Provided by: lf_28-1_amd64 
NAME
lf - terminal file manager
SYNOPSIS
lf [-command command] [-config path] [-cpuprofile path] [-doc] [-last-dir-path path]
[-log path] [-memprofile path] [-remote command] [-selection-path path] [-server]
[-single] [-version] [-help] [cd-or-select-path]
DESCRIPTION
lf is a terminal file manager.
Source code can be found in the repository at https://github.com/gokcehan/lf
This documentation can either be read from terminal using 'lf -doc' or online at
https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/gokcehan/lf You can also use 'doc' command (default '<f-1>')
inside lf to view the documentation in a pager. A man page with the same content is also
available in the repository at https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/blob/master/lf.1
You can run 'lf -help' to see descriptions of command line options.
QUICK REFERENCE
The following commands are provided by lf:
quit (default 'q')
up (default 'k' and '<up>')
half-up (default '<c-u>')
page-up (default '<c-b>' and '<pgup>')
scroll-up (default '<c-y>')
down (default 'j' and '<down>')
half-down (default '<c-d>')
page-down (default '<c-f>' and '<pgdn>')
scroll-down (default '<c-e>')
updir (default 'h' and '<left>')
open (default 'l' and '<right>')
jump-next (default ']')
jump-prev (default '[')
top (default 'gg' and '<home>')
bottom (default 'G' and '<end>')
high (default 'H')
middle (default 'M')
low (default 'L')
toggle
invert (default 'v')
unselect (default 'u')
glob-select
glob-unselect
calcdirsize
copy (default 'y')
cut (default 'd')
paste (default 'p')
clear (default 'c')
sync
draw
redraw (default '<c-l>')
load
reload (default '<c-r>')
echo
echomsg
echoerr
cd
select
delete (modal)
rename (modal) (default 'r')
source
push
read (modal) (default ':')
shell (modal) (default '$')
shell-pipe (modal) (default '%')
shell-wait (modal) (default '!')
shell-async (modal) (default '&')
find (modal) (default 'f')
find-back (modal) (default 'F')
find-next (default ';')
find-prev (default ',')
search (modal) (default '/')
search-back (modal) (default '?')
search-next (default 'n')
search-prev (default 'N')
filter (modal)
setfilter
mark-save (modal) (default 'm')
mark-load (modal) (default "'")
mark-remove (modal) (default '"')
tag
tag-toggle (default 't')
The following command line commands are provided by lf:
cmd-escape (default '<esc>')
cmd-complete (default '<tab>')
cmd-menu-complete
cmd-menu-complete-back
cmd-menu-accept
cmd-enter (default '<c-j>' and '<enter>')
cmd-interrupt (default '<c-c>')
cmd-history-next (default '<c-n>')
cmd-history-prev (default '<c-p>')
cmd-left (default '<c-b>' and '<left>')
cmd-right (default '<c-f>' and '<right>')
cmd-home (default '<c-a>' and '<home>')
cmd-end (default '<c-e>' and '<end>')
cmd-delete (default '<c-d>' and '<delete>')
cmd-delete-back (default '<backspace>' and '<backspace2>')
cmd-delete-home (default '<c-u>')
cmd-delete-end (default '<c-k>')
cmd-delete-unix-word (default '<c-w>')
cmd-yank (default '<c-y>')
cmd-transpose (default '<c-t>')
cmd-transpose-word (default '<a-t>')
cmd-word (default '<a-f>')
cmd-word-back (default '<a-b>')
cmd-delete-word (default '<a-d>')
cmd-capitalize-word (default '<a-c>')
cmd-uppercase-word (default '<a-u>')
cmd-lowercase-word (default '<a-l>')
The following options can be used to customize the behavior of lf:
anchorfind bool (default on)
autoquit bool (default off)
cleaner string (default '')
dircache bool (default on)
dircounts bool (default off)
dirfirst bool (default on)
dironly bool (default off)
dirpreviews bool (default off)
drawbox bool (default off)
errorfmt string (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
filesep string (default "\n")
findlen int (default 1)
globsearch bool (default off)
hidden bool (default off)
hiddenfiles []string (default '.*')
history bool (default on)
icons bool (default off)
ifs string (default '')
ignorecase bool (default on)
ignoredia bool (default on)
incfilter bool (default off)
incsearch bool (default off)
info []string (default '')
infotimefmtnew string (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
infotimefmtold string (default 'Jan _2 2006')
mouse bool (default off)
number bool (default off)
period int (default 0)
preview bool (default on)
previewer string (default '')
promptfmt string (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
ratios []int (default '1:2:3')
relativenumber bool (default off)
reverse bool (default off)
scrolloff int (default 0)
selmode string (default 'all')
shell string (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
shellflag string (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
shellopts []string (default '')
smartcase bool (default on)
smartdia bool (default off)
sortby string (default 'natural')
tabstop int (default 8)
tagfmt string (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
tempmarks string (default '')
timefmt string (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
truncatechar string (default '~')
waitmsg string (default 'Press any key to continue')
wrapscan bool (default on)
wrapscroll bool (default off)
user_{option} string (default none)
The following environment variables are exported for shell commands:
f
fs
fx
id
PWD
OLDPWD
LF_LEVEL
OPENER
EDITOR
PAGER
SHELL
lf_{option}
lf_user_{option}
lf_width
lf_height
The following special shell commands are used to customize the behavior of lf when
defined:
open
paste
rename
delete
pre-cd
on-cd
on-select
on-quit
The following commands/keybindings are provided by default:
Unix Windows
cmd open &$OPENER "$f" cmd open &%OPENER% %f%
map e $$EDITOR "$f" map e $%EDITOR% %f%
map i $$PAGER "$f" map i !%PAGER% %f%
map w $$SHELL map w $%SHELL%
The following additional keybindings are provided by default:
map zh set hidden!
map zr set reverse!
map zn set info
map zs set info size
map zt set info time
map za set info size:time
map sn :set sortby natural; set info
map ss :set sortby size; set info size
map st :set sortby time; set info time
map sa :set sortby atime; set info atime
map sc :set sortby ctime; set info ctime
map se :set sortby ext; set info
map gh cd ~
map <space> :toggle; down
If the 'mouse' option is enabled, mouse buttons have the following default effects:
Left mouse button
Click on a file or directory to select it.
