NOTE: This is alpha-quality software! It may delete and/or corrupt your files at some point and cause other losses, non-intentionally though. Also your sense of aesthetics may be hurt. Use at your own risk and expense. I'm always happy to make it better if you tell me what should be changed, or you can post a PR in the spirit of OSS.
We all sometimes file, and here is a double-panel file commander. It's been created because I couldn't use what I wanted to due to legal regulations, and what I could use looked bad, didn't have the true rough spirit of a double-panel file commander. So rock ur files, folks :)
This is built in Rust on the TUI framework derived from Microsoft Edit. It is an immediate mode TUI, very small and just enough.
Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. You can download the latest pre-release 0.0.8.
If you are a developer, here are the gory details and notes on builds/releases.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Up / Down | Move cursor |
| Page Up / Page Down | Scroll by page |
| Home / End | Jump to first / last entry |
| Enter | Enter directory or open file |
| Tab | Switch active panel |
| Backspace | Go to parent directory |
| Alt+letters | Quick search: jump to file by name prefix |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F4 | Rename |
| F5 | Copy |
| F6 | Move |
| F7 | Make directory |
| F8 / Delete | Delete |
| Ctrl+G | Change root / drive |
| Ctrl+D | Directory history |
| Ctrl+E | Command history |
| Ctrl+R | Refresh both panels |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Ins / Ctrl+Space | Toggle selection and move down |
| + | Select group (glob pattern) |
| - | Deselect group (glob pattern) |
| * | Invert selection |
| Ctrl+A | Select all |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F3 / Ctrl+Q | Toggle quick view panel |
| Ctrl+H | Toggle hidden files |
| Ctrl+F3 | Sort by name |
| Ctrl+F4 | Sort by extension |
| Ctrl+F5 | Sort by date |
| Ctrl+F6 | Sort by size |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| F1 | Help screen |
| F2 | Save settings |
| F9 | Focus menubar |
| F10 | Quit (with confirmation) |
| Ctrl+O | Show the user screen (the output of previously run commands); Ctrl+O or Esc returns |
| Any letter | Activate command line |
On macOS, F-keys are mapped to system functions by default (brightness, Mission Control, media, volume). These Ctrl shortcuts work without Fn:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+S | Save settings (F2) |
| Ctrl+Q | Toggle quick view (F3) |
| Ctrl+P | Rename (F4) |
| Ctrl+C | Copy (F5) |
| Ctrl+K | Move (F6) |
| Ctrl+N | Make directory (F7) |
| Ctrl+X | Delete (F8) |
| Ctrl+W | Quit (F10) |
Type any text to activate the command line at the bottom of the screen. Commands run in the active panel's directory.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Execute command |
| Escape | Cancel |
| Backspace | Delete character |
Commands run in the foreground with the terminal handed back to them, so
interactive programs (a shell, python, vim, less) work normally. The
panel display is restored when the command exits; press Enter at the prompt to
return. Press Ctrl+O at any time to peek at that output again.
The change-root dialog (Ctrl+G) lists the hosts from ~/.ssh/config as
ssh://host roots next to the local drives. Panels can also be pointed at any
ssh://[user@]host[:port]/path with the cd command. Remote directories
browse, sort, quick-view, copy, move, rename, and delete like local ones;
copies stream between hosts through ruf4 with byte progress. Enter on a remote
file downloads it to a temporary directory and opens it; the command line runs
commands on the remote host in the panel's directory over ssh -t.
Transport is the OpenSSH client: ruf4 spawns ssh -s <host> sftp and speaks
SFTP over it, so keys, agents, jump hosts, and everything else in
~/.ssh/config behave exactly like plain ssh. On the first use of a host a
connection master is opened with the panels hidden so host-key and password
prompts work; subsequent channels multiplex over its socket. Set
RUF4_SSH_CONFIG to point ssh at an alternative client configuration file.
On Windows, where OpenSSH lacks multiplexing, authentication must be
non-interactive (keys or an agent).
cd smb://[user@]host/share/path opens an SMB share using the operating
system's native client, so after navigation the panel works on an ordinary
local directory:
- Windows: the URL is rewritten to a UNC path (
\\host\share\path); UNC paths can also be entered directly. - macOS: the share is mounted with
mount_smbfsunder~/.ruf4/mnt, prompting for the password with the panels hidden. Unmounted shares remount automatically when revisited through the directory history. - Linux: the share is mounted in user space with
gio mount(GVFS, present on desktop distributions) and appears under the session'sgvfsdirectory.
Mounted shares are listed in the change-root dialog (Ctrl+G) next to the
local drives. Shares stay mounted when ruf4 exits; unmount with the usual
system tools (umount, gio mount -u, Finder).
Most confirmation dialogs respond to:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Y / Enter | Confirm |
| N / Escape | Cancel |
| A | All (in overwrite prompts) |
- Click a panel to make it active
- Click a file entry to select it
- Double-click to enter a directory or open a file
- Scroll wheel to navigate; over the quick view panel it scrolls the preview
- Click the function key bar at the bottom for quick access
| Area | Action |
|---|---|
| Panel path (title bar) | Open change root dialog |
| File entry | Select entry; double-click to open/enter |
Sort indicator in footer (Sort:Name+) |
Open sort mode dialog |
Hidden indicator in footer ([H] / [ ]) |
Toggle hidden files |
| Function key bar (bottom row) | Invoke the corresponding F-key action |
| Help dialog entry | Close help and invoke the shortcut's action |
MIT