# Superfile — Modern Terminal File Manager with Beautiful UI

> Superfile is a modern terminal file manager written in Go with a visually appealing interface featuring multi-panel navigation, file preview, and plugin support.

## Install

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# Superfile — Modern Terminal File Manager with Beautiful UI

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install via Go
go install github.com/yorukot/superfile/cmd/spf@latest

# Or via Homebrew
brew install superfile

# Launch
spf
```

## Introduction
Superfile is a terminal-based file manager that combines the speed of keyboard-driven navigation with a modern, visually polished interface. It supports multi-panel layouts, file previews, and customizable themes — bringing a contemporary UX to command-line file management.

## What Superfile Does
- Provides multi-panel file browsing with side-by-side directory views for easy file operations
- Renders file previews including syntax-highlighted code, images (in supported terminals), and metadata
- Supports bulk file operations: copy, move, rename, delete with visual progress indicators
- Integrates with system clipboard and supports drag-based selection in the terminal
- Offers a plugin system for extending functionality with custom commands

## Architecture Overview
Superfile is written in Go using the Bubble Tea TUI framework for its reactive terminal interface. The rendering pipeline uses Lip Gloss for styling, producing a consistent visual appearance across terminals. File operations run asynchronously to keep the UI responsive during large transfers. Configuration and themes are stored as TOML files.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Configuration file at `~/.config/superfile/config.toml` controls keybindings, themes, and panel layout
- Custom themes defined via TOML let you match your terminal color scheme
- Plugin directory allows adding shell-based extensions accessible from the file manager
- Hotkey configuration supports vim-style, emacs-style, or custom key mappings
- File preview integrations can be configured to use external tools like bat or chafa

## Key Features
- Beautiful terminal UI with borders, icons (Nerd Font), and smooth transitions
- Multi-panel layout lets you view and operate across directories simultaneously
- Built-in file preview for text, code (syntax highlighted), images, and archives
- Fast navigation with fuzzy search, bookmarks, and quick directory jumping
- Lightweight and fast startup compared to feature-heavy alternatives

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **ranger** — Python-based, slower startup; Superfile offers a more polished visual experience with Go performance
- **Yazi** — Rust-based and blazing fast; Superfile prioritizes visual design and ease of use
- **nnn** — extremely minimal and fast but bare-bones UI; Superfile adds panels and previews
- **lf** — Go-based and configurable but text-heavy interface; Superfile provides richer visuals out of the box

## FAQ
**Q: Does Superfile require Nerd Fonts?**
A: Nerd Fonts are recommended for file type icons, but the manager works without them using fallback characters.

**Q: Can I use vim-style keybindings?**
A: Yes. The default keybindings are vim-inspired (hjkl navigation), and you can fully customize them in the config.

**Q: Does it support image preview in the terminal?**
A: Yes, in terminals that support image protocols (Kitty, iTerm2, WezTerm). It falls back to text-based preview elsewhere.

**Q: How does performance compare to ranger?**
A: Superfile starts and navigates noticeably faster than ranger since it is compiled Go rather than interpreted Python.

## Sources
- https://github.com/yorukot/superfile
- https://superfile.netlify.app/

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