lf

A terminal‑based file manager written in Go, it presents directory contents in a list view and lets users navigate, preview, and act on files from the command line. The program runs as a single static binary, starts quickly, and consumes little memory, while asynchronous I/O prevents the interface from locking during operations. It works on Linux, macOS, BSDs, and Windows, and can be invoked directly from a shell or integrated with other tools via its server/client architecture and remote commands.

The design emphasizes extensibility: users can bind keys (vi or readline style) to custom shell commands, define their own icons and colors, and script behavior through configuration files. Because it relies on external utilities for file manipulation, paging, and editing, it avoids bundling its own editors or pagers, allowing users to keep their preferred tools.

Typical users are developers, system administrators, or power users who spend most of their time in a terminal and want a fast, highly configurable way to browse and manage files without leaving the shell environment.