Ctrl+Alt+S
Terminal in a panel
A shell below the listings, in both frontends, sharing one emulator.
0.3.0-alpha.4/protocol 0.84.0/open source
Your files have a new sense of direction.
norte is an orthodox file manager for the terminal and the desktop, over one asynchronous Rust core, with one governed door for your AI agents.
Linux x86_64 · deb / rpm / AppImage · macOS & Windows from source
Theme
ada@norte: ~ — ntc
File Operate Mark Go Panels Tabs Find View Tools Help F9 [|] [-] [=] [/] [#] Places Viewer Jobs Details Tree Log Map History Shell ┌/home/ada/projects/aurora───────────────────────────────────────┐┌/home/ada/projects/aurora───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Name▲ Size Modified Mode││ Name▲ Size Modified Mode│ │ 📁 .. ││ 📁 .. │ │ 📁 src 09-22 15:40 drwxr-xr-x││ 📁 src 09-22 15:40 drwxr-xr-x│ │ 📁 target 09-13 09:15 drwxr-xr-x││ 📁 target 09-13 09:15 drwxr-xr-x│ │ 🦀 Cargo.lock 148 B 09-17 10:05 -rw-r--r--││ 🦀 Cargo.lock 148 B 09-17 10:05 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🦀 Cargo.toml 173 B 09-18 11:12 -rw-r--r--││ 🦀 Cargo.toml 173 B 09-18 11:12 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📜 LICENSE 12 B 09-20 13:26 -rw-r--r--││ 📜 LICENSE 12 B 09-20 13:26 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📖 README.md 429 B 09-21 14:33 -rw-r--r--││ 📖 README.md 429 B 09-21 14:33 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🔩 stations.json 313 B 09-12 08:08 -rw-r--r--││ 🔩 stations.json 313 B 09-12 08:08 -rw-r--r--│ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ └ 2 dirs · 5 files · 1.0 KiB ────────────────────────────────────┘└ 2 dirs · 5 files · 1.0 KiB ────────────────────────────────────┘ /home/ada/projects/aurora 1 hidden 2/8 Name ↑ UTF-8 1 Help 2 3 View 4 Edit 5 Copy 6 Move 7 New 8 Delete 9 Menu bar 10 Quit
● Not a mockup. Every screen on this page is norte itself, captured by a script from the current build.
Two panes
Terminal + window
Local
SFTP
FTP
S3
ZIP / TAR / RAR
MCP
Journal & undo
Pause & resume
7 keymaps
10 themes
WASM plugins
No telemetry
One core, two screens
The terminal and the window are the same program.
Same keys, same themes, same layout, same journal. Start in ntc over SSH, carry on in the window at your desk: the tabs, the directories and even what you had marked travel with you.
ntc
File Operate Mark Go Panels Tabs Find View Tools Help F9 [|] [-] [=] [/] [#] Places Viewer Jobs Details Tree Log Map History Shell ┌/home/ada/projects/aurora───────────────────────────────────────┐┌/home/ada/Photos/2026-01 Tromsø─────────────────────────────────┐ │ Name▲ Size Modified Mode││ Name▲ Size Modified Mode│ │ 📁 .. ││ 📁 .. │ │ 📁 src 09-22 15:40 drwxr-xr-x││ 📷 aurora-001.jpg 38.7 KiB 09-20 10:48 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📁 target 09-13 09:15 drwxr-xr-x││* 📷 aurora-002.jpg 33.6 KiB 09-21 11:55 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🦀 Cargo.lock 148 B 09-17 10:05 -rw-r--r--││* 📷 aurora-003.jpg 37.3 KiB 09-22 12:02 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🦀 Cargo.toml 173 B 09-18 11:12 -rw-r--r--││ 📷 fjord.jpg 42.8 KiB 09-23 13:09 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📜 LICENSE 12 B 09-20 13:26 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ 📖 README.md 429 B 09-21 14:33 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ 🔩 stations.json 313 B 09-12 08:08 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ └ 2 dirs · 5 files · 1.0 KiB ────────────────────────────────────┘└ 0 dirs · 4 files · 152.4 KiB · 2 marked, 70.9 KiB ─────────────┘ /home/ada/Photos/2026-01 Tromsø 5/5 2 marked, 70.9 KiB Name ↑ UTF-8 1 Help 2 3 View 4 Edit 5 Copy 6 Move 7 New 8 Delete 9 Menu bar 10 Quit
norte-gui
A tour, in real captures
Everything a file manager should have done years ago.
ada@norte — Two panes
File Operate Mark Go Panels Tabs Find View Tools Help F9 [|] [-] [=] [/] [#] Places Viewer Jobs Details Tree Log Map History Shell ┌/home/ada/projects/aurora───────────────────────────────────────┐┌/home/ada/Photos/2026-01 Tromsø─────────────────────────────────┐ │ Name▲ Size Modified Mode││ Name▲ Size Modified Mode│ │ 📁 .. ││ 📁 .. │ │ 📁 src 09-22 15:40 drwxr-xr-x││ 📷 aurora-001.jpg 38.7 KiB 09-20 10:48 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📁 target 09-13 09:15 drwxr-xr-x││* 📷 aurora-002.jpg 33.6 KiB 09-21 11:55 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🦀 Cargo.lock 148 B 09-17 10:05 -rw-r--r--││* 📷 aurora-003.jpg 37.3 KiB 09-22 12:02 -rw-r--r--│ │ 🦀 Cargo.toml 173 B 09-18 11:12 -rw-r--r--││ 📷 fjord.jpg 42.8 KiB 09-23 13:09 -rw-r--r--│ │ 📜 LICENSE 12 B 09-20 13:26 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ 📖 README.md 429 B 09-21 14:33 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ 🔩 stations.json 313 B 09-12 08:08 -rw-r--r--││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ │ ││ │ └ 2 dirs · 5 files · 1.0 KiB ────────────────────────────────────┘└ 0 dirs · 4 files · 152.4 KiB · 2 marked, 70.9 KiB ─────────────┘ /home/ada/Photos/2026-01 Tromsø 5/5 2 marked, 70.9 KiB Name ↑ UTF-8