1NNN(1) BSD General Commands Manual NNN(1)
2
4 nnn — The unorthodox terminal file manager.
5
7 nnn [-aAcCdDeEfgHJKnQrRSuUVwxh] [-b key] [-F val] [-l val] [-p file]
8 [-P key] [-s name] [-t secs] [-T key] [PATH]
9
11 nnn (Nnn's Not Noice) is a performance-optimized, feature-packed fork of
12 noice http://git.2f30.org/noice/ with seamless desktop integration, sim‐
13 plified navigation, type-to-nav mode with auto select, disk usage ana‐
14 lyzer mode, bookmarks, contexts, application launcher, familiar naviga‐
15 tion shortcuts, subshell spawning and much more. It remains a simple and
16 efficient file manager that stays out of your way.
17 nnn opens the current working directory by default if PATH is not speci‐
19 fied.
20
22 Press ‘?’ in nnn to see the list of keybinds.
23
25 nnn supports the following options:
26 -a
28 auto-setup temporary NNN_FIFO (described in ENVIRONMENT section)
29 -A
31 disable directory auto-select in type-to-nav mode
32 -b key
34 specify bookmark key to open
35 -c
37 indicates that the opener is a cli-only opener (overrides -e)
38 -C
40 8-color scheme - color directories by context, disable file col‐
41 ors
42 -d
44 detail mode
45 -D
47 show directories in context color with NNN_FCOLORS set
48 -e
50 open text files in $VISUAL (else $EDITOR, fallback vi) [prefer‐
51 ably CLI]
52 -E
54 use $EDITOR for internal undetached edits
55 -f
57 use readline history file
58 -F val
60 fifo notification mode
61 0: notify as previewer, 1: notify as explorer
62 -g
64 use regex filters instead of substring match
65 -H
67 show hidden files
68 -J
70 disable auto-proceed on select
71 -K
73 test for keybind collision
74 -l val
76 number of lines to move per mouse wheel scroll
77 -n
79 start in type-to-nav mode
80 -o
82 open files only on Enter key
83 -p file
85 copy (or pick) selection to file, or stdout if file='-'
86 -P key
88 specify plugin key to run
89 -Q
91 disable confirmation on quit with multiple contexts active
92 -r
94 show cp, mv progress
95 (Linux-only, needs advcpmv; '^T' shows the progress on BSD/macOS)
96 -R
98 disable rollover at edges
99 -s name
101 load a session by name
102 -S
104 persistent session
105 -t secs
107 idle timeout in seconds to lock terminal
108 -T key
110 sort order
111 keys: 'a'u / 'd'u / 'e'xtension / 'r'everse / 's'ize / 't'ime /
112 'v'ersion
113 capitalize to reverse (except 'r')
114 -u
116 use selection if available, don't prompt to choose between selec‐
117 tion and hovered entry
118 -U
120 show user and group names in status bar
121 -V
123 show version and exit
124 -w
126 place hardware cursor on hovered entry
127 -x
129 show notis on selection cp, mv, rm completion
130 copy path to system clipboard on select
131 show xterm title (if non-picker mode)
132 -h
134 show program help and exit
135
137 There is no configuration file. Associated files are at
138 ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/
140 Configuration is done using a few optional (set if you need) environment
142 variables. See ENVIRONMENT section.
143 nnn uses xdg-open (on Linux), open(1) (on macOS), cygstart on (Cygwin)
145 and open on (Haiku) as the desktop opener. It's also possible to specify
146 a custom opener. See ENVIRONMENT section.
147
149 Open multiple locations with 4 contexts. The status is shown in the top
150 left corner:
151 - the current context is in reverse video
153 - other active contexts are underlined
154 - rest are inactive
155 A new context copies the state of the previous context. Each context can
157 have its own color. See ENVIRONMENT section.
158
160 Sessions are a way to save and restore states of work. A session stores
161 the settings and contexts. Sessions can be loaded at runtime or with a
162 program option.
163 - When a session is loaded at runtime, the last working state is saved
165 automatically to a dedicated "auto session" session file. Session option
166 restore would restore the "auto session".
167 - The persistent session option is global. If it is used, the last active
168 session will be updated with the final state at program quit.
169 - The "auto session" is used in persistent session mode if no session is
170 active.
171 - Listing input stream and opening a bookmark by key have a higher prior‐
172 ity to session options (-s/-S).
