lf

lf is a terminal file manager written in Go, heavily inspired by ranger. It focuses on simplicity and speed with minimal dependencies.

Features #

• Fast - Written in Go, starts instantly
• Minimal - Single binary, no runtime dependencies
• Configurable - Shell commands for previews and custom actions
• Mouse support - Optional mouse integration
• Server mode - Remote file management via client/server

Setup #

Install via package manager:

# Via mise (recommended)
mise install lf

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S lf

# macOS
brew install lf

# Go install
go install github.com/gokcehan/lf@latest

Configuration #

Config file: ~/.config/lf/lfrc

Example configuration:

# Basic settings
set preview true
set drawbox true
set hidden true
set ignorecase true

# Key mappings
map gh cd ~
map g/ cd /
map E $$EDITOR $f

# Custom commands
map D delete
map x cut
map y copy
map p paste

# Previewer
set previewer ~/.config/lf/preview

Key Bindings #

Navigation #

File Operations #

View #

tmux Integration #

From .tmux.conf:

bind -n M-e display-popup -d '#{pane_current_path}' -h 100% -w 75% -x 0 -E "lf"

This opens lf in a popup window with Alt+E, starting in the current pane's directory.

Previews #

lf uses external programs for previews. Create ~/.config/lf/preview:

#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
    *.txt|*.md) cat "$1" ;;
    *.jpg|*.png) viu "$1" ;;
    *) file "$1" ;;
esac

Shell Integration #

Add to ~/.zshrc:

lfcd () {
    tmp="$(mktemp)"
    lf -last-dir-path="$tmp" "$@"
    if [ -f "$tmp" ]; then
        dir="$(cat "$tmp")"
        rm -f "$tmp"
        [ -d "$dir" ] && [ "$dir" != "$PWD" ] && cd "$dir"
    fi
}

Then use lfcd to launch lf and automatically cd to the last visited directory on exit.

See Also #

GitHub - gokcehan/lf: Terminal file manager

Terminal file manager. Contribute to gokcehan/lf development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub · github.com