# Coxswain
*The one at the helm, who steers the boat and keeps the crew in time.*
Coxswain is a two-panel file manager in the Norton Commander tradition, built for developers.
It comes as a terminal app (`coxswain`, Rust and Ratatui) and a desktop app (`coxswain-gui`,
Tauri and Svelte 5), both on one shared Rust core and one config file. It finds any file by
its name, its text or what it is about, previews over 60 kinds of file, opens archives like
folders, shows git in every panel, and keeps everything on your machine.
*The desktop app in **Cyber**, its default. Seventeen more themes are one F9 away, from Norton
Commander blue to Windows 95 and Mac OS 9.*
## Highlights
- **Norton Commander at heart:** two panels, the F-key bar, a command line and NC's keys. [Panels and keys](docs/panels/README.md)
- **Find by name, text or meaning:** Ctrl+F, and Tab goes deeper, from every name on the machine to what a file is about. [Search](docs/search/README.md)
- **Ask your files:** a question in your own words, answered by your own chat model from the closest passages, with numbered sources. [Ask](docs/search/ask.md)
- **Search by meaning, in any language:** a small model on your machine, or your own Ollama, Lemonade or OpenAI-style server. [Search by meaning](docs/search/meaning.md)
- **See before you open:** code, Markdown, PDF, Word, PowerPoint, spreadsheets, SQLite, HTML, fonts, video and more. [The preview pane](docs/previews/README.md)
- **Builds what needs building:** LaTeX, Office, PlantUML and Graphviz previews, with your tools or a sealed container. [LaTeX](docs/previews/latex.md) · [Tools](docs/previews/tools.md)
- **Reads cryptography bills of materials:** a CycloneDX CBOM as a rated tree or sunburst, compared with last month's scan, in both apps. [CBOMs](docs/previews/bom.md)
- **Archives are folders:** zip, 7z and tar (gz, bz2, xz, zst): go in, copy, move, rename, pack, with passwords. [Archives](docs/files/archives.md)
- **Git in every panel:** branch, ahead and behind, counts and a glyph per file. [Git](docs/panels/git.md)
- **Folder sizes without asking,** instant in your home folder. [Folder sizes](docs/panels/folder-sizes.md)
- **Finds duplicates** by content across folders and disks, and marks the extra copies by rule. [Duplicates](docs/files/duplicates.md)
- **Eighteen themes with the looks of their era,** and 18 languages, Hebrew right to left. [Themes](docs/customise/themes.md) · [Languages](docs/customise/languages.md)
- **Nothing leaves your machine** unless you ask for it. [Privacy](docs/reference/privacy.md)
|  |  |
| [The terminal app](docs/reference/terminal-app.md) | [Find file, inside files](docs/search/text.md) |
|  |  |
| [The preview pane](docs/previews/README.md) | [Archives as folders](docs/files/archives.md) |
## Install
| macOS | `brew install mwo-dk/coxswain/coxswain` | `brew install --cask mwo-dk/coxswain/coxswain-gui`, or the `.dmg` |
| Linux | `brew install mwo-dk/coxswain/coxswain`, or the static `x86_64-unknown-linux-musl` binary | `.deb`, `.rpm`, `.AppImage`, or the Homebrew cask (x86-64) |
| Windows | `coxswain-terminal-<version>-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip` | `.msi` or `-setup.exe` |
| Any | `cargo install coxswain` | `./install/install.sh` (or `install\install.ps1`) from a clone |
Downloads are on the [releases page](https://github.com/mwo-dk/coxswain/releases/latest).
**The builds are not code-signed:** on Windows click *More info* and *Run anyway*; on macOS, if
the app "is damaged", run `xattr -cr /Applications/Coxswain.app` once (the cask does it for you).
Both apps check once a day for a newer release and give the exact update command
([Update checks](docs/reference/updates.md)). Every way to install and update, and building
from source: [install/INSTALL.md](install/INSTALL.md). Git glyphs want a
[Nerd Font](https://www.nerdfonts.com/); without one set `glyphs = "ascii"`
([Glyphs and fonts](docs/customise/glyphs-and-fonts.md)).