173 All the session files are located by session name in the directory
175 ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/nnn/sessions
177 "@" is the "auto session" file.
179
181 Filters are strings (or regex patterns) to find matching entries in the
182 current directory instantly (search-as-you-type). Matches are case-insen‐
183 sitive by default. The last filter in each context is persisted at run‐
184 time or in saved sessions.
185 Special keys at filter prompt:
187 -------- + ---------------------------------------
189 Key | Function
190 -------- + ---------------------------------------
191 ^char | Usual keybind functionality
192 Esc | Exit filter prompt but skip dir refresh
193 Alt+Esc | Exit filter prompt and refresh dir
194 -------- + ---------------------------------------
195 Special keys at empty filter prompt:
197 ------ + ---------------------------------------
199 Key | Function
200 ------ + ---------------------------------------
201 ? | Show help and config screen
202 / | Toggle between string and regex
203 : | Toggle case-sensitivity
204 ^L | Clear filter (if prompt is non-empty)
205 | OR apply last filter
206 Bksp | Stay at filter prompt and refresh dir
207 Del | Stay at filter prompt and refresh dir
208 ------ + ---------------------------------------
209 Additional special keys at empty filter prompt in type-to-nav mode:
211 ------ + ------------------------
213 Key | Function
214 ------ + ------------------------
215 ' | Go to first non-dir file
216 + | Toggle auto-advance
217 , | Mark CWD
218 - | Go to last visited dir
219 . | Show hidden files
220 ; | Run a plugin by its key
221 = | Launch a GUI application
222 > | Export file list
223 @ | Visit start dir
224 ] | Show command prompt
225 ` | Visit /
226 ~ | Go HOME
227 ------ + ------------------------
228 Common regex use cases:
230 (1) To list all matches starting with the filter expression,
232 start the expression with a '^' (caret) symbol.
233 (2) Type '\.mkv' to list all MKV files.
234 (3) Use '.*' to match any character (sort of fuzzy search).
235 (4) Exclude filenames having 'nnn' (compiled with PCRE lib): '^(?!nnn)'
236 In the type-to-nav mode directories are opened in filter mode, allowing
238 continuous navigation.
239 When there's a unique match and it's a directory, nnn auto selects the
240 directory and enters it in this mode. Use the relevant program option to
241 disable this behaviour.
242
244 nnn allows file selection across directories and contexts!
245 There are 3 groups of keybinds to add files to selection:
247 (1) hovered file selection toggle
249 - deselects if '+' is visible before the entry, else adds to selec‐
250 tion
251 (2) add a range of files to selection
252 - repeat the range key on the same entry twice to clear selection
253 completely
254 (3) add all files in the current directory to selection
255 A selection can be edited, copied, moved, removed, archived or linked.
257 Absolute paths of the selected files are copied to .selection file in the
259 config directory. The selection file is shared between multiple program
260 instances. Selection from multiple instances are not merged. The last in‐
261 stance writing to the file overwrites earlier contents. If you have 2 in‐
262 stances of nnn open in 2 panes of a terminal multiplexer, you can select
263 in one pane and use the selection in the other pane. The selection gets
264 cleared in the nnn instance where the selection was made on mv/rm (but
265 not on cp).
266 nnn clears the selection after a successful operation with the selection.
268 Plugins are allowed to define the behaviour individually.
269 To edit the selection use the _edit selection_ key. Editing doesn't end
271 the selection mode. You can add more files to the selection and edit the
272 list again. If no file is selected in the current session, this option
273 attempts to list the selection file.
274
276 There are two ways to search and list:
277 - feed a list of file paths as input
279 - search using a plugin (e.g. finder) and list the results
280 File paths must be NUL-separated ('\0'). Paths and can be relative to the
282 current directory or absolute. Invalid paths in the input are ignored.
283 Input limit is 65,536 paths or 256 MiB of data.
284 To list the input stream, start nnn by writing to its standard input.
286 E.g., to list files in current directory larger than 1M:
287 find -maxdepth 1 -size +1M -print0 | nnn
289 or redirect a list from a file:
291 nnn < files.txt
293 Handy bash/zsh shell function to list files by mime-type in current di‐
295 rectory:
296 # to show video files, run: list video
298 list ()
300 {
301 find . -maxdepth 1 | file -if- | grep "$1" | awk -F: '{printf "%s ", $1}' | nnn
302 }
303 A temporary directory will be created containing symlinks to the given
305 paths. Any action performed on these symlinks will be performed only on
306 their targets, after which they might become invalid.