Right mouse button
Enter a directory or open a file. Also works on the preview window.
Scroll wheel
Scroll up or down.
CONFIGURATION
Configuration files should be located at:
OS system-wide user-specific
Unix /etc/lf/lfrc ~/.config/lf/lfrc
Windows C:\ProgramData\lf\lfrc C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\lfrc
Colors file should be located at:
OS system-wide user-specific
Unix /etc/lf/colors ~/.config/lf/colors
Windows C:\ProgramData\lf\colors C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\colors
Icons file should be located at:
OS system-wide user-specific
Unix /etc/lf/icons ~/.config/lf/icons
Windows C:\ProgramData\lf\icons C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\icons
Selection file should be located at:
Unix ~/.local/share/lf/files
Windows C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\files
Marks file should be located at:
Unix ~/.local/share/lf/marks
Windows C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\marks
Tags file should be located at:
Unix ~/.local/share/lf/tags
Windows C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\tags
History file should be located at:
Unix ~/.local/share/lf/history
Windows C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\lf\history
You can configure the default values of following variables to change these locations:
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME ~/.config
$XDG_DATA_HOME ~/.local/share
%ProgramData% C:\ProgramData
%LOCALAPPDATA% C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local
A sample configuration file can be found at
https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/blob/master/etc/lfrc.example
COMMANDS
This section shows information about builtin commands. Modal commands do not take any
arguments, but instead change the operation mode to read their input conveniently, and so
they are meant to be assigned to keybindings.
quit (default 'q')
Quit lf and return to the shell.
up (default 'k' and '<up>')
half-up (default '<c-u>')
page-up (default '<c-b>' and '<pgup>')
scroll-up (default '<c-y>')
down (default 'j' and '<down>')
half-down (default '<c-d>')
page-down (default '<c-f>' and '<pgdn>')
scroll-down (default '<c-e>')
Move/scroll the current file selection upwards/downwards by one/half a page/full page.
updir (default 'h' and '<left>')
Change the current working directory to the parent directory.
open (default 'l' and '<right>')
If the current file is a directory, then change the current directory to it, otherwise,
execute the 'open' command. A default 'open' command is provided to call the default
system opener asynchronously with the current file as the argument. A custom 'open'
command can be defined to override this default.
jump-next (default ']')
jump-prev (default '[')
Change the current working directory to the next/previous jumplist item.
top (default 'gg' and '<home>')
bottom (default 'G' and '<end>')
Move the current file selection to the top/bottom of the directory.
high (default 'H')
middle (default 'M')
low (default 'L')
Move the current file selection to the high/middle/low of the screen.
toggle
Toggle the selection of the current file or files given as arguments.
invert (default 'v')
Reverse the selection of all files in the current directory (i.e. 'toggle' all files).
Selections in other directories are not effected by this command. You can define a new
command to select all files in the directory by combining 'invert' with 'unselect' (i.e.
'cmd select-all :unselect; invert'), though this will also remove selections in other
directories.
unselect (default 'u')
Remove the selection of all files in all directories.
glob-select
glob-unselect
Select/unselect files that match the given glob.
calcdirsize
Calculate the total size for each of the selected directories. Option 'info' should
include 'size' and option 'dircounts' should be disabled to show this size. If the total
size of a directory is not calculated, it will be shown as '-'.
copy (default 'y')
If there are no selections, save the path of the current file to the copy buffer,
otherwise, copy the paths of selected files.
cut (default 'd')
If there are no selections, save the path of the current file to the cut buffer,
otherwise, copy the paths of selected files.
paste (default 'p')
Copy/Move files in copy/cut buffer to the current working directory. A custom 'paste'
command can be defined to override this default.
clear (default 'c')
Clear file paths in copy/cut buffer.
sync
Synchronize copied/cut files with server. This command is automatically called when
required.
draw
Draw the screen. This command is automatically called when required.
redraw (default '<c-l>')
Synchronize the terminal and redraw the screen.
load
Load modified files and directories. This command is automatically called when required.
reload (default '<c-r>')
Flush the cache and reload all files and directories.
echo
Print given arguments to the message line at the bottom.
echomsg
Print given arguments to the message line at the bottom and also to the log file.
echoerr
Print given arguments to the message line at the bottom as 'errorfmt' and also to the log
file.
cd
Change the working directory to the given argument.
select
Change the current file selection to the given argument.
delete (modal)
Remove the current file or selected file(s). A custom 'delete' command can be defined to
override this default.
rename (modal) (default 'r')
Rename the current file using the builtin method. A custom 'rename' command can be defined
to override this default.
source
Read the configuration file given in the argument.
push
Simulate key pushes given in the argument.
read (modal) (default ':')
Read a command to evaluate.
shell (modal) (default '$')
Read a shell command to execute.
shell-pipe (modal) (default '%')
Read a shell command to execute piping its standard I/O to the bottom statline.
shell-wait (modal) (default '!')
Read a shell command to execute and wait for a key press in the end.
shell-async (modal) (default '&')
Read a shell command to execute asynchronously without standard I/O.
find (modal) (default 'f')
find-back (modal) (default 'F')
find-next (default ';')
find-prev (default ',')
Read key(s) to find the appropriate file name match in the forward/backward direction and
jump to the next/previous match.
search (default '/')
search-back (default '?')
search-next (default 'n')
search-prev (default 'N')
Read a pattern to search for a file name match in the forward/backward direction and jump
to the next/previous match.
filter (modal)
setfilter
Command 'filter' reads a pattern to filter out and only view files matching the pattern.
Command 'setfilter' does the same but uses an argument to set the filter immediately. You
can supply an argument to 'filter', in order to use that as the starting prompt.
mark-save (modal) (default 'm')
Save the current directory as a bookmark assigned to the given key.
mark-load (modal) (default "'")
Change the current directory to the bookmark assigned to the given key. A special bookmark
"'" holds the previous directory after a 'mark-load', 'cd', or 'select' command.
mark-remove (modal) (default '"')
Remove a bookmark assigned to the given key.
tag
Tag a file with '*' or a single width character given in the argument. You can define a
new tag clearing command by combining 'tag' with 'tag-toggle' (i.e. 'cmd tag-clear :tag;
tag-toggle').
tag-toggle (default 't')
Tag a file with '*' or a single width character given in the argument if the file is
untagged, otherwise remove the tag.
