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A Linux file manager that takes file operations seriously
Written in Rust and built around multi-column browsing, background tasks, indexed search, and content previews.
Developed and tested mainly on Wayland.
Releases · AUR · Issues · Pull Requests · License
Columns · List view
Grid view · Quick preview
Themes & color schemes
- Multi-column browsing, with a familiar list view too. Expand directories column by column along the hierarchy, or switch to a list view better suited for scanning and sorting. Tabs and split panes let you work with multiple locations at once.
- You decide the search scope. Search the current directory recursively, your Home, or all indexed locations, and add custom indexed directories in Settings. When the background service is unavailable, current-directory search still falls back to a local scan.
- Take a peek instead of opening another app. Preview text, Markdown, directory trees, archives, PDF, Office documents, images (including AVIF), audio, and video. Some formats need optional dependencies.
- Blends into the Linux desktop instead of reinventing it. Supports GTK bookmarks, UDisks2 storage devices, SMB / WebDAV / SFTP network locations, desktop themes, default apps, and terminal invocation.
- Everyday details are yours to tune. Hidden files, startup location, session restore, language, terminal, GPU preference, file checksums, and keyboard shortcuts are all adjustable in Settings. The properties window supports directory statistics and permission changes.
Also included: trash, batch rename, compression and extraction, drag and drop, multi-target file properties, and other everyday operations.
The recommended way is the prebuilt package bennu-bin:
paru -S bennu-binMigrating from the old package
file-manager-bin: just installbennu-bin; pacman will offer to remove the old package. On first launch the app automatically moves~/.local/share/file-managerand~/.config/file-managerintobennu/— tabs, preferences, and history are preserved as-is.
Download the .deb from Releases (Ubuntu 24.04+, Debian 13+):
sudo apt install ./bennu_0.2.6-1_amd64.debDownload the .rpm from Releases:
sudo dnf install ./bennu-0.2.6-1.*.rpmFor other distributions, check Releases first. If the prebuilt packages don't work for you, build from source below.
The prebuilt packages above never enable the background service automatically, and the optional software needed for PDF/Office, video, and archive previews (poppler, ffmpeg, 7zip, gvfs, etc.) is declared as weak dependencies — install it as needed.
Packages install bennu-search.service. Once enabled, the search service maintains an index of Home and custom locations in the background:
systemctl --user enable --now bennu-search.serviceCheck status and logs:
systemctl --user status bennu-search.service
journalctl --user -u bennu-search.service -fThe command after installation is bennu:
bennu| Command | Behavior |
|---|---|
bennu |
Starts following the Home, custom directories, or last-session policy in Settings |
bennu . |
Opens the current directory |
bennu ~/Downloads ~/Documents |
Opens multiple locations as tabs in one pane, in order |
bennu report.pdf notes.txt |
Opens each file's folder and selects it |
If the app is already running, invoking the command again reuses the existing instance: without paths it focuses the main window; with paths it reuses existing tabs and only adds missing directories — other tabs and columns are never cleared.
Paths can be absolute or relative to the current terminal directory. The CLI currently accepts local filesystem paths only, not URIs; if any path is invalid, the entire launch is rejected.
For help and version:
bennu --help
bennu --versionMore tutorials live in docs/:
- Matugen color scheme: generate a palette from your wallpaper, hot-reloaded across all windows
- Niri floating windows: open settings, properties, and preview windows as floating windows
- Custom color schemes: define light and dark palettes in JSON
Arch Linux is used as the example below. First install the Rust toolchain, build dependencies, and core runtime commands:
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel git rust cargo pkgconf \
acl alsa-lib dav1d fontconfig glib2 libnotify libxkbcommon wayland wl-clipboard xdg-utilsClone the repository and run:
git clone https://github.com/nsjsv/Bennu.git
cd Bennu
cargo run --locked -p app-uiBuild release binaries for the app and the search daemon:
cargo build --release --locked -p app-ui -p file-search
./target/release/app-uiWhen built from source, the app binary is named app-ui and the search daemon is bennu-searchd. These commands do not install the systemd user unit or the branded D-Bus service; without a compatible search service on the system, indexed search is unavailable, but current-directory search still falls back to a local scan.
Optional preview, archive, and desktop-integration dependencies
sudo pacman -S --needed 7zip ffmpeg ffmpegthumbnailer libreoffice-fresh poppler \
gvfs gvfs-afc gvfs-gphoto2 gvfs-mtp gvfs-smb libsecret udisks2| Capability | Dependency |
|---|---|
| Video preview and metadata | ffmpeg; ffmpegthumbnailer for video thumbnails |
| PDF preview | Poppler (pdfinfo, pdftoppm) |
| Office document preview | LibreOffice and Poppler |
.7z creation, plus .7z / .rar preview and extraction |
7z, 7zz, or 7za (Arch package: 7zip) |
| SFTP, WebDAV | gvfs |
| SMB | gvfs-smb |
| Android / MTP devices | gvfs-mtp |
| Digital cameras | gvfs-gphoto2 |
| Apple / AFC devices | gvfs-afc |
| Saving network passwords | secret-tool provided by libsecret |
| Storage device discovery, mounting, safe removal | udisks2 |
A missing optional dependency only affects the matching capability. AVIF is supported by the built-in image decoder, which uses dav1d at build and run time.
The main target today is Linux / Wayland. On other distributions where prebuilt packages don't work, build from source.
Windows, macOS, and X11 are not guaranteed to work.
D-Bus and coexisting with other file managers
A running instance tries to provide the standard org.freedesktop.FileManager1 interface using DoNotQueue. If Nautilus, Dolphin, Thunar, or another file manager already owns the standard name, this app neither replaces it nor queues to take over; the branded single-instance endpoint and the normal GUI keep working.
Release packages do not install another D-Bus service file claiming the standard name.
If an operation doesn't match your expectations, or doesn't work on a specific distribution or desktop environment, please open an Issue. Reproduction steps, expected vs. actual results, and relevant logs make problems much easier to track down.
Code changes are welcome via Pull Request.
If the code in your PR is primarily AI-generated, or heavily modified with AI assistance, add [AI] to the title:
[AI] Fix file search refresh issue
When AI was used only for minor wording, research, or troubleshooting help, no tag is needed.
This project is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later.
Thanks to the LinuxDo community for discussion and feedback.