307 Right arrow or 'l' on a symlink in the listing dir takes to the target
309 file. Press '-' to return to the listing dir. Press 'Enter' to open the
310 symlink.
311 Listing input stream can be scripted. It can be extended to pick (option
313 -p) selected entries from the listed results.
314
316 The minimum file size unit is byte (B). The rest are K, M, G, T, P, E, Z,
317 Y (powers of 1024), same as the default units in ls.
318
320 The SHELL, VISUAL (else EDITOR) and PAGER environment variables are used.
321 A single combination of arguments is supported for SHELL and PAGER.
322 NNN_OPTS: binary options to nnn
324 export NNN_OPTS="cEnrx"
326 NNN_OPENER: specify a custom file opener.
328 export NNN_OPENER=nuke
330 NOTE: 'nuke' is a file opener available in the plugin repository.
332 NNN_BMS: bookmark string as key_char:location pairs separated by ;:
334 export NNN_BMS="d:$HOME/Docs;u:/home/user/Cam Uploads;D:$HOME/Downloads/"
336 NNN_PLUG: directly executable plugins as key_char:plugin pairs separated
338 by ;:
339 export NNN_PLUG='f:finder;o:fzopen;p:mocplay;d:diffs;t:nmount;v:imgview'
341 NOTES:
343 1. To run a plugin directly, press ; followed by the key.
344 2. Alternatively, combine with Alt (i.e. Alt+key).
345 3. To skip directory refresh after running a plugin, prefix with -.
346 export NNN_PLUG='p:-plugin'
348 To assign keys to arbitrary non-background cli commands and invoke
350 like
351 plugins, add ! before the command.
352 export NNN_PLUG='x:!chmod +x $nnn;g:!git log;s:!smplayer $nnn'
354 To pick and run an unassigned plugin, press Enter at the plugin prompt.
356 To run a plugin at startup, use the option `-P` followed by the plugin key.
357 NOTES:
359 1. Use single quotes for $NNN_PLUG so $nnn is not interpreted
360 2. (Again) add ! before the command
361 3. To disable directory refresh after running a command as plugin,
362 prefix with -!
363 4. To skip user confirmation after command execution, suffix with *
364 Note: Do not use * with programs those run and exit e.g. cat
365 export NNN_PLUG='y:-!sync*'
367 5. To run a GUI app as plugin, add a & after !
369 Note: $nnn must be the last argument in this case.
370 export NNN_PLUG='m:-!&mousepad $nnn'
372 6. To show the output of run-and-exit commands which do not need user input,
374 add | (pipe) after !
375 Note: This option is incompatible with & (terminal output is masked
376 for GUI programs) and ignores * (output is already paged for user)
377 export NNN_PLUG='m:-!|mediainfo $nnn;t:-!|tree -ps;l:-!|ls -lah --group-directories-first'
379 EXAMPLES:
381 ----------------------------------- + -------------------------------------------------
382 Key:Command | Description
383 ----------------------------------- + -------------------------------------------------
384 e:-!sudo -E vim $nnn* | Edit file as root in vim
385 g:-!git diff | Show git diff
386 h:-!hx $nnn* | Open hovered file in hx hex editor
387 k:-!fuser -kiv $nnn* | Interactively kill process(es) using hovered file
388 l:-!git log | Show git log
389 n:-!vi /home/user/Dropbox/dir/note* | Take quick notes in a synced file/dir of notes
390 p:-!less -iR $nnn* | Page through hovered file in less
391 s:-!&smplayer -minigui $nnn | Play hovered media file, even unfinished download
392 x:!chmod +x $nnn | Make the hovered file executable
393 y:-!sync* | Flush cached writes
394 ----------------------------------- + -------------------------------------------------
395 Online docs: https://github.com/jarun/nnn/tree/master/plugins
397 NNN_ORDER: directory-specific sort key.
399 export NNN_ORDER='t:/home/user/Downloads;S:/tmp'