COMMAND LINE COMMANDS
The prompt character specifies which of the several command-line modes you are in. For
example, the 'read' command takes you to the ':' mode.
When the cursor is at the first character in ':' mode, pressing one of the keys '!', '$',
'%', or '&' takes you to the corresponding mode. You can go back with 'cmd-delete-back'
('<backspace>' by default).
The command line commands should be mostly compatible with readline keybindings. A
character refers to a unicode code point, a word consists of letters and digits, and a
unix word consists of any non-blank characters.
cmd-escape (default '<esc>')
Quit command line mode and return to normal mode.
cmd-complete (default '<tab>')
Autocomplete the current word.
cmd-menu-complete
cmd-menu-complete-back
Autocomplete the current word with menu selection. You need to assign keys to these
commands (e.g. 'cmap <tab> cmd-menu-complete; cmap <backtab> cmd-menu-complete-back'). You
can use the assigned keys assigned to display the menu and then cycle through completion
options.
cmd-menu-accept
Accept the currently selected match in menu completion and close the menu.
cmd-enter (default '<c-j>' and '<enter>')
Execute the current line.
cmd-interrupt (default '<c-c>')
Interrupt the current shell-pipe command and return to the normal mode.
cmd-history-next (default '<c-n>')
cmd-history-prev (default '<c-p>')
Go to next/previous item in the history.
cmd-left (default '<c-b>' and '<left>')
cmd-right (default '<c-f>' and '<right>')
Move the cursor to the left/right.
cmd-home (default '<c-a>' and '<home>')
cmd-end (default '<c-e>' and '<end>')
Move the cursor to the beginning/end of line.
cmd-delete (default '<c-d>' and '<delete>')
Delete the next character.
cmd-delete-back (default '<backspace>' and '<backspace2>')
Delete the previous character. When at the beginning of a prompt, returns either to normal
mode or to ':' mode.
cmd-delete-home (default '<c-u>')
cmd-delete-end (default '<c-k>')
Delete everything up to the beginning/end of line.
cmd-delete-unix-word (default '<c-w>')
Delete the previous unix word.
cmd-yank (default '<c-y>')
Paste the buffer content containing the last deleted item.
cmd-transpose (default '<c-t>')
cmd-transpose-word (default '<a-t>')
Transpose the positions of last two characters/words.
cmd-word (default '<a-f>')
cmd-word-back (default '<a-b>')
Move the cursor by one word in forward/backward direction.
cmd-delete-word (default '<a-d>')
Delete the next word in forward direction.
cmd-capitalize-word (default '<a-c>')
cmd-uppercase-word (default '<a-u>')
cmd-lowercase-word (default '<a-l>')
Capitalize/uppercase/lowercase the current word and jump to the next word.
OPTIONS
This section shows information about options to customize the behavior. Character ':' is
used as the separator for list options '[]int' and '[]string'.
anchorfind bool (default on)
When this option is enabled, find command starts matching patterns from the beginning of
file names, otherwise, it can match at an arbitrary position.
autoquit bool (default off)
Automatically quit server when there are no clients left connected.
cleaner string (default '') (not called if empty)
Set the path of a cleaner file. The file should be executable. This file is called if
previewing is enabled, the previewer is set, and the previously selected file had its
preview cache disabled. Five arguments are passed to the file, (1) current file name, (2)
width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position, and (5) vertical position of preview pane
respectively. Preview clearing is disabled when the value of this option is left empty.
dircache bool (default on)
Cache directory contents.
dircounts bool (default off)
When this option is enabled, directory sizes show the number of items inside instead of
the total size of the directory, which needs to be calculated for each directory using
'calcdirsize'. This information needs to be calculated by reading the directory and
counting the items inside. Therefore, this option is disabled by default for performance
reasons. This option only has an effect when 'info' has a 'size' field and the pane is
wide enough to show the information. 999 items are counted per directory at most, and
bigger directories are shown as '999+'.
dirfirst bool (default on)
Show directories first above regular files.
dironly bool (default off)
If enabled, directories will also be passed to the previewer script. This allows custom
previews for directories.
dirpreviews bool (default off)
Show only directories.
drawbox bool (default off)
Draw boxes around panes with box drawing characters.
errorfmt string (default "\033[7;31;47m%s\033[0m")
Format string of error messages shown in the bottom message line.
filesep string (default "\n")
File separator used in environment variables 'fs' and 'fx'.
findlen int (default 1)
Number of characters prompted for the find command. When this value is set to 0, find
command prompts until there is only a single match left.
globsearch bool (default off)
When this option is enabled, search command patterns are considered as globs, otherwise
they are literals. With globbing, '*' matches any sequence, '?' matches any character, and
'[...]' or '[^...] matches character sets or ranges. Otherwise, these characters are
interpreted as they are.
hidden bool (default off)
Show hidden files. On Unix systems, hidden files are determined by the value of
'hiddenfiles'. On Windows, only files with hidden attributes are considered hidden files.
hiddenfiles []string (default '.*')
List of hidden file glob patterns. Patterns can be given as relative or absolute paths.
Globbing supports the usual special characters, '*' to match any sequence, '?' to match
any character, and '[...]' or '[^...] to match character sets or ranges. In addition, if a
pattern starts with '!', then its matches are excluded from hidden files.
history bool (default on)
Save command history.
icons bool (default off)
Show icons before each item in the list.
ifs string (default '')
Sets 'IFS' variable in shell commands. It works by adding the assignment to the beginning
of the command string as "IFS='...'; ...". The reason is that 'IFS' variable is not
inherited by the shell for security reasons. This method assumes a POSIX shell syntax and
so it can fail for non-POSIX shells. This option has no effect when the value is left
empty. This option does not have any effect on Windows.
ignorecase bool (default on)
Ignore case in sorting and search patterns.
ignoredia bool (default on)
Ignore diacritics in sorting and search patterns.
incsearch bool (default off)
Jump to the first match after each keystroke during searching.
incfilter bool (default off)
Apply filter pattern after each keystroke during filtering.
