| .circleci | ||
| .github | ||
| plugins | ||
| scripts | ||
| src | ||
| .clang-tidy | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| .travis.yml | ||
| CHANGELOG | ||
| LICENSE | ||
| Makefile | ||
| nnn.1 | ||
| packagecore.yaml | ||
| README.md | ||
nnn (type less, do more, way faster)
3 modes of nnn (light with filter, detail, du analyzer) with memory usage. Click for a demo video.
nnn is one of the fastest and most lightweight file managers (~50KB binary, ~3.5MB resident memory usage, highly optimized code). And yet, it doesn't lack in features!
nnn works seamlessly with your DE and favourite GUI utilities. It runs on Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi, BSD, Cygwin, Linux subsystem for Windows and Termux on Android.
Have as many scripts as you want to extend the power of nnn! Pick from the available plugins or add your own.
Quickstart and see how nnn simplifies long desktop sessions. When you are ready for more, start hacking nnn.
Love smart and efficient utilities? Explore my repositories. Buy me a cup of coffee if they help you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURES
- Modes
- Detail (default), light
- Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent)
- File picker, (neo)vim plugin
- Navigation
- Navigate-as-you-type with auto-select dir, wild load
- 4 contexts (aka tabs aka workspaces)
- Bookmarks; pin and visit a directory
- Familiar, easy shortcuts (arrows, ~, -, @)
- Sorting
- Ordered pure numeric names by default (visit /proc)
- Sort by file name, modification time, size
- Version (aka natural) sort
- Search
- Instant filtering with search-as-you-type
- Regex and substring match
- Subtree search (needs fzy)
- Mimes
- Open with desktop opener or specify a custom app
- Create, list, extract archive (needs (p)atool)
- Open all text files in EDITOR (optional)
- Information
- Detailed file information (stat and file)
- Media information (needs mediainfo/exiftool)
- Convenience
- Create, rename files and directories
- Select files across dirs; all/range selection
- Copy, move, delete, archive, link selection
- FreeDesktop compliant trash (needs trash-cli)
- Show copy, move progress on Linux (needs avdcpmv)
- Plugin repository
- Transfer files using lftp
- Batch rename (needs vidir)
- Per-context directory color (default: blue)
- Spawn a shell in the current directory
- Launch applications, run a command
- Run current file as executable
- Change directory at exit (easy shell integration)
- Edit file in EDITOR or open in PAGER
- Take quick notes
- Lock the terminal (needs a locker)
- Shortcut reference a keypress away
- Unicode support
- Follows Linux kernel coding style
- Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code
- Minimal library dependencies
- Available on many distros
INSTALLATION
Library dependencies
nnn needs a curses library with wide character support (like ncursesw), libreadline and standard libc. It's possible to drop libreadline using the Makefile target norl.
Utility dependencies
| External dependency | Operation |
|---|---|
| xdg-open (Linux), open(1) (macOS), cygstart (Cygwin) | desktop opener |
| file | determine file type |
| coreutils (cp, mv, rm), findutils (xargs) | copy, move and remove files |
| trash-cli | trash files (default: delete) |
| mediainfo or exiftool | multimedia file details |
| atool, patool (integration) | create, list and extract archives |
| fzy | app launcher with drop-down menu |
| vidir (from moreutils) | batch rename dir entries |
| vlock (Linux), bashlock (macOS), lock(1) (BSD) | terminal locker |
| advcpmv (Linux) (integration) | copy, move progress |
| $EDITOR (overridden by $VISUAL, if defined) | edit files (fallback vi) |
| $PAGER (less, most) | page through files (fallback less) |
| $SHELL | spawn a shell, run some commands (fallback sh) |
From a package manager
- Alpine Linux (
apk add nnn) - Arch Linux (
pacman -S nnn) - CRUX portdb (
prt-get depinst nnn) - Debian (
apt-get install nnn) - Fedora (
dnf install nnn) - FreeBSD (
pkg install nnn) - Gentoo (
emerge nnn) - macOS/Homebrew (
brew install nnn) - MacPorts (
port install nnn) - Milis Linux (
mps kur nnn) - NixOS (
nix-env -i nnn) - OpenBSD (
pkg_add nnn) - openSUSE (and packages for several other distros) (
zypper in nnn) - pkgrsc (
pkg_add nnn) - Raspbian Testing (
apt-get install nnn) - Slackware (
slackpkg install nnn) - Solus (
eopkg install nnn) - Source Mage (
cast nnn) - Termux (
pkg in nnn) - Ubuntu (
apt-get install nnn) - Void Linux (
xbps-install -S nnn)
Release packages
Packages for Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora and Ubuntu are available with the latest stable release.
From source
To cook yourself, download the latest stable release or clone this repository (risky). Then install the dependencies and compile (e.g. on Ubuntu 16.04):
$ sudo apt-get install pkg-config libncursesw5-dev libreadline6-dev
$ make
$ sudo make install
PREFIX is supported, in case you want to install to a different location.