401 NOTE: Sort keys can be a/d/e/r/s/t/v (see program option -T).
403 Capitalize to reverse (except 'r').
404 Path must be absolute.
405 NNN_COLORS: string of color numbers for each context, e.g.:
407 # 8 color numbers:
409 # 0-black, 1-red, 2-green, 3-yellow, 4-blue (default), 5-magenta, 6-cyan, 7-white
410 export NNN_COLORS='1234'
411 # xterm 256 color numbers (converted to hex, 2 symbols per context):
413 # see https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1482942/93023823-46a6ba80-f5e1-11ea-9ea3-6a3c757704f4.png
414 export NNN_COLORS='#0a1b2c3d'
415 # both (256 followed by 8 as fallback, separated by ';')
417 export NNN_COLORS='#0a1b2c3d;1234'
418 NOTE: If only 256 colors are specified and the terminal doesn't support, default is used.
420 NNN_FCOLORS: specify file-type specific colors:
422 export NNN_FCOLORS='c1e2272e006033f7c6d6abc4'
424 Specify file-specific colors in xterm 256 color hex numbers (2 symbols per color).
426 Order is strict, use 00 to omit/use default terminal color. Defaults:
427 ------------------------- + --- + -------------
429 Order | Hex | Color
430 ------------------------- + --- + -------------
431 Block device | c1 | DarkSeaGreen1
432 Char device | e2 | Yellow1
433 Directory | 27 | DeepSkyBlue1
434 Executable | 2e | Green1
435 Regular | 00 | Normal
436 Hard link | 60 | Plum4
437 Symbolic link | 33 | Cyan1
438 Missing OR file details | f7 | Grey62
439 Orphaned symbolic link | c6 | DeepPink1
440 FIFO | d6 | Orange1
441 Socket | ab | MediumOrchid1
442 Unknown OR 0B regular/exe | c4 | Red1
443 ------------------------- + --- + -------------
444 If the terminal supports xterm 256 colors or more, file-specific colors will be rendered.
446 To force the 8-color scheme use option -C.
447 If xterm 256 colors aren't supported, 8-color scheme will be used.
448 NNN_ARCHIVE: archive extensions to be handled silently (default: bzip2,
450 (g)zip, tar).
451 export NNN_ARCHIVE="\\.(7z|bz2|gz|tar|tgz|zip)$"
453 NOTE: Non-default formats may require a third-party utility.
455 NNN_SSHFS: specify custom sshfs command with options:
457 export NNN_SSHFS='sshfs -o reconnect,idmap=user,cache_timeout=3600'
459 NOTE: The options must be comma-separated without any space between them.
461 NNN_RCLONE: pass additional options to rclone command:
463 export NNN_RCLONE='rclone mount --read-only --no-checksum'
465 NOTE: The options must be preceded by "rclone" and max 5 flags are supported.
467 NNN_TRASH: trash (instead of rm -rf) files to desktop Trash.
469 export NNN_TRASH=n
471 # n=1: trash-cli, n=2: gio trash
472 NNN_SEL: absolute path to custom selection file.
474 NNN_FIFO: path of a named pipe to write the hovered file path:
476 export NNN_FIFO='/tmp/nnn.fifo'
478 NOTES:
480 1. Overridden by a temporary path with -a option.
481 2. If the FIFO file doesn't exist it will be created,
482 but not removed (unless it is generated by -a option).
483 Online docs: https://github.com/jarun/nnn/wiki/Live-previews
485 NNN_LOCKER: terminal locker program.
487 export NNN_LOCKER='bmon -p wlp1s0'
489 export NNN_LOCKER='cmatrix'
490 NNN_TMPFILE: always cd on quit and write the command in the file speci‐
492 fied.
493 export NNN_TMPFILE='/tmp/.lastd'
495 NNN_HELP: run a program and show the output on top of the program help
497 page.
498 export NNN_HELP='fortune'
500 NNN_MCLICK: key emulated by a middle mouse click.
502 export NNN_MCLICK='^R'
504 NOTE: Only the first character is considered if not a Ctrl+key combo.
506 nnn: this is a special variable.
508 Set to the hovered file name before starting the command prompt or spawning a shell.
510 NO_COLOR: disable ANSI color output (overridden by NNN_COLORS).
512
514 Arun Prakash Jana <engineerarun@gmail.com>,
515 Lazaros Koromilas <lostd@2f30.org>,
516 Dimitris Papastamos <sin@2f30.org>.
517
519 https://github.com/jarun/nnn
520BSD Sep 29, 2021 BSD