## First steps
1. **Start it** in a folder: `coxswain` (or `cox`) in a terminal, or `coxswain-gui`. Two folders
open the two panels: `coxswain ~/src ~/Downloads`.
2. **Move** with the arrows, **Enter** opens (a folder, or an archive), **Backspace** goes up,
**Tab** switches panels.
3. **Mark** with **Insert**, then **F5** copies or **F6** moves to the other panel. **F8** moves
to the trash, **F7** makes a folder.
4. **Find** anything with **Ctrl+F**; **Tab** looks deeper.
5. **Type** a command and press **Enter**: it runs in the panel's folder.
6. In the desktop app, **Space** shows the preview pane and **Ctrl+,** opens Settings.
7. Forgot a key? **F9** lists every command, and **F1** shows your keys.
More in [Panels and keys](docs/panels/README.md) and [Every default key](docs/panels/keys.md).
## Documentation
The [docs index](docs/README.md) is the full map; every feature has its own page with the keys,
what you see, the settings, and the questions people ask.
| [Panels and keys](docs/panels/README.md) | The screen, moving, quick search, marking, sorting, tabs, views, folder sizes, git, the mouse, every key |
| [Tags, notes, favourites and the sidebar](docs/organise/README.md) | Colour tags, folder notes, favourite groups, places and drives |
| [Commands, the user menu and scripts](docs/commands/README.md) | The command line, F2 menu, scripts, F3 and F4, opening files |
| [Search](docs/search/README.md) | Names, text, scans, diagrams, meaning, servers, the helper, disks, battery, notices |
| [The preview pane](docs/previews/README.md) | Every format, HTML, Office, diagrams, LaTeX, tools and containers |
| [Files](docs/files/README.md) | Copy, move, delete, clipboard, drag and drop, batch rename, archives, properties, duplicates |
| [Customising](docs/customise/README.md) | Settings, themes, looks, your own theme, languages, keys, glyphs |
| [Reference](docs/reference/README.md) | The terminal app, flags, every config key, privacy, updates, where files are kept |
| [Questions, collected](docs/faq.md) | The common questions, linked to their full answers |
## Layout
```
crates/coxswain-core config, fs ops, archives, git status, search index and store, duplicates (shared)
crates/coxswain terminal UI (package and binaries: coxswain, cox)
gui/ Svelte 5 frontend
gui/src-tauri Tauri backend (binary: coxswain-gui)
```
## Licence
MIT
Norton Commander is a trademark of Gen Digital Inc. Coxswain is an independent project, not
affiliated with or endorsed by Gen Digital.
## Changelog
Newest first. Downloads for each release are on the [releases page](https://github.com/mwo-dk/coxswain/releases).
