My 3D File Explorer

I wanted to build a 3D visualization of my knowledge system, but ended up with something more useful: a local 3D file explorer that handles real Markdown files, with editing, conflict checks, backups, and a handoff to Obsidian.

I tried building a 3D view of my knowledge system first, then realized I liked it much more as a file explorer than the built-in file explorer. Replacing the synthetic stars with real local files changed what the project was for, and it became useful before the larger visualization idea was finished.

My first version emphasized the visualization. Files appeared in a full-screen local universe, with a translucent drawer for navigating the underlying collection. Once the objects represented actual files, the interface stopped feeling like a demonstration. I could select a Markdown file, preview it, and move between the visual space and a conventional list without pretending the visualization could replace every normal file operation.

Editing made the change more substantial. The reported implementation added Markdown editing with conflict checks so it wouldn't silently overwrite a file that had changed elsewhere. It also created recovery backups and could hand a note off to Obsidian. Those details matter more to me than another visual effect because they determine whether I can trust the explorer with real material. I configured it to start alongside Obsidian, though I haven't tested that through a reboot yet.

I then pushed the idea further and planned repository browsing: moving from files into functions and references, revealing more detail as I zoomed in, and opening either a repository or workspace in VS Code. The idea was for suns to represent files, with planets around each sun standing in for the parameters, objects, and functions inside it. That extension got interrupted, so I don't have a working version of it yet.

The current result is narrower and, honestly, clearer: a local 3D file explorer with real files, Markdown previews, guarded editing, backups, and an Obsidian handoff. In all honesty, this has no real value except that it's fun, and that's the reason I learned to be a programmer in the first place: because it was fun.