info []string (default '')
List of information shown for directory items at the right side of pane. Currently
supported information types are 'size', 'time', 'atime', and 'ctime'. Information is only
shown when the pane width is more than twice the width of information.
infotimefmtnew string (default 'Jan _2 15:04')
Format string of the file time shown in the info column when it matches this year.
infotimefmtold string (default 'Jan _2 2006')
Format string of the file time shown in the info column when it doesn't match this year.
mouse bool (default off)
Send mouse events as input.
number bool (default off)
Show the position number for directory items at the left side of pane. When
'relativenumber' option is enabled, only the current line shows the absolute position and
relative positions are shown for the rest.
period int (default 0)
Set the interval in seconds for periodic checks of directory updates. This works by
periodically calling the 'load' command. Note that directories are already updated
automatically in many cases. This option can be useful when there is an external process
changing the displayed directory and you are not doing anything in lf. Periodic checks are
disabled when the value of this option is set to zero.
preview bool (default on)
Show previews of files and directories at the right most pane. If the file has more lines
than the preview pane, rest of the lines are not read. Files containing the null character
(U+0000) in the read portion are considered binary files and displayed as 'binary'.
previewer string (default '') (not filtered if empty)
Set the path of a previewer file to filter the content of regular files for previewing.
The file should be executable. Five arguments are passed to the file, (1) current file
name, (2) width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position, and (5) vertical position of preview
pane respectively. SIGPIPE signal is sent when enough lines are read. If the previewer
returns a non-zero exit code, then the preview cache for the given file is disabled. This
means that if the file is selected in the future, the previewer is called once again.
Preview filtering is disabled and files are displayed as they are when the value of this
option is left empty.
promptfmt string (default "\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f\033[0m")
Format string of the prompt shown in the top line. Special expansions are provided, '%u'
as the user name, '%h' as the host name, '%w' as the working directory, '%d' as the
working directory with a trailing path separator, '%f' as the file name, and '%F' as the
current filter. '%S' may be used once and will provide a spacer so that the following
parts are right aligned on the screen. Home folder is shown as '~' in the working
directory expansion. Directory names are automatically shortened to a single character
starting from the left most parent when the prompt does not fit to the screen.
ratios []int (default '1:2:3')
List of ratios of pane widths. Number of items in the list determines the number of panes
in the ui. When 'preview' option is enabled, the right most number is used for the width
of preview pane.
relativenumber bool (default off)
Show the position number relative to the current line. When 'number' is enabled, current
line shows the absolute position, otherwise nothing is shown.
reverse bool (default off)
Reverse the direction of sort.
selmode string (default 'all')
Selection mode for commands. When set to 'all' it will use the selected files from all
directories. When set to 'dir' it will only use the selected files in the current
directory.
scrolloff int (default 0)
Minimum number of offset lines shown at all times in the top and the bottom of the screen
when scrolling. The current line is kept in the middle when this option is set to a large
value that is bigger than the half of number of lines. A smaller offset can be used when
the current file is close to the beginning or end of the list to show the maximum number
of items.
shell string (default 'sh' for Unix and 'cmd' for Windows)
Shell executable to use for shell commands. Shell commands are executed as 'shell
shellopts shellflag command -- arguments'.
shellflag string (default '-c' for Unix and '/c' for Windows)
Command line flag used to pass shell commands.
shellopts []string (default '')
List of shell options to pass to the shell executable.
smartcase bool (default on)
Override 'ignorecase' option when the pattern contains an uppercase character. This option
has no effect when 'ignorecase' is disabled.
smartdia bool (default off)
Override 'ignoredia' option when the pattern contains a character with diacritic. This
option has no effect when 'ignoredia' is disabled.
sortby string (default 'natural')
Sort type for directories. Currently supported sort types are 'natural', 'name', 'size',
'time', 'ctime', 'atime', and 'ext'.
tabstop int (default 8)
Number of space characters to show for horizontal tabulation (U+0009) character.
tagfmt string (default "\033[31m%s\033[0m")
Format string of the tags.
tempmarks string (default '')
Marks to be considered temporary (e.g. 'abc' refers to marks 'a', 'b', and 'c'). These
marks are not synced to other clients and they are not saved in the bookmarks file. Note
that the special bookmark "'" is always treated as temporary and it does not need to be
specified.
timefmt string (default 'Mon Jan _2 15:04:05 2006')
Format string of the file modification time shown in the bottom line.
truncatechar string (default '~')
Truncate character shown at the end when the file name does not fit to the pane.
waitmsg string (default 'Press any key to continue')
String shown after commands of shell-wait type.
wrapscan bool (default on)
Searching can wrap around the file list.
wrapscroll bool (default off)
Scrolling can wrap around the file list.
user_{option} string (default none)
Any option that is prefixed with 'user_' is a user defined option and can be set to any
string. Inside a user defined command the value will be provided in the `lf_user_{option}`
environment variable. These options are not used by lf and are not persisted.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following variables are exported for shell commands: These are referred with a '$'
prefix on POSIX shells (e.g. '$f'), between '%' characters on Windows cmd (e.g. '%f%'),
and with a '$env:' prefix on Windows powershell (e.g. '$env:f').
f
Current file selection as a full path.
fs
Selected file(s) separated with the value of 'filesep' option as full path(s).
fx
Selected file(s) (i.e. 'fs') if there are any selected files, otherwise current file
selection (i.e. 'f').
id
Id of the running client.
PWD
Present working directory.
OLDPWD
Initial working directory.
LF_LEVEL
The value of this variable is set to the current nesting level when you run lf from a
shell spawned inside lf. You can add the value of this variable to your shell prompt to
make it clear that your shell runs inside lf. For example, with POSIX shells, you can use
'[ -n "$LF_LEVEL" ] && PS1="$PS1""(lf level: $LF_LEVEL) "' in your shell configuration
file (e.g. '~/.bashrc').
OPENER
If this variable is set in the environment, use the same value, otherwise set the value to
'start' in Windows, 'open' in MacOS, 'xdg-open' in others.
EDITOR
If this variable is set in the environment, use the same value, otherwise set the value to
'vi' on Unix, 'notepad' in Windows.
