Broot Cheat Sheet

Overview

Broot is a modern, interactive terminal-based file manager and directory navigator written in Rust. It displays directory trees in a compact, navigable format with built-in fuzzy search, file preview, file size analysis, git status integration, and customizable verb system for executing commands on files. Broot excels at quickly finding and navigating to deeply nested files and directories.

Broot’s key innovation is its ability to show an entire directory tree in a compact view that fits within the terminal, using intelligent folding and filtering. As you type, it instantly filters the tree with fuzzy matching. It integrates with your shell to enable cd to directories you find, and supports custom verbs for any file operation.

Installation

# macOS
brew install broot

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install broot

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S broot

# Cargo (Rust)
cargo install --locked broot

# Fedora
sudo dnf install broot

# First run - install shell integration
broot
# When prompted, accept shell function installation
# This creates the `br` shell function for cd integration

Core Navigation

Key	Action
Enter	Open file or focus directory
Alt+Enter	Open file in system default
Tab	Toggle second panel
Ctrl+Left	Open in left panel
Ctrl+Right	Open in right panel
Escape	Back / Clear filter
Ctrl+Q	Quit broot
?	Show help

Basic Usage

# Launch broot in current directory
br

# Launch in specific directory
br /path/to/dir

# Launch with file sizes
br --sizes

# Launch showing hidden files
br --hidden

# Launch showing git status
br --git-status

# Launch with specific search
br --cmd "pattern"

# Print path instead of cd
broot --out /tmp/path

Searching and Filtering

# Just start typing to fuzzy search
# Example: typing "cfg" matches "config", "configuration", etc.

# Search modes (type prefix):
# (default)   fuzzy search on file/dir names
# /pattern    regex search
# e/pattern   search file extensions
# c/pattern   search file content
# f/pattern   filter to files only
# d/pattern   filter to directories only

Prefix	Search Mode
(none)	Fuzzy name search
/	Regex name search
c/	Content search (grep)
e/	Extension search
f/	Files only filter
d/	Directories only filter

Built-in Verbs

Command	Action
:open or Enter	Open file
:edit	Open in editor ($EDITOR)
:cd	Change directory (via shell)
:cp <destination>	Copy file
:mv <destination>	Move/rename file
:rm	Delete file
:mkdir <name>	Create directory
:chmod <mode>	Change permissions
:print_path	Print file path
:quit	Exit broot
:toggle_hidden	Show/hide hidden files
:toggle_sizes	Show/hide file sizes
:toggle_git_status	Show/hide git status
:sort_by_size	Sort by file size
:sort_by_date	Sort by modification date
:sort_by_type	Sort by file type

# Use verbs via command mode (type : then command)
# :edit          - open selected file in editor
# :cd            - cd to selected directory
# :cp ~/backup/  - copy selected file
# :mv newname    - rename selected file

Panels

# Tab opens a second panel
# Navigate independently in each panel

# Keyboard shortcuts with panels
# Tab          - toggle/create second panel
# Ctrl+Left   - open in left panel
# Ctrl+Right  - open in right panel

# Copy between panels
# Select file, type :cp {other-panel-directory}

# Preview file in second panel
# Tab to create panel, navigate to file

Git Integration

# Show git status
br --git-status

# Toggle in running broot
:toggle_git_status

# Git status indicators:
# M  modified
# A  added
# D  deleted
# R  renamed
# ?  untracked
# !  ignored

Size Analysis

# Show file/directory sizes
br --sizes

# Sort by size
:sort_by_size

# Show dates
br --dates

# Sort by date
:sort_by_date

Configuration

# ~/.config/broot/conf.hjson or conf.toml

# Default flags
default_flags = "sdgh"
# s = sizes, d = dates, g = git, h = hidden

# Custom verbs
[[verbs]]
invocation = "create {subpath}"
execution = "touch {directory}/{subpath}"

[[verbs]]
invocation = "view"
execution = "less {file}"
leave_broot = false

[[verbs]]
invocation = "code"
execution = "code {file}"
leave_broot = false

[[verbs]]
invocation = "terminal"
execution = "$SHELL"
set_working_dir = true
leave_broot = false

# Editor integration
[[verbs]]
invocation = "edit"
shortcut = "e"
execution = "$EDITOR {file}"
leave_broot = false

# Custom skin (colors)
[skin]
default = "gray(23) none"
tree = "ansi(94) None"
file = "gray(18) None"
directory = "ansi(208) None Bold"
selected_line = "None gray(4)"

Advanced Usage

Custom Verbs

# Open in VS Code
[[verbs]]
invocation = "code"
execution = "code -r {file}"
leave_broot = false

# Open terminal in directory
[[verbs]]
invocation = "term"
execution = "kitty --directory {directory}"
leave_broot = false

# Git operations
[[verbs]]
invocation = "git_add"
execution = "git add {file}"
leave_broot = false

[[verbs]]
invocation = "git_diff"
execution = "git diff {file}"
leave_broot = false

# Bulk operations
[[verbs]]
invocation = "backup"
execution = "cp -r {file} {file}.bak"
auto_exec = false

Shell Function Integration

# The `br` function enables cd integration
# When you select a directory and press Enter,
# your shell actually changes to that directory

# Custom shell function
function bcd() {
  local dir
  dir=$(broot --only-folders --cmd ":print_path" "$@")
  if [ -n "$dir" ]; then
    cd "$dir"
  fi
}

File Preview

# Preview files with syntax highlighting
# Select a file and press Tab to open preview panel
# Or configure a preview verb:

[[verbs]]
invocation = "preview"
execution = "bat --color=always {file}"
leave_broot = false

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
br: command not found	Run broot first to install shell integration; restart shell
cd not working	Use br (shell function), not broot (binary)
Slow on large directories	Use search to filter; avoid --sizes on huge trees
Colors wrong	Check terminal color support; configure skin in conf.toml
Hidden files not showing	Use --hidden flag or :toggle_hidden
Git status not appearing	Ensure git is installed; use --git-status flag
Config not loading	Check file at ~/.config/broot/conf.hjson or conf.toml
Custom verb not working	Check verb syntax; test execution command manually