broot, a different way to navigate your directories

I've been looking for a replacement for ls and tree that would let me navigate large directories without losing context. broot is the tool I needed.

Installation¶

# With cargo (Rust)
cargo install broot

# Or with your package manager
brew install broot  # macOS
apt install broot   # Debian/Ubuntu

Getting started¶

The basic command is simply br (you can create an alias to replace cd):

br

This opens an interactive tree view of the current directory. Main keys:

• ↓ / ↑ - Navigate between files and directories
• / - Fuzzy search (e.g., /config finds all files with "config" in the name)
• Enter - Enter a directory
• alt + Enter - cd to the selected directory and exit broot
• :e - Open the selected file with your $EDITOR
• :q - Quit

Features I use¶

Search without losing context¶

Unlike find, broot shows where each result is located within the directory tree:

br
/pytest  # Finds all files/directories with "pytest"

This is useful when you know a filename but don't remember which folder it's in.

Multiple panels¶

You can split the view to compare or move files between directories:

:pp  # Create right panel
:pc  # Create bottom panel
:pt  # Swap panels

In each panel you can navigate independently and use verbs like :copy or :move.

File preview¶

Select a file and use :preview to see its content without leaving broot. For images in terminals that support it (kitty, iterm2):

:preview

Show only relevant files¶

broot automatically hides Git-ignored files and common directories like node_modules. To see them:

:show_git_ignored

Custom verbs¶

In ~/.config/broot/conf.toml you can add custom commands:

[[verbs]]
name = "edit"
invocation = "e"
execution = "$EDITOR {file}"

[[verbs]]
name = "git status"
invocation = "gs"
execution = "git status"

Shell integration¶

To use br as a cd replacement, add this to your .bashrc or .zshrc:

# This allows br to change the parent shell's directory
source /usr/share/broot/launcher/bash/br

Now br directory leaves you in that directory when you exit.

When to use broot¶

• Navigating large projects with many folders
• Finding files when you don't remember the exact path
• Moving/copying files between distant directories
• Exploring directories with many Git-ignored files

Links¶

• Official documentation
• GitHub repository

Original source: broot documentation