# viexp

A fast, modular terminal file manager for Linux, written in Rust — a spiritual successor to
[ranger](https://github.com/ranger/ranger) that fixes its weak spots: slow startup, fragile
image previews, and a hard-to-extend Python core.

**Status:** planning / learning project (see the [roadmap](docs/roadmap.md)).

## Goals

- Blazing-fast navigation and previews (kitty graphics protocol first, SIXEL / ueberzug++ / chafa fallbacks).
- Out-of-the-box support for images, video, audio, PDF, DJVU, EPUB and Markdown — with every
  file-type module easy to **disable or replace** at runtime, no recompilation required.
- Extension model that feels native to Linux users: drop-in scripts in any language first,
  embedded Lua scripting later.
- Vim-style ergonomics: modal keys, tabs, marks, bulk rename, `:` command line.

## This repo is also a learning lab

viexp is deliberately built as a guided learning project: Rust from scratch and technical
English, one 20-hour sprint at a time (Josh Kaufman's "First 20 Hours" method).
All documentation lives in English inside the [Obsidian vault](docs/index.md) in this repo.

- [Knowledge index (start here)](docs/index.md)
- [Roadmap: 20-hour sprints](docs/roadmap.md)
- [Research notes](docs/research/)
- [Architecture decisions (ADRs)](docs/decisions/)

## License

[GPL-3.0-or-later](LICENSE) — viexp is free software, and so must be anything
built from it: whoever distributes it or a derivative work must share the
source under the same license.