PAGER
If this variable is set in the environment, use the same value, otherwise set the value to
'less' on Unix, 'more' in Windows.
SHELL
If this variable is set in the environment, use the same value, otherwise set the value to
'sh' on Unix, 'cmd' in Windows.
lf_{option}
Value of the {option}.
lf_user_{option}
Value of the user_{option}.
lf_width
lf_height
Width/Height of the terminal.
SPECIAL COMMANDS
This section shows information about special shell commands.
open
This shell command can be defined to override the default 'open' command when the current
file is not a directory.
paste
This shell command can be defined to override the default 'paste' command.
rename
This shell command can be defined to override the default 'rename' command.
delete
This shell command can be defined to override the default 'delete' command.
pre-cd
This shell command can be defined to be executed before changing a directory.
on-cd
This shell command can be defined to be executed after changing a directory.
on-select
This shell command can be defined to be executed after the selection changes.
on-quit
This shell command can be defined to be executed before quit.
PREFIXES
The following command prefixes are used by lf:
: read (default) builtin/custom command
$ shell shell command
% shell-pipe shell command running with the ui
! shell-wait shell command waiting for key press
& shell-async shell command running asynchronously
The same evaluator is used for the command line and the configuration file for read and
shell commands. The difference is that prefixes are not necessary in the command line.
Instead, different modes are provided to read corresponding commands. These modes are
mapped to the prefix keys above by default.
SYNTAX
Characters from '#' to newline are comments and ignored:
# comments start with '#'
There are four special commands ('set', 'map', 'cmap', and 'cmd') for configuration.
Command 'set' is used to set an option which can be boolean, integer, or string:
set hidden # boolean on
set nohidden # boolean off
set hidden! # boolean toggle
set scrolloff 10 # integer value
set sortby time # string value w/o quotes
set sortby 'time' # string value with single quotes (whitespaces)
set sortby "time" # string value with double quotes (backslash escapes)
Command 'map' is used to bind a key to a command which can be builtin command, custom
command, or shell command:
map gh cd ~ # builtin command
map D trash # custom command
map i $less $f # shell command
map U !du -csh * # waiting shell command
Command 'cmap' is used to bind a key on the command line to a command line command or any
other command:
cmap <c-g> cmd-escape
cmap <a-i> set incsearch!
You can delete an existing binding by leaving the expression empty:
map gh # deletes 'gh' mapping
cmap <c-g> # deletes '<c-g>' mapping
Command 'cmd' is used to define a custom command:
cmd usage $du -h -d1 | less
You can delete an existing command by leaving the expression empty:
cmd trash # deletes 'trash' command
If there is no prefix then ':' is assumed:
map zt set info time
An explicit ':' can be provided to group statements until a newline which is especially
useful for 'map' and 'cmd' commands:
map st :set sortby time; set info time
If you need multiline you can wrap statements in '{{' and '}}' after the proper prefix.
map st :{{
set sortby time
set info time
}}
KEY MAPPINGS
Regular keys are assigned to a command with the usual syntax:
map a down
Keys combined with the shift key simply use the uppercase letter:
map A down
Special keys are written in between '<' and '>' characters and always use lowercase
letters:
map <enter> down
Angle brackets can be assigned with their special names:
map <lt> down
map <gt> down
Function keys are prefixed with 'f' character:
map <f-1> down
Keys combined with the control key are prefixed with 'c' character:
map <c-a> down
Keys combined with the alt key are assigned in two different ways depending on the
behavior of your terminal. Older terminals (e.g. xterm) may set the 8th bit of a character
when the alt key is pressed. On these terminals, you can use the corresponding byte for
the mapping:
map รก down
Newer terminals (e.g. gnome-terminal) may prefix the key with an escape key when the alt
key is pressed. lf uses the escape delaying mechanism to recognize alt keys in these
terminals (delay is 100ms). On these terminals, keys combined with the alt key are
prefixed with 'a' character:
map <a-a> down
Please note that, some key combinations are not possible due to the way terminals work
(e.g. control and h combination sends a backspace key instead). The easiest way to find
the name of a key combination is to press the key while lf is running and read the name of
the key from the unknown mapping error.
Mouse buttons are prefixed with 'm' character:
map <m-1> down # primary
map <m-2> down # secondary
map <m-3> down # middle
map <m-4> down
map <m-5> down
map <m-6> down
map <m-7> down
map <m-8> down
Mouse wheel events are also prefixed with 'm' character:
map <m-up> down
map <m-down> down
map <m-left> down
map <m-right> down
PUSH MAPPINGS
The usual way to map a key sequence is to assign it to a named or unnamed command. While
this provides a clean way to remap builtin keys as well as other commands, it can be
limiting at times. For this reason 'push' command is provided by lf. This command is used
to simulate key pushes given as its arguments. You can 'map' a key to a 'push' command
with an argument to create various keybindings.
This is mainly useful for two purposes. First, it can be used to map a command with a
command count:
map <c-j> push 10j
Second, it can be used to avoid typing the name when a command takes arguments:
map r push :rename<space>
One thing to be careful is that since 'push' command works with keys instead of commands
it is possible to accidentally create recursive bindings:
map j push 2j
These types of bindings create a deadlock when executed.
SHELL COMMANDS
Regular shell commands are the most basic command type that is useful for many purposes.
For example, we can write a shell command to move selected file(s) to trash. A first
attempt to write such a command may look like this:
cmd trash ${{
mkdir -p ~/.trash
if [ -z "$fs" ]; then
mv "$f" ~/.trash
else
IFS="$(printf '\n\t')"; mv $fs ~/.trash
fi
}}
We check '$fs' to see if there are any selected files. Otherwise we just delete the
current file. Since this is such a common pattern, a separate '$fx' variable is provided.
We can use this variable to get rid of the conditional:
cmd trash ${{
mkdir -p ~/.trash
IFS="$(printf '\n\t')"; mv $fx ~/.trash
}}
The trash directory is checked each time the command is executed. We can move it outside
of the command so it would only run once at startup:
${{ mkdir -p ~/.trash }}
cmd trash ${{ IFS="$(printf '\n\t')"; mv $fx ~/.trash }}
Since these are one liners, we can drop '{{' and '}}':
$mkdir -p ~/.trash
cmd trash $IFS="$(printf '\n\t')"; mv $fx ~/.trash
Finally note that we set 'IFS' variable manually in these commands. Instead we could use
the 'ifs' option to set it for all shell commands (i.e. 'set ifs "\n"'). This can be
especially useful for interactive use (e.g. '$rm $f' or '$rm $fs' would simply work). This
option is not set by default as it can behave unexpectedly for new users. However, use of
this option is highly recommended and it is assumed in the rest of the documentation.
