present, create a `tests` directory to contain all test-related
  files, enhancing testing organization.

tests
├── unit
└── integration

### 8. Configuration Management

- Keep configuration files (like `tsconfig.json`) in a clearly labeled folder,
  perhaps under a `config` directory.

### 9. Enhance Version Control

- Consider adding `.gitignore` and `.editorconfig` files if not present
  to manage ignored files and maintain coding styles.

### 10. Update `public` folder organization

- Consolidate assets in the `public` directory and structure them for easy access.

public
├── assets
│   ├── images
│   └── styles
└── favicon.ico

### Conclusion

By adopting these organizational strategies, your project structure will be more
robust, easier to navigate, and maintainable as it grows over time. Furthermore,
these best practices align with modern development trends, fostering a better
developer experience and improving collaboration within teams.