- Compilation for Raspberry Pi
- Instructions for Cygwin
Shell completion
Option completion scripts for Bash, Fish and Zsh can be found in respective subdirectories of scripts/auto-completion/. Please refer to your shell's manual for installation instructions.
QUICKSTART
- Install the utilities required for your regular activities.
- Configure cd on quit.
- Optionally open all text files in
$EDITOR(fallback vi):export NNN_USE_EDITOR=1 - Run
n. - To use
nnnas a GUI app launcher with fuzzy selection menu, dropnlaunchsomewhere in your$PATH. Note that the launcher requires fzy. - Don't memorize keys. Arrows, / and q suffice. Press ? for help on keyboard shortcuts anytime.
- For additional functionality setup plugins.
- Visit the wiki page hacking
nnnfor many more specific use cases. - To set
nnnas the default file manager, follow these instructions.
USAGE
Cmdline options
usage: nnn [-b key] [-d] [-e] [-i] [-l] [-n]
[-p file] [-s] [-S] [-v] [-w] [-h] [PATH]
The missing terminal file manager for X.
positional args:
PATH start dir [default: current dir]
optional args:
-b key open bookmark key
-d show hidden files
-e use exiftool for media info
-i nav-as-you-type mode
-l light mode
-n use version compare to sort
-p file selection file (stdout if '-')
-s string filters [default: regex]
-S du mode
-v show version
-w wild load
-h show help
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? in nnn to see the list anytime.
NAVIGATION
↑ k Up PgUp ^U Scroll up
↓ j Down PgDn ^D Scroll down
← h Parent dir ~ ` @ - HOME, /, start, last
↵ → l Open file/dir . Toggle show hidden
Home g ^A First entry G ^E Last entry
/ Filter Ins ^T Toggle nav-as-you-type
b Pin current dir ^B Go to pinned dir
Tab ^I Next context d Toggle detail view
, ^/ Leader key N LeadN Context N
Esc Exit prompt ^L Redraw/clear prompt
^G Quit and cd q Quit context
Q ^Q Quit ? Help, config
FILES
^O Open with... n Create new/link
D File details ^R Rename entry
⎵ ^K / Y Select entry/all r Batch rename
K ^Y Toggle selection y List selection
P Copy selection X Delete selection
V Move selection ^X Delete entry
f Create archive m M Brief/full mediainfo
^F Extract archive F List archive
e Edit in EDITOR p Open in PAGER
ORDER TOGGLES
^J Disk usage S Apparent du
^W Random s Size t Time modified
MISC
! ^] Spawn SHELL C Execute entry
R ^V Pick plugin L Lock terminal
^P Prompt ^N Note = Launcher
Help & settings, file details, media info and archive listing are shown in the PAGER. Use the PAGER-specific keys in these screens.
Leader key
The Leader key provides a powerful multi-functional navigation mechanism. It is case-sensitive and understands contexts, bookmarks and location shortcuts.
| Key | Function |
|---|---|
| 1-4 | Go to/create selected context |
| >, . | Go to next active context |
| <, , | Go to previous active context |
| key | Go to bookmarked location |
| ~ ` @ - | Go to HOME, /, start, last visited dir |
| q | Quit context |
Contexts
Contexts serve the purpose of exploring multiple directories simultaneously. 4 contexts are available. The status of the contexts are shown in the top left corner:
- the current context is in reverse
- other active contexts are underlined
- rest are inactive
To switch to a context press the Leader key followed by the context number (1-4).
The first time a context is entered, it copies the state of the last visited context. Each context remembers its last visited directory.
When a context is quit, the next active context is selected. If the last active context is quit, the program quits.
Context-specific color
Each context can have its own directory color specified:
export NNN_CONTEXT_COLORS='1234'
colors: 0-black, 1-red, 2-green, 3-yellow, 4-blue (default), 5-magenta, 6-cyan, 7-white
Selection
Use ^K to copy the absolute path of the file under the cursor.
To copy multiple absolute file paths:
- press ^Y to enter selection mode. In this mode it's possible to
- cherry-pick individual files one by one by pressing ^K on each entry (works across directories and contexts); or,
- navigate to another file in the same directory to select a range of files
- press ^Y again to save the selection and exit selection mode.
NOTE: If you are on BSD/macOS, please check the BSD terminal issue with ^Y for workaround.
Selected files are visually indicated by a +.
The selection can now be listed, copied, moved, removed, archived or linked.
File paths are copied to the temporary file DIR/.nnncp, where DIR (by priority) is:
$HOME or,
/tmp
$TMPDIR or,
The path is shown in the help and configuration screen.
Filters
Filters support regexes (default) to instantly (search-as-you-type) list the matching entries in the current directory.
Common use cases:
- to list all matches starting with the filter expression, start the expression with a
^(caret) symbol - type
\.mkvto list all MKV files - use
.*to match any character (sort of fuzzy search)
There is a program option to filter entries by substring match instead of regex.