PIPING SHELL COMMANDS
Regular shell commands have some limitations in some cases. When an output or error
message is given and the command exits afterwards, the ui is immediately resumed and there
is no way to see the message without dropping to shell again. Also, even when there is no
output or error, the ui still needs to be paused while the command is running. This can
cause flickering on the screen for short commands and similar distractions for longer
commands.
Instead of pausing the ui, piping shell commands connects stdin, stdout, and stderr of the
command to the statline in the bottom of the ui. This can be useful for programs following
the Unix philosophy to give no output in the success case, and brief error messages or
prompts in other cases.
For example, following rename command prompts for overwrite in the statline if there is an
existing file with the given name:
cmd rename %mv -i $f $1
You can also output error messages in the command and it will show up in the statline. For
example, an alternative rename command may look like this:
cmd rename %[ -e $1 ] && printf "file exists" || mv $f $1
Note that input is line buffered and output and error are byte buffered.
WAITING SHELL COMMANDS
Waiting shell commands are similar to regular shell commands except that they wait for a
key press when the command is finished. These can be useful to see the output of a program
before the ui is resumed. Waiting shell commands are more appropriate than piping shell
commands when the command is verbose and the output is best displayed as multiline.
ASYNCHRONOUS SHELL COMMANDS
Asynchronous shell commands are used to start a command in the background and then resume
operation without waiting for the command to finish. Stdin, stdout, and stderr of the
command is neither connected to the terminal nor to the ui.
REMOTE COMMANDS
One of the more advanced features in lf is remote commands. All clients connect to a
server on startup. It is possible to send commands to all or any of the connected clients
over the common server. This is used internally to notify file selection changes to other
clients.
To use this feature, you need to use a client which supports communicating with a Unix
domain socket. OpenBSD implementation of netcat (nc) is one such example. You can use it
to send a command to the socket file:
echo 'send echo hello world' | nc -U ${XDG_RUNTIME_DIR:-/tmp}/lf.${USER}.sock
Since such a client may not be available everywhere, lf comes bundled with a command line
flag to be used as such. When using lf, you do not need to specify the address of the
socket file. This is the recommended way of using remote commands since it is shorter and
immune to socket file address changes:
lf -remote 'send echo hello world'
In this command 'send' is used to send the rest of the string as a command to all
connected clients. You can optionally give it an id number to send a command to a single
client:
lf -remote 'send 1234 echo hello world'
All clients have a unique id number but you may not be aware of the id number when you are
writing a command. For this purpose, an '$id' variable is exported to the environment for
shell commands. The value of this variable is set to the process id of the client. You can
use it to send a remote command from a client to the server which in return sends a
command back to itself. So now you can display a message in the current client by calling
the following in a shell command:
lf -remote "send $id echo hello world"
Since lf does not have control flow syntax, remote commands are used for such needs. For
example, you can configure the number of columns in the ui with respect to the terminal
width as follows:
cmd recol %{{
if [ $lf_width -le 80 ]; then
lf -remote "send $id set ratios 1:2"
elif [ $lf_width -le 160 ]; then
lf -remote "send $id set ratios 1:2:3"
else
lf -remote "send $id set ratios 1:2:3:5"
fi
}}
Besides 'send' command, there is a 'quit' command to quit the server when there are no
connected clients left, and a 'quit!' command to force quit the server by closing client
connections first:
lf -remote 'quit'
lf -remote 'quit!'
Lastly, there is a 'conn' command to connect the server as a client. This should not be
needed for users.
FILE OPERATIONS
lf uses its own builtin copy and move operations by default. These are implemented as
asynchronous operations and progress is shown in the bottom ruler. These commands do not
overwrite existing files or directories with the same name. Instead, a suffix that is
compatible with '--backup=numbered' option in GNU cp is added to the new files or
directories. Only file modes are preserved and all other attributes are ignored including
ownership, timestamps, context, and xattr. Special files such as character and block
devices, named pipes, and sockets are skipped and links are not followed. Moving is
performed using the rename operation of the underlying OS. For cross-device moving, lf
falls back to copying and then deletes the original files if there are no errors.
Operation errors are shown in the message line as well as the log file and they do not
preemptively finish the corresponding file operation.
File operations can be performed on the current selected file or alternatively on multiple
files by selecting them first. When you 'copy' a file, lf doesn't actually copy the file
on the disk, but only records its name to a file. The actual file copying takes place when
you 'paste'. Similarly 'paste' after a 'cut' operation moves the file.
You can customize copy and move operations by defining a 'paste' command. This is a
special command that is called when it is defined instead of the builtin implementation.
You can use the following example as a starting point:
cmd paste %{{
load=$(cat ~/.local/share/lf/files)
mode=$(echo "$load" | sed -n '1p')
list=$(echo "$load" | sed '1d')
if [ $mode = 'copy' ]; then
cp -R $list .
elif [ $mode = 'move' ]; then
mv $list .
rm ~/.local/share/lf/files
lf -remote 'send clear'
fi
}}
Some useful things to be considered are to use the backup ('--backup') and/or preserve
attributes ('-a') options with 'cp' and 'mv' commands if they support it (i.e. GNU
implementation), change the command type to asynchronous, or use 'rsync' command with
progress bar option for copying and feed the progress to the client periodically with
remote 'echo' calls.
By default, lf does not assign 'delete' command to a key to protect new users. You can
customize file deletion by defining a 'delete' command. You can also assign a key to this
command if you like. An example command to move selected files to a trash folder and
remove files completely after a prompt are provided in the example configuration file.
SEARCHING FILES
There are two mechanisms implemented in lf to search a file in the current directory.
Searching is the traditional method to move the selection to a file matching a given
pattern. Finding is an alternative way to search for a pattern possibly using fewer
keystrokes.
