Yazi: Browse, Preview, and Organize Files in the Terminal

When browsing files, keep directory context

Yazi is a terminal file manager written in Rust, suitable for people who already work in the command line daily. Official features include file preview, multi-tab, cross-directory selection, search integration, and batch renaming. You can first use it to browse a project directory, so that the file list and the preview beside it stay in the same work context, and then open files with your own configured apps.

Start by focusing on navigation and common file types. If you often handle JSON or PDF, first install the corresponding preview dependencies, and then consider a larger plugin setup. Themes, Lua plugins, and remote filesystem workflows are also within official capabilities, but each has its own settings and compatibility conditions.

Preview behavior depends on the environment

The install guide lists a file for type detection. Other auxiliary tools separately enable part of the capabilities: jq for JSON preview, poppler for PDF, ffmpeg for video thumbnails, and fd or ripgrep for search. Installing the Yazi itself does not mean that these tools already exist.

Image preview also depends on the terminal protocol. The official compatibility table distinguishes Kitty, iTerm2, Sixel, and fallback paths, and some terminals have version requirements. You should check the terminal you actually use and multiplexed environments, rather than directly treating the display shown in the demo as the behavior of all environments.

A recent refresh feedback

In issue 4443, Anor Bertran described the use of Linux Wayland, foot 1.28.0, and the nightly commit 40a9142 from 2026年10月23日: after the directory was modified externally, switching back to terminal focus may move the visible list, but the cursor remains on the original file. The comparison is that when the directory did not change, simply switching focus would not move the list. As of October 25, the issue was still open.

This is a user report in a specific nightly environment, not a personal test by Boloop, nor a file loss report, and it cannot prove that all stable packages are like that. The current stable release tag v26.9.1 has a release date of September 1, while the nightly in the report happened to use the same version string; when comparing behavior, you should also record the actual build.

If file navigation is already one of your terminal workflows and you hope to view file contents casually, Yazi is worth considering. The project still describes itself as public beta, is in intensive development, and before upgrading you should check release notes and plugin compatibility. Boloop's recommendation is based on official materials and the above-mentioned attributions; this time there was no installation or performance measurement.