Navigate-as-you-type
In this mode directories are opened in filter mode, allowing continuous navigation. Works best with the arrow keys.
When there's a unique match and it's a directory, nnn auto selects the directory and enters it in this mode. To disable this behaviour,
export NNN_NO_AUTOSELECT=1
This mode takes navigation to the next level when short, unique keypress sequences are possible. For example, to reach nnn development directory (located at ~/GitHub/nnn) from my $HOME (which is the default directory the terminal starts in), I use the sequence gn.
The wild load option can be extremely handy for users who use this mode constantly. The entries are unsorted when the directory loads. Applying filters sorts the entries (with directories on top). Directory color is disabled in this mode.
File indicators
The following indicators are used in the detail view:
| Indicator | File Type |
|---|---|
/ |
Directory |
* |
Executable |
| |
Fifo |
= |
Socket |
@ |
Symbolic Link |
@/ |
Symbolic Link to directory |
b |
Block Device |
c |
Character Device |
? |
Unknown |
Configuration
nnn supports the following environment variables for configuration.
Example export |
Description |
|---|---|
NNN_BMS='d:~/Documents;D:~/Docs archive/' |
specify bookmarks (max 10) |
NNN_OPENER=mimeopen |
custom file opener |
NNN_OPENER_DETACH=1 |
do not block when invoking file opener |
NNN_CONTEXT_COLORS='1234' |
specify per context color [default: '4444' (all blue)] |
NNN_IDLE_TIMEOUT=300 |
idle seconds before locking terminal [default: disabled] |
NNN_COPIER='/absolute/path/to/copier' |
system clipboard copier script [default: none] |
NNN_PLUGIN_DIR=/home/user/nnn-plugins |
absolute path to plugins dir |
NNN_NOTE=/home/user/Dropbox/Public/notes |
path to note file [default: none] |
NNN_TMPFILE=/tmp/nnn |
file to write current open dir path to for cd on quit |
NNN_USE_EDITOR=1 |
Open text files in $EDITOR ($VISUAL, if defined; fallback vi) |
NNN_NO_AUTOSELECT=1 |
do not auto-select matching dir in nav-as-you-type mode |
NNN_RESTRICT_NAV_OPEN=1 |
open files on ↵, not → or l |
NNN_RESTRICT_0B=1 |
do not open 0-byte files |
NNN_TRASH=1 |
trash files to the desktop Trash [default: delete] |
NNN_OPS_PROG=1 |
show copy, move progress on Linux |
Help
$ nnn -h
$ man nnn
To lookup keyboard shortcuts at runtime, press ?.
PLUGINS
nnn can invoke plugins in the current directory ($PWD for the plugin) with the currently selected file name as the argument.
Copy the plugins of your interest from the plugins directory and let nnn know the location:
export NNN_PLUGIN_DIR=/absolute/path/to/plugins_dir
Use the pick plugin shortcut to visit the plugin directory and pick a plugin. Repeating the same shortcut cancels the operation and puts you back in the original directory.
If you have an interesting plugin feel free to raise a PR.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Tmux configuration
nnn might not handle keypresses correctly when used with tmux (see issue #104 for more details). Set TERM=xterm-256color to address it.
BSD terminal issue
TLDR: Use the keybind K to toggle selection if you are having issues with ^Y.
By default in OpenBSD & FreeBSD (and probably on macOS as well), stty maps ^Y to DSUSP. This means that typing ^Y will suspend nnn as if you typed ^Z (you can bring nnn back to the foreground by issuing fg) instead of entering multi-copy mode. You can check this with stty -a. If it includes the text dsusp = ^Y, issuing stty dsusp undef will disable this DSUSP and let nnn receive the ^Y instead.
Restrict file open
In order to disable opening files on accidental navigation key (→ or l) press:
export NNN_RESTRICT_NAV_OPEN=1
Use Enter to open these files.
Restrict 0-byte files
Restrict opening 0-byte files due to unexpected behaviour; use edit or open with to open the file.
export NNN_RESTRICT_0B=1
WHY FORK?
nnn was initially forked from noice but is significantly different today. I chose to fork because:
- one can argue my approach deviates from the goal of the original project - keep the utility
suckless.noicewas rudimentary. In my opinion evolution is the taste of time. - I would like to have a bit of control on what features are added in the name of desktop integration. A feature-bloat is the last thing in my mind. Check out nnn design considerations for more details.
Trivia: The name nnn stands for Noice is Not Noice, a noicer fork....
MENTIONS
- FOSSMint
- Hacker News
- It's FOSS
- LinuxLinks1
- LinuxLinks2
- Suckless Rocks
- Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine - Issue 135
DEVELOPERS
- Copyright © 2014-2016 Lazaros Koromilas
- Copyright © 2014-2016 Dimitris Papastamos
- Copyright © 2016-2019 Arun Prakash Jana
Contributions are welcome. Please visit the ToDo list.