File and Directory Renaming

In addition to replacing text within files, Renamify can rename files and directories that match your pattern.

What Gets Renamed

Files

Any file whose name contains your search pattern will be renamed:

• getUserName.js → fetchUserProfile.js
• get_user_name.py → fetch_user_profile.py
• GetUserName.tsx → FetchUserProfile.tsx

Directories

Directory names are also transformed:

• user-name/ → user-profile/
• getUserName/ → fetchUserProfile/

Rename Order

Renamify renames in dependency order:

1. Files first
2. Then directories, deepest first This prevents conflicts and ensures all operations succeed.

Root Directory Renaming

NEW: Renamify can now rename the project root directory itself when the directory name matches your pattern.

Safety First

• Default behavior: Root directory renaming is disabled for safety
• Enable with --rename-root: Explicitly allow root directory renaming
• Manual confirmation: Always requires interactive confirmation
• Next steps snippet: Provides instructions for rebuilding/reloading after root rename

Example

# This will offer to rename the project directory itself
cd /path/to/renamify-project
renamify rename renamify renamed_renaming_tool --rename-root

Renamify will show a “Next Steps” snippet like:

Next Steps:
1. cd ../renamed-renaming-tool-project
2. cargo build --release  # if Rust project
3. Update any IDE project settings

Safety Considerations

• Always commit changes before root directory rename
• Update build scripts, IDE settings, and documentation paths
• Consider impact on CI/CD pipelines that reference the directory name

Controlling Rename Behavior

Disable File Renaming

renamify rename old_name new_name --no-rename-files

Disable Directory Renaming

renamify rename old_name new_name --no-rename-dirs

Prevent Root Directory Renaming

renamify rename old_name new_name --no-rename-root

Examples

Basic File Renaming

renamify rename getUserName fetchUserProfile

Might show:

Files to rename: 3
┌─────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Current Path                        │ New Path                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ src/getUserName.js                  │ src/fetchUserProfile.js             │
│ components/GetUserName.tsx          │ components/FetchUserProfile.tsx     │
│ tests/get_user_name.test.py         │ tests/fetch_user_profile.test.py    │
└─────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────┘

Project-Wide Rename

renamify rename myproject awesome_project --rename-root

This could rename:

• The root directory: myproject/ → awesome_project/
• Files: myproject.config.js → awesome_project.config.js
• Directories: src/myproject/ → src/awesome_project/
• Content references within files

Conflict Detection

Renamify detects several types of renaming conflicts:

Multiple-to-One Conflicts

When multiple files would be renamed to the same destination:

❌ Error: Multiple files would be renamed to 'utils.js':
  - old_utils.js
  - oldUtils.js

Case-Insensitive Filesystem Conflicts

On macOS and Windows (case-insensitive filesystems):

⚠️  Warning: Renaming 'OldName.js' to 'oldName.js' requires special handling

Renamify uses two-step renames for case-only changes:

1. OldName.js → temp_12345.js
2. temp_12345.js → oldName.js

Windows Reserved Names

Prevents creating files with Windows reserved names:

❌ Error: Cannot create file 'CON.js' (Windows reserved name)

Platform Compatibility

Unix Systems (Linux, macOS)

• Handles case-sensitive and case-insensitive filesystems
• Supports long file paths
• Preserves file permissions

Windows

• Handles path length limitations (260 chars)
• Prevents reserved filenames (CON, PRN, AUX, etc.)
• Supports both forward and backward slashes

Symbolic Links

• Symlink files can be renamed if their names match
• Symlink targets are never modified
• By default, symlinks are not followed during traversal