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File Management

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tzero86 edited this page May 2, 2026 · 1 revision

File Management

Zeta's dual-pane file browser is the heart of the application. It gives you two independent directory views side by side — just like Norton Commander — so you can copy, move, and compare files between locations without juggling windows.

Dual-Pane Browser

  • Side-by-side layout (default) or stacked layout — toggle in settings (Ctrl+O)
  • Press Tab to switch which pane is active
  • Each pane has its own directory, sort order, hidden-file toggle, and selection state
  • Both panes update in the background — large directories never block scrolling

Four Workspaces

Zeta has four completely isolated workspaces, each with its own pair of panes, editor, terminal, and preview state.

  • Switch with Alt+1 through Alt+4 (or Shift+1–Shift+4 as a terminal fallback)
  • The active workspace is highlighted in the top-bar workspace pills: [1] [2] [3] [4]
  • The status bar shows ws:N/4 at all times
  • Switching workspaces is instant — no reloads, no flicker

Use case: Keep a local filesystem in workspace 1, an SSH remote in workspace 2, a git diff review in workspace 3, and a long-running build log in workspace 4.

File Operations

Key Action
F5 Copy selected file(s) to the opposite pane
Shift+F6 Move selected file(s) to the opposite pane
F6 Rename file
F7 Create new directory
F8 Delete file(s)
Ins Create new file

Operations run in a background worker — Zeta never freezes while copying large trees.

Collision Resolution

When a copy or move would overwrite an existing file, Zeta shows a collision resolution dialog:

  • Skip — leave the destination file untouched
  • Overwrite — replace the destination file
  • Rename — write the source file with an auto-incremented name

The dialog appears per-file; you can apply the same choice to all remaining collisions.

Marking Files for Batch Operations

Mark multiple files and then run a single copy, move, or delete on all of them at once.

  • Press Space (or Ins) on a file to toggle its mark; marked files appear highlighted
  • F5 / Shift+F6 / F8 operate on the entire mark set when marks are present
  • Ctrl+C (copy path) joins all marked paths with newlines onto the clipboard

Sorting and Filtering

  • Sort by name, size, extension, or modified date — cycle through modes in settings
  • Toggle hidden files (dot-files on Unix, system-hidden on Windows) with Ctrl+H or via the View menu
  • Sort direction (ascending / descending) toggles alongside sort mode

Directory History

Navigate back and forward through your directory history within each pane:

  • Alt+← — go back
  • Alt+→ — go forward

Session Restore

Zeta remembers your last session across restarts:

  • Both panes in all four workspaces restore their last directory
  • Sort mode, hidden-file state, and layout preference are all restored
  • The active workspace index is restored

Session state is written to ~/.local/share/zeta/session.json (Linux/macOS) or %APPDATA%\zeta\session.json (Windows).

Git Status Indicators

Every file in the pane shows its Git status at a glance:

Symbol Meaning
M Modified
A Added (staged)
? Untracked
D Deleted
R Renamed
U Conflicted (merge)

The current branch name appears in the status bar. Git status refreshes automatically alongside every directory scan. Zeta shells out to git on your PATH — no git crate is bundled. Paths outside a git repo are silently skipped.

See also: Key Bindings · Workspaces & Terminal · SSH/SFTP

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