# Broot

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A better way to navigate directories

[**Broot's Web Site**](https://dystroy.org/broot)

### Get an overview of a directory, even a big one:

![overview](img/20190128-overview.png)

Notice the "unlisted"? That's what makes it usable where the old `tree` command would produce pages of output.

`.gitignore` files are properly dealt with to put unwanted files out of your way (you can ignore them though, see documentation).

### Find a directory then `cd` to it:

![cd](img/20190128-cd.png)

This way, you can navigate to a directory with the minimum amount of keystrokes, even if you don't exactly remember where it is.

broot is fast and never blocks, even when you make it search a big slow disk (any keystroke interrupts the current search to start the next one).

Most useful keys for this:

* the letters of what you're looking for
* `<enter>` to select a directory (staying in broot)
* `<esc>` to get back to the previous state or clear your search
* `<alt><enter>` to get back to the shell having `cd` to the selected directory
* `:q` if you just want to quit (`<esc>` works too)

### Never lose track of file hierarchy while you fuzzy search:

![size](img/20190212-mycnf.png)

broot tries to select the most relevant file. You can still go from one match to another one using `<tab>` or arrow keys.

You may also search with a regular expression. To do this, add a `/` before or after the pattern.

Complex regular expression are possible, but you'll probably most often use a regex to do an "exact" search, or search an expression at the start or end of the filename.

For example, assuming you look for your one file whose name contains `abc` in a big directory, you may not see it immediately because of many fuzzy matches. In that case, just add a slash at the end to change you fuzzy search into an exact expression: `abc/`.

And if you look for a filename *ending* in `abc` then you may anchor the regex: `abc$/`.

### See what takes space:

![size](img/20190128-only-folders-with-size.png)

To toggle size display, type `:s`. Sizes are computed in the background, you don't have to wait for them when you navigate.

### Apply a personal shortcut to a file:

![size](img/20190128-edit.png)

Just find the file you want to edit with a few keystrokes, type `:e`, then `<enter>` (you should define your preferred editor, see [documentation](documentation.md#verbs)).

### More...

See [Broot's web site](https://dystroy.org/broot) for instructions regarding installation and usage.