Searching mechanism is implemented with commands 'search' (default '/'), 'search-back'
(default '?'), 'search-next' (default 'n'), and 'search-prev' (default 'N'). You can
enable 'globsearch' option to match with a glob pattern. Globbing supports '*' to match
any sequence, '?' to match any character, and '[...]' or '[^...] to match character sets
or ranges. You can enable 'incsearch' option to jump to the current match at each
keystroke while typing. In this mode, you can either use 'cmd-enter' to accept the search
or use 'cmd-escape' to cancel the search. You can also map some other commands with 'cmap'
to accept the search and execute the command immediately afterwards. For example, you can
use the right arrow key to finish the search and open the selected file with the following
mapping:
cmap <right> :cmd-enter; open
Finding mechanism is implemented with commands 'find' (default 'f'), 'find-back' (default
'F'), 'find-next' (default ';'), 'find-prev' (default ','). You can disable 'anchorfind'
option to match a pattern at an arbitrary position in the filename instead of the
beginning. You can set the number of keys to match using 'findlen' option. If you set this
value to zero, then the the keys are read until there is only a single match. Default
values of these two options are set to jump to the first file with the given initial.
Some options effect both searching and finding. You can disable 'wrapscan' option to
prevent searches to wrap around at the end of the file list. You can disable 'ignorecase'
option to match cases in the pattern and the filename. This option is already
automatically overridden if the pattern contains upper case characters. You can disable
'smartcase' option to disable this behavior. Two similar options 'ignoredia' and
'smartdia' are provided to control matching diacritics in latin letters.
OPENING FILES
You can define a an 'open' command (default 'l' and '<right>') to configure file opening.
This command is only called when the current file is not a directory, otherwise the
directory is entered instead. You can define it just as you would define any other
command:
cmd open $vi $fx
It is possible to use different command types:
cmd open &xdg-open $f
You may want to use either file extensions or mime types from 'file' command:
cmd open ${{
case $(file --mime-type -Lb $f) in
text/*) vi $fx;;
*) for f in $fx; do xdg-open $f > /dev/null 2> /dev/null & done;;
esac
}}
You may want to use 'setsid' before your opener command to have persistent processes that
continue to run after lf quits.
Regular shell commands (i.e. '$') drop to terminal which results in a flicker for commands
that finishes immediately (e.g. 'xdg-open' in the above example). If you want to use
asynchronous shell commands (i.e. '&') but also want to use the terminal when necessary
(e.g. 'vi' in the above exxample), you can use a remote command:
cmd open &{{
case $(file --mime-type -Lb $f) in
text/*) lf -remote "send $id \$vi \$fx";;
*) for f in $fx; do xdg-open $f > /dev/null 2> /dev/null & done;;
esac
}}
Note, asynchronous shell commands run in their own process group by default so they do not
require the manual use of 'setsid'.
Following command is provided by default:
cmd open &$OPENER $f
You may also use any other existing file openers as you like. Possible options are
'libfile-mimeinfo-perl' (executable name is 'mimeopen'), 'rifle' (ranger's default file
opener), or 'mimeo' to name a few.
PREVIEWING FILES
lf previews files on the preview pane by printing the file until the end or the preview
pane is filled. This output can be enhanced by providing a custom preview script for
filtering. This can be used to highlight source codes, list contents of archive files or
view pdf or image files to name a few. For coloring lf recognizes ansi escape codes.
In order to use this feature you need to set the value of 'previewer' option to the path
of an executable file. Five arguments are passed to the file, (1) current file name, (2)
width, (3) height, (4) horizontal position, and (5) vertical position of preview pane
respectively. Output of the execution is printed in the preview pane. You may also want to
use the same script in your pager mapping as well:
set previewer ~/.config/lf/pv.sh
map i $~/.config/lf/pv.sh $f | less -R
For 'less' pager, you may instead utilize 'LESSOPEN' mechanism so that useful information
about the file such as the full path of the file can still be displayed in the statusline
below:
set previewer ~/.config/lf/pv.sh
map i $LESSOPEN='| ~/.config/lf/pv.sh %s' less -R $f
Since this script is called for each file selection change it needs to be as efficient as
possible and this responsibility is left to the user. You may use file extensions to
determine the type of file more efficiently compared to obtaining mime types from 'file'
command. Extensions can then be used to match cleanly within a conditional:
#!/bin/sh
case "$1" in
*.tar*) tar tf "$1";;
*.zip) unzip -l "$1";;
*.rar) unrar l "$1";;
*.7z) 7z l "$1";;
*.pdf) pdftotext "$1" -;;
*) highlight -O ansi "$1";;
esac
Another important consideration for efficiency is the use of programs with short startup
times for preview. For this reason, 'highlight' is recommended over 'pygmentize' for
syntax highlighting. Besides, it is also important that the application is processing the
file on the fly rather than first reading it to the memory and then do the processing
afterwards. This is especially relevant for big files. lf automatically closes the
previewer script output pipe with a SIGPIPE when enough lines are read. When everything
else fails, you can make use of the height argument to only feed the first portion of the
file to a program for preview. Note that some programs may not respond well to SIGPIPE to
exit with a non-zero return code and avoid caching. You may add a trailing '|| true'
command to avoid such errors:
highlight -O ansi "$1" || true
You may also use an existing preview filter as you like. Your system may already come with
a preview filter named 'lesspipe'. These filters may have a mechanism to add user
customizations as well. See the related documentations for more information.
CHANGING DIRECTORY
lf changes the working directory of the process to the current directory so that shell
commands always work in the displayed directory. After quitting, it returns to the
original directory where it is first launched like all shell programs. If you want to stay
in the current directory after quitting, you can use one of the example lfcd wrapper shell
scripts provided in the repository at https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/tree/master/etc
There is a special command 'on-cd' that runs a shell command when it is defined and the
directory is changed. You can define it just as you would define any other command:
cmd on-cd &{{
# display git repository status in your prompt
source /usr/share/git/completion/git-prompt.sh
GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE=auto
GIT_PS1_SHOWSTASHSTATE=auto
GIT_PS1_SHOWUNTRACKEDFILES=auto
GIT_PS1_SHOWUPSTREAM=auto
git=$(__git_ps1 " (%s)") || true
fmt="\033[32;1m%u@%h\033[0m:\033[34;1m%d\033[0m\033[1m%f$git\033[0m"
lf -remote "send $id set promptfmt \"$fmt\""
}}
If you want to print escape sequences, you may redirect 'printf' output to '/dev/tty'. The
following xterm specific escape sequence sets the terminal title to the working directory:
cmd on-cd &{{
printf "\033]0; $PWD\007" > /dev/tty
}}
This command runs whenever you change directory but not on startup. You can add an extra
call to make it run on startup as well:
cmd on-cd &{{ ... }}
on-cd
Note that all shell commands are possible but '%' and '&' are usually more appropriate as
'$' and '!' causes flickers and pauses respectively.
