@realfxw: Who says terminal file managers can only rely on full keyboard shortcuts? Today, I found an amazing open-source project on GitHub: tfm-tui — a modern terminal file manager focused on mouse interaction (Mouse-First). It not only retains the lightweight and efficient features of terminals but also brings the smooth experience of modern GUI file managers into the terminal…

Who says terminal file managers have to rely entirely on keyboard shortcuts? Today on GitHub I discovered a very impressive open-source project: tfm-tui — a modern terminal file manager that centers its design around mouse interaction (Mouse-First).

It retains the lightweight, efficient nature of terminal apps while bringing the smooth experience of modern GUI file managers directly into the terminal:

Modern mouse interactions: Supports rubber-band selection, right-click context menus, inline quick renaming, and even file dragging! On the Kitty terminal, it can even drag files directly across applications.

Dual-pane & multi-tab: Features a dual-pane layout similar to Total Commander or Midnight Commander, with independent paths, search, and tabs on each side. Press Tab to switch focus, and use F5/F6 to copy or move files directly between panes.

Multimedia & smooth animations: Leverages the Kitty Graphics Protocol for true-color image and video thumbnails. The sidebar, preview, and built-in terminal also feature smooth auto-hide edges and slide-in/slide-out animations.

Network locations & built-in terminal: Integrates gvfs, allowing direct connections to SFTP, SMB, WebDAV, or FTP from the sidebar. Right-click anytime in the current directory to open a built-in terminal.

TypeScript plugin system: Supports hot-reloading, custom shortcuts, context menus, event interception, and rendering custom OpenTUI components in the status bar/sidebar.

The project is built with TypeScript + Bun, currently supports Linux systems, and is in Beta stage.

One-click installation command:

Bash

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clarkarch/tfm-tui/main/install.sh | bash

If you regularly work in the Linux terminal and miss the intuitive drag-and-drop and multimedia previews of modern GUI file managers, I highly recommend giving this project a try: https://github.com/clarkarch/tfm-tui

Source: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clarkarch/tfm-tui/main/install.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# tfm installer: downloads a prebuilt binary for your arch.
# usage: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/clarkarch/tfm-tui/main/install.sh | bash
# env: TFM_INSTALL_DIR (default ~/.local/bin), TFM_VERSION (default latest),
#      TFM_NO_VERIFY=1 to skip checksum verification (not recommended).
set -euo pipefail

REPO="clarkarch/tfm-tui"
DEST="${TFM_INSTALL_DIR:-$HOME/.local/bin}"
VERSION="${TFM_VERSION:-latest}"

case "$(uname -m)" in
  x86_64)  ARCH="x86_64-linux" ;;
  aarch64|arm64)  ARCH="aarch64-linux" ;;
  *) echo "tfm install: unsupported arch: $(uname -m)" >&2; exit 1 ;;
esac

mkdir -p "$DEST"
TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT

if [ "$VERSION" = "latest" ]; then
  BASE="https://github.com/$REPO/releases/latest/download"
else
  BASE="https://github.com/$REPO/releases/download/$VERSION"
fi

echo "tfm: downloading $ARCH ($VERSION)..."
curl -fsSL --retry 3 --proto '=https' "$BASE/tfm-$ARCH.gz" -o "$TMP/tfm.gz"