| **1.22.0** | 2026-10-01 | Ask: Tab to the fourth depth of Find file, ask a question, and your own chat model answers from your files, citing them; follow-ups work, nothing is kept. [Ask](docs/search/ask.md) |
| **1.21.0** | 2026-10-01 | Cryptography bills of materials (CycloneDX CBOMs): every algorithm, key, certificate and protocol rated, as a tree or sunburst, compared with an older scan, in both apps. [CBOMs](docs/previews/bom.md) |
| **1.20.0** | 2026-10-01 | More archive kinds: tar.bz2, tar.xz, tar.zst and 7z, read and written, and locked 7z archives open with their password. [Archives](docs/files/archives.md) |
| **1.19.0** | 2026-10-01 | Archives are folders: go in with Enter, copy and move in, out and between them, rename, make folders, take out, pack with Alt+F5, with passwords for locked zips. [Archives](docs/files/archives.md) |
| **1.18.0** | 2026-09-30 | Diagrams are searched by what they say: a sentence per arrow in draw.io, Mermaid, Graphviz and PlantUML. [Diagrams in search](docs/search/diagrams.md) |
| **1.17.0** | 2026-09-30 | HTML files show as pages, safely sealed off; the title bar shows the version and search depths on Linux too. [HTML pages](docs/previews/html.md) |
| **1.16.0** | 2026-09-30 | Search by meaning on your own Ollama, Lemonade or any OpenAI-style server. [Servers](docs/search/servers.md) |
| **1.15.0** | 2026-09-30 | Notices say once what search can do and what is off; the titles show the version and search depths. [Notices](docs/search/notices.md) |
| **1.14.0** | 2026-09-30 | LaTeX builds by itself when its sources change, and another engine takes over when one fails. [LaTeX](docs/previews/latex.md) |
| **1.13.0** | 2026-09-30 | Find file shows where it can look, and that search by meaning is there to turn on. [Find file](docs/search/find-file.md) |
| **1.12.1** | 2026-09-30 | Terminal app: typing in Find file never waits for the search. [Find file](docs/search/find-file.md) |
| **1.12.0** | 2026-09-30 | Search by meaning: a small multilingual model on your machine finds files about what you type. [Search by meaning](docs/search/meaning.md) |
| **1.11.0** | 2026-09-30 | LaTeX picks XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX by the packages and builds past errors; the preview cache can be cleared. [LaTeX](docs/previews/latex.md) |
| **1.10.0** | 2026-09-30 | PowerPoint decks show at once, drawn in the app; LibreOffice's exact view follows. [Office](docs/previews/office.md) |
| **1.9.1** | 2026-09-30 | Office previews work again from the AppImage. [Office](docs/previews/office.md) |
| **1.9.0** | 2026-09-30 | Search reads pictures, scans and older Office files with programs you have installed. [Scans and pictures](docs/search/scans.md) |
| **1.8.0** | 2026-09-30 | The search helper can start with your session: systemd, launchd or the Windows Run key. [The search helper](docs/search/helper.md) |
| **1.7.0** | 2026-09-30 | draw.io diagrams drawn in the app by draw.io's own viewer; slides and documents render by themselves. [Diagrams](docs/previews/diagrams.md) |
| **1.6.0** | 2026-09-30 | Search pauses on battery, and knows removable disks wherever they are mounted. [Battery](docs/search/battery.md) · [Removable disks](docs/search/removable-disks.md) |
| **1.5.0** | 2026-09-30 | Search inside files in Settings: the folders read, names only, Index now, Delete the index. [Choosing the folders](docs/search/folders.md) |
| **1.4.2** | 2026-09-30 | A new app icon in Cyber's colours. [Themes](docs/customise/themes.md) |
| **1.4.1** | 2026-09-30 | Search follows changes on disk within seconds; Duplicates reuses the hashes search already has. [Text in files](docs/search/text.md) · [Duplicates](docs/files/duplicates.md) |
| **1.4.0** | 2026-09-30 | Folder sizes in your home folder are there at once. [Folder sizes](docs/panels/folder-sizes.md) |
| **1.3.1** | 2026-09-29 | Search inside PDFs. [Documents it reads](docs/search/documents.md) |
| **1.3.0** | 2026-09-29 | Search inside Word, spreadsheets, slides, mail, books and notebooks. [Documents it reads](docs/search/documents.md) |
| **1.2.0** | 2026-09-29 | Search inside your files: Tab in Find file. [Text in files](docs/search/text.md) |
| **1.1.0** | 2026-09-29 | One file name index for every window and the terminal app. [Names everywhere](docs/search/names.md) |
| **1.0.1** | 2026-09-29 | Screenshots in Cyber, diagrams in the theme's colours, Homebrew as the one package manager. [Install](install/INSTALL.md) |
| **1.0.0** | 2026-09-29 | Coxswain under its own name: two panels in the terminal and on the desktop, previews, duplicates, 18 themes and 18 languages. [Docs index](docs/README.md) |