lf-config

A minimalist, high-performance configuration for the lf terminal file manager with enhanced error handling.

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Features

• Image Previews: Ultra-fast Sixel rendering using chafa.
• Gnosis-Diff: Built-in TUI diff tool for comparing files (gd).
• PDF Support: Quick preview of PDF documents.
• Syntax Highlighting: Code previews with bat.
• Archive Management: List and extract multiple archive formats (zip, tar, 7z, rar).
• Clipboard Integration: Copy full file paths to system clipboard.
• Safe Trash: Integration with trash-put to avoid accidental loss.
• Quick Creation: Create folders and files with error feedback.
• Robust Error Handling: Clear error messages when dependencies are missing.

Keybindings

Key	Action
n	Create a new directory
N	Create a new file
X	Extract archive
Y	Copy full path to clipboard
o	Open with system default
D	Move to trash
gd	Compare marked file with current file (Gnosis-Diff)
e	Edit with $EDITOR
.	Toggle hidden files
f	Jump to file/folder (fzf)

Installation

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/sarkoidose/lf.git ~/.config/lf

# Ensure preview scripts are executable
chmod +x ~/.config/lf/*.sh

Dependencies

Core

• lf - File manager
• fzf - Fuzzy finder (for f keybinding)
• trash-cli - Safe deletion (for D keybinding)

Preview & Display

• chafa - Image to Sixel conversion
• bat - Syntax highlighting for text
• poppler - PDF utilities (includes pdftoppm)
• wl-clipboard - Wayland clipboard (for Y keybinding)

Archive Tools

• p7zip - 7z support (includes 7z)
• unrar - RAR extraction
• Plus built-in: tar, gzip, bzip2, unzip

Optional

• gnosis-diff - Advanced file comparison (for gd keybinding)

Verify Installation

Check which dependencies are installed:

for cmd in lf fzf trash-put chafa bat wl-copy pdftoppm 7z unrar; do
    command -v "$cmd" >/dev/null && echo "✓ $cmd" || echo "✗ $cmd missing"
done

Missing tools will show errors when used, but won't break lf.

Configuration

Gnosis-Diff Path

If your gnosis-diff installation is at a different location, set the environment variable:

export GNOSIS_DIFF=/path/to/gnosis_diff.py
lf

Or edit the path directly in lfrc:

cmd gdiff ${
    GNOSIS_DIFF="$HOME/your/custom/path/gnosis_diff.py"
    # ... rest of command
}

Troubleshooting

Images not previewing

Missing chafa. Install it and restart lf.

Code not syntax-highlighted

Missing bat. Install it and restart lf.

Clipboard copy (Y) fails

Missing wl-copy (Wayland). On X11, use xclip or xsel instead.

Archives won't extract

Missing archive tools (7z, unrar, etc.). Install the required tool for your archive format.

PDFs not previewing

Missing pdftoppm (usually comes with poppler). Install it.

All missing dependencies will show error messages in lf when you try to use them.

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Maintained by sarkoidose.