There is also a 'pre-cd' command, that works like 'on-cd', but is run before the directory
is actually changed.
COLORS
lf tries to automatically adapt its colors to the environment. It starts with a default
colorscheme and updates colors using values of existing environment variables possibly by
overwriting its previous values. Colors are set in the following order:
1. default
2. LSCOLORS (Mac/BSD ls)
3. LS_COLORS (GNU ls)
4. LF_COLORS (lf specific)
5. colors file (lf specific)
Please refer to the corresponding man pages for more information about 'LSCOLORS' and
'LS_COLORS'. 'LF_COLORS' is provided with the same syntax as 'LS_COLORS' in case you want
to configure colors only for lf but not ls. This can be useful since there are some
differences between ls and lf, though one should expect the same behavior for common
cases. Colors file is provided for easier configuration without environment variables.
This file should consist of whitespace separated pairs with '#' character to start
comments until the end of line.
You can configure lf colors in two different ways. First, you can only configure 8 basic
colors used by your terminal and lf should pick up those colors automatically. Depending
on your terminal, you should be able to select your colors from a 24-bit palette. This is
the recommended approach as colors used by other programs will also match each other.
Second, you can set the values of environment variables or colors file mentioned above for
fine grained customization. Note that 'LS_COLORS/LF_COLORS' are more powerful than
'LSCOLORS' and they can be used even when GNU programs are not installed on the system.
You can combine this second method with the first method for best results.
Lastly, you may also want to configure the colors of the prompt line to match the rest of
the colors. Colors of the prompt line can be configured using the 'promptfmt' option which
can include hardcoded colors as ansi escapes. See the default value of this option to have
an idea about how to color this line.
It is worth noting that lf uses as many colors advertised by your terminal's entry in
terminfo or infocmp databases on your system. If an entry is not present, it falls back to
an internal database. If your terminal supports 24-bit colors but either does not have a
database entry or does not advertise all capabilities, you can enable support by setting
the '$COLORTERM' variable to 'truecolor' or ensuring '$TERM' is set to a value that ends
with '-truecolor'.
Default lf colors are mostly taken from GNU dircolors defaults. These defaults use 8 basic
colors and bold attribute. Default dircolors entries with background colors are simplified
to avoid confusion with current file selection in lf. Similarly, there are only file type
matchings and extension matchings are left out for simplicity. Default values are as
follows given with their matching order in lf:
ln 01;36
or 31;01
tw 01;34
ow 01;34
st 01;34
di 01;34
pi 33
so 01;35
bd 33;01
cd 33;01
su 01;32
sg 01;32
ex 01;32
fi 00
Note that lf first tries matching file names and then falls back to file types. The full
order of matchings from most specific to least are as follows:
1. Full Path (e.g. '~/.config/lf/lfrc')
2. Dir Name (e.g. '.git/') (only matches dirs with a trailing slash at the end)
3. File Type (e.g. 'ln') (except 'fi')
4. File Name (e.g. 'README*')
5. File Name (e.g. '*README')
6. Base Name (e.g. 'README.*')
7. Extension (e.g. '*.txt')
8. Default (i.e. 'fi')
For example, given a regular text file '/path/to/README.txt', the following entries are
checked in the configuration and the first one to match is used:
1. '/path/to/README.txt'
2. (skipped since the file is not a directory)
3. (skipped since the file is of type 'fi')
4. 'README.txt*'
5. '*README.txt'
6. 'README.*'
7. '*.txt'
8. 'fi'
Given a regular directory '/path/to/example.d', the following entries are checked in the
configuration and the first one to match is used:
1. '/path/to/example.d'
2. 'example.d/'
3. 'di'
4. 'example.d*'
5. '*example.d'
6. 'example.*'
7. '*.d'
8. 'fi'
Note that glob-like patterns do not actually perform glob matching due to performance
reasons.
For example, you can set a variable as follows:
export LF_COLORS="~/Documents=01;31:~/Downloads=01;31:~/.local/share=01;31:~/.config/lf/lfrc=31:.git/=01;32:.git*=32:*.gitignore=32:*Makefile=32:README.*=33:*.txt=34:*.md=34:ln=01;36:di=01;34:ex=01;32:"
Having all entries on a single line can make it hard to read. You may instead divide it to
multiple lines in between double quotes by escaping newlines with backslashes as follows:
export LF_COLORS="\
~/Documents=01;31:\
~/Downloads=01;31:\
~/.local/share=01;31:\
~/.config/lf/lfrc=31:\
.git/=01;32:\
.git*=32:\
*.gitignore=32:\
*Makefile=32:\
README.*=33:\
*.txt=34:\
*.md=34:\
ln=01;36:\
di=01;34:\
ex=01;32:\
"
Having such a long variable definition in a shell configuration file might be undesirable.
You may instead use the colors file for configuration. A sample colors file can be found
at https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/blob/master/etc/colors.example You may also see the wiki
page for ansi escape codes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code
ICONS
Icons are configured using 'LF_ICONS' environment variable or an icons file. The variable
uses the same syntax as 'LS_COLORS/LF_COLORS'. Instead of colors, you should put a single
characters as values of entries. Icons file should consist of whitespace separated pairs
with '#' character to start comments until the end of line. Do not forget to enable
'icons' option to see the icons. Default values are as follows given with their matching
order in lf:
ln l
or l
tw t
ow d
st t
di d
pi p
so s
bd b
cd c
su u
sg g
ex x
fi -
A sample icons file can be found at
https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/blob/master/etc/icons.example
LF(1)