# checksum: fail closed when the release ships one, fail open (with a loud
# warning) only when the artifact has no published checksum at all.
#
# NOTE: compare digests directly, never `sha256sum -c`: the published sidecar
# embeds the release filename (tfm-.gz) while we save as tfm.gz, so -c
# looks for a file that isn't there and fails every install.
if curl -fsSL --retry 3 --proto '=https' "$BASE/tfm-$ARCH.gz.sha256" -o "$TMP/tfm.gz.sha256" 2>/dev/null; then
  want=$(cut -d' ' -f1 < "$TMP/tfm.gz.sha256")
  got=$(sha256sum < "$TMP/tfm.gz" | cut -d' ' -f1)
  [ -n "$want" ] && [ "$want" = "$got" ] \
    || { echo "tfm install: CHECKSUM MISMATCH, refusing to install $TMP/tfm.gz" >&2; exit 1; }
  echo "tfm: checksum verified"
elif [ "${TFM_NO_VERIFY:-}" = "1" ]; then
  echo "tfm: WARNING: no checksum published, installing unverified (TFM_NO_VERIFY=1)" >&2
else
  echo "tfm install: no checksum published for tfm-$ARCH.gz — refusing to install." >&2
  echo "  Re-run with TFM_NO_VERIFY=1 to override, or pin TFM_VERSION to a release with checksums." >&2
  exit 1
fi

gunzip -f "$TMP/tfm.gz"
chmod +x "$TMP/tfm"

# never silently clobber: keep one backup of the previous binary
if [ -e "$DEST/tfm" ]; then
  mv -f "$DEST/tfm" "$DEST/tfm.bak"
  echo "tfm: previous binary backed up to $DEST/tfm.bak"
fi

mv "$TMP/tfm" "$DEST/tfm"
ln -sf "$DEST/tfm" "$DEST/terminal-file-manager"

echo "tfm: installed -> $DEST/tfm (run it via \"tfm\" or \"terminal-file-manager\")"

# make sure 'tfm' resolves — but only with explicit user consent (asked on the
# tty, since stdin belongs to the curl|bash pipe).  No tty = just print instructions.
# Note: we only ever touch the user's own rc file — never /usr/local/bin.
if ! command -v tfm >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  if ! { true >/dev/null; then
    echo "tfm: note: $DEST is not in your PATH — run: export PATH=\"$DEST:\$PATH\""
  else
    printf "tfm: add %s to PATH automatically? [Y/n] " "$DEST"
    DECLINE="tfm: ok — later: export PATH=\"$DEST:\$PATH\""
    if ! IFS= read -r REPLY >/dev/null 2>&1; then
      echo "$DECLINE"
    else
      case "$REPLY" in
        Y|y|'') ;;
        *) echo "$DECLINE"; exit 0 ;;
      esac
    fi
    RCFILE="$HOME/.bashrc"
    if [ -f "$HOME/.zshrc" ]; then
      RCFILE="$HOME/.zshrc"
    fi
    if ! grep -qs "$DEST" "$RCFILE" 2>/dev/null; then
      printf '\n# tfm: added by tfm installer\nexport PATH="%s:$PATH"\n' "$DEST" >> "$RCFILE"
      echo "tfm: PATH entry added to $RCFILE — open a new shell or run: source $RCFILE"
    else
      echo "tfm: $DEST already in $RCFILE — open a new shell or run: source $RCFILE"
    fi
  fi
fi

# tfm degrades gracefully without these, but each one disables something
have() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; }
MISSING=""
add_missing() { MISSING="${MISSING}  - $1\n"; }

have rsvg-convert || add_missing "rsvg-convert — theme-tinted icons and SVG thumbnails"
have magick       || add_missing "magick — raster image thumbnails (fallback)"
have ffmpeg       || add_missing "ffmpeg — video thumbnails & previews"
have gio          || add_missing "gio — starred-file metadata (trash itself needs no gio)"
have xdg-open     || add_missing "xdg-open — opens files in their default app (required)"
have udisksctl    || add_missing "udisksctl — mount/eject removable drives"
if ! have wl-paste && ! have wl-copy && ! have xclip; then
  add_missing "wl-paste/wl-copy or xclip — copy/paste between tfm and GUI apps"
fi

if [ -n "$MISSING" ]; then
  RED=""; RST=""
  [ -t 1 ] && { RED=$'\033[31m'; RST=$'\033[0m'; }
  printf '%s\n' "${RED}tfm: missing helpers — install these for full functionality:${RST}"
  printf '%s%b%s' "$RED" "$MISSING" "$RST"
fi