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sayanarijit/xplr

4,755RustAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A fast, hackable terminal file explorer written in Rust that acts as an orchestrator, letting you browse files with keyboard shortcuts and connect your workflow to other command-line tools and plugins.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((xplr))
    What it does
      Terminal file explorer
      Ties CLI tools together
    Features
      Keyboard navigation
      Plugin ecosystem
      Custom key bindings
      Scripting API
    Install
      Package managers
      Many Linux distros
    Audience
      Terminal power users
      Developers
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Code map

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Browse and navigate the file system entirely from a terminal with a keyboard-driven interface

USE CASE 2

Extend the file explorer with community plugins for fuzzy search, file preview, or external tool integration

USE CASE 3

Replace a graphical file manager with a lightweight terminal alternative that stays inside the shell

USE CASE 4

Script custom file operations by connecting xplr with other CLI utilities through its API

Tech stack

Rust

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

In plain English

xplr is a file explorer that runs entirely inside a terminal window. Instead of a graphical file manager with windows and mouse clicks, it uses a text-based visual interface where you navigate folders and files using keyboard shortcuts. It is written in Rust, which keeps it fast and lightweight. The tool's main idea is not to replace existing command-line utilities or graphical file managers, but to act as an orchestrator that ties them together. You can connect xplr with other terminal programs, write scripts that define custom behaviors, and add community-built plugins that extend what it can do. The project website lists plugins for things like previewing files, fuzzy searching, and connecting to external tools. For users who already spend most of their work in a terminal, xplr adds a real-time visual layer on top of the file system. Browsing directories, selecting files, and triggering other programs can all happen through the same keyboard-driven interface without leaving the terminal. The project describes itself as hackable, meaning its behavior is designed to be reconfigured rather than fixed. Key bindings, layouts, and actions can be changed through configuration files. There is also a documented API for building integrations with other software. Installation is available through standard package managers on a wide range of Linux distributions and other platforms. The README is brief and points to the project's external documentation site at xplr.dev for full details on setup, configuration, and the plugin ecosystem.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
I work exclusively in the terminal and want a keyboard-driven file browser I can customize. Show me how to install xplr and remap a key binding to open the selected file in neovim.
Prompt 2
How do I install a community xplr plugin that shows a file preview panel next to the directory listing?
Prompt 3
I want to connect xplr with fzf so I can fuzzy-search files and jump to them quickly. Show me the xplr config change that sets this up.
Prompt 4
Give me an xplr config snippet that adds a custom action to copy the full path of the selected file to the clipboard.
Prompt 5
What is the xplr plugin API and how do I write a minimal plugin that adds a new keyboard shortcut mapping to an external shell command?
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