Note: This extension is a technical preview only and is under active development, the majority of it's features are still in progress.

Please request the missing features and/or report bugs here: https://github.com/vmisoft/vscommander/issues

VSCommander

The missing and essential cross-platform dual-panel file manager extension for Visual Studio Code inspired by Far Manager, Dos Navigator, Volkov Commander, and Norton Commander.

Previously, a powerful editor was an extension to dual panel file manager. VSCommander is exactly the opposite paradigm that works well in the modern realities. The vision of the project is to replicate the classic look and feel of Far Manager while extending its functionality and keeping cross-platform support of modern *nix and Windows-compatible operating systems.

The extension runs as a terminal overlay, you can toggle the file panel on and off with Ctrl+O.

The project is work in progress. Please send us feature requests and bug reports.

Features

• Dual-pane browsing: two independent directory panels side by side
• Real terminal underneath: not a webview; the shell session persists when the panel is hidden
• Quick search: press Alt + any letter to jump to matching files instantly
• Drive / mount popup: Alt+F1 / Alt+F2 to switch drives (Windows) or mounted filesystems (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD)
• Quick View: Ctrl+Q previews files in a VS Code split editor; shows directory info (sub-directory/file counts, total size) for directories
• Half-panel mode: Ctrl+P hides one pane to show color-rich terminal output alongside your files; commands run inline without hiding the panel
• Multi-column layout: 1, 2, or 3 file columns per pane (configurable)
• User Menu (F2): Configurable shell command launcher with hotkey navigation, variable substitution (!.! filename, !\ directory, !& selected files, !?prompt?! interactive input), in-menu editing, submenus, and dual-scope storage (user/workspace)
• Top menu bar: F9 opens a Far Manager-style menu with Left, Files, Commands, Options, Right menus for sorting, column layout, and all panel operations
• Built-in help system: Press F1 for a Far Manager-style help viewer with topic navigation, scrollable content, hotkey highlighting, and link following
• Archive browsing: Navigate into ZIP, TAR, 7Z, and RAR archives as if they were directories; view, extract, add, delete, and move files within archives (ZIP and 7Z support full write operations)
• Sorting: Sort each pane independently by name, extension, size, date, or unsorted
• File operations: F5 Copy, F6 Move/Rename with overwrite handling and progress display
• File selection: Insert to toggle selection, batch operations on selected files
• Internal file viewer: F3 opens a full-screen viewer with text/hex modes, word wrap, search (regex, hex, case-sensitive), encoding cycling (UTF-8/Latin-1/UTF-16LE), and lazy chunk loading for large files
• Function key bar: F3 View, F4 Edit, F5 Copy, F6 Move, F7 Mkdir, F8 Delete, F9 Config, F10 Quit
• Mouse support: click to select files, switch panes, activate popup buttons, scroll with the wheel
• Color themes: classic Far Manager theme or auto-adapting VS Code theme; theme selection popup with live preview
• Interactive color editor: F9 > Options > Edit colors -- visual 16-color palette, hex input, live preview for all 39 theme elements
• In-memory settings: all changes are instant and in-memory; explicitly save or delete persisted settings via F9 > Options when ready
• Configurable key bindings: remap any panel action to a different key via settings
• Cross-platform: Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and Windows

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code 1.80 or later
• Node.js (for building from source)

Install from Source

git clone https://github.com/vmisoft/vscommander.git
cd vscommander
npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Usage

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run VSCommander: Open Terminal
2. The dual-panel file manager appears in a terminal tab
3. Press Ctrl+O to toggle the panel off and use the shell, then again to bring it back

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Ctrl+O	Toggle file manager panel on/off
Tab	Switch between left and right pane
Enter	Open directory / open file in editor / enter archive
Up / Down	Navigate file list
PgUp / PgDn	Scroll by page
Home / End	Jump to first / last entry
Alt+letter	Quick search
Alt+F1 / Alt+F2	Change drive popup (left / right pane)
Ctrl+H	Toggle dotfile visibility
Ctrl+P	Half-panel mode (show terminal in one pane)
Ctrl+Q	Quick View -- preview file in VS Code split editor
Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right	Resize panes
F1	Help -- built-in help system
F3	View -- highlight file in VS Code Explorer
F4	Edit -- open file in VS Code editor
F5	Copy files to other pane
F6	Move / rename files
F7	Make directory -- create directories or symbolic links
F8	Delete selected file or directory
F9	Open top menu bar (Left / Files / Commands / Options / Right)
F10	Close panel and return to shell
Alt+Enter	Detach to fullscreen / reattach

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
vscommander.theme	"far"	Color theme: far (classic) or vscode (matches active theme)
vscommander.showDotfiles	true	Show hidden files (dotfiles)
vscommander.clock	true	Show clock in the top-right corner
vscommander.panelColumns	2	File columns per pane (1, 2, or 3)
vscommander.keyHelp	F1	Key binding for Help
vscommander.keyView	F3	Key binding for View
vscommander.keyEdit	F4	Key binding for Edit
vscommander.keyCopy	F5	Key binding for Copy
vscommander.keyMove	F6	Key binding for Move/Rename
vscommander.keyMkdir	F7	Key binding for Mkdir
vscommander.keyDelete	F8	Key binding for Delete
vscommander.keyMenu	F9	Key binding for Menu
vscommander.keyQuit	F10	Key binding for Quit
vscommander.keyQuickView	Ctrl+Q	Key binding for Quick View
vscommander.key*	--	All panel actions are remappable (see USER.md)

License

MIT