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title File Explorer
description Interactive file browser for navigating and selecting files as context
sidebar_order 9

File Explorer

Sometimes you want to browse your project and pick files visually rather than typing @filename from memory. The /explorer command opens an interactive file browser where you can navigate your project tree, preview files with syntax highlighting, and select multiple files to add as context.

Opening the Explorer

/explorer

Navigation

Tree View

Key Action
Up/Down Navigate through files and directories
Enter Expand/collapse directory or preview file
Space Toggle file/directory selection
/ Enter search mode (filters all files including nested)
Backspace Collapse current directory
Esc Exit explorer (selected files are added to input)

Preview View

Key Action
Up/Down Scroll the file preview
Space Toggle selection of the previewed file
Shift+Tab Return to tree view
Esc Return to tree view

Search Mode

Key Action
Type Filter files by name
Up/Down Navigate filtered results
Enter Open the selected result
Backspace/Delete Remove search characters (exits search when empty)
Esc Exit search mode

Features

  • Tree view: Browse your project structure with expandable directories
  • File preview: View file contents with syntax highlighting before selecting
  • Compressed indentation: Preview displays content with compressed indentation (tabs/4-spaces become 2-spaces) for narrow terminals
  • Multi-select: Select multiple files to add as context at once
  • Directory selection: Press Space on a directory to select all files within it
  • Search: Press / to filter files by name across the entire tree
  • Token estimation: Shows estimated token count for selected files with warning for large selections (10k+ tokens)
  • VS Code integration: When running with --vscode, previewing a file also opens it in VS Code for full-featured viewing

Selection Indicators

  • ✓ - File or directory fully selected
  • ◐ - Directory partially selected (some files within)
  • ✗ - File not selected (in preview mode)
  • v / > - Directory expanded / collapsed

Example Workflow

# Open the file explorer
/explorer

# Navigate to src/components, expand it with Enter
# Select the files you need with Space
# Use / to search for a specific file if the tree is large
# Press Esc — selected files are added to your input as @file mentions
# Type your question and press Enter

The explorer respects your .gitignore, so you won't see node_modules, dist, or other ignored directories.