Plugins extend the capabilities of `nnn`. They are _executable_ scripts (or binaries) which `nnn` can communicate with and trigger. This mechanism fits perfectly with the fundamental design to keep the core file manager lean and fast, by delegating repetitive (but not necessarily file manager-specific) tasks to the plugins.
| vidthumb | sh | [ffmpegthumbnailer](https://github.com/dirkvdb/ffmpegthumbnailer),<br>[lsix](https://github.com/hackerb9/lsix) | Show video thumbnails in terminal |
curl -Ls https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jarun/nnn/master/plugins/getplugs | sh
Plugins are installed to `${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/plugins`. You can run the `getplugs` plugin later to update the plugins. It backs up earlier plugins.
**NOTE:** `getplugs` also downloads the launcher `nlaunch` and tries to place it at `/usr/local/bin/` using `sudo`. If it fails you have to place `nlauch` manually somewhere in your `$PATH`.
Now plugin `fzy-open` can be run with the keybind <kbd>:o</kbd>, `mocplay` can be run with <kbd>:p</kbd> and so on... The key vs. plugin pairs are shown in the help and config screen.
**Method 2:** Use the _pick plugin_ shortcut to visit the plugin directory and execute a plugin. Repeating the same shortcut cancels the operation and puts you back in the original directory.
To assign keys to arbitrary non-background cli commands (non-shell-interpreted) and invoke like plugins, add `_` (underscore) before the command. For example:
Now <kbd>:x</kbd> can be used to make a file executable, <kbd>:g</kbd> can be used to the git log of a git project directory, <kbd>:s</kbd> can be used to preview a partially downloaded media file.
Notes:
1. Use single quotes for `$NNN_PLUG` so `$NNN` is not interpreted
2.`$NNN` should be the last argument (IF you want to pass the hovered file name)
When `nnn` executes a plugin, it does the following:
- Change to the directory where the plugin is to be run (`$PWD` pointing to the active directory)
- Passes two arguments to the script:
1. The hovered file's name.
2. The working directory (might differ from `$PWD` in case of symlinked paths; non-canonical). Note that the second argument is not passed in case of commands starting with `_`.
- Sets the environment variable `NNN_PIPE` used to control `nnn` active directory.
Plugins can also access the current selections by reading the `.selections` file in the config directory (See the `ndiff` plugin for example).
For convenience, we provided a helper script named `.nnn-plugin-helper` and a function named `nnn_cd` to ease this process. `nnn_cd` receives the path to change to as the first argument, and the context as an optional second argument.
If a context is not provided, it is asked for explicitly.
Usage examples can be found in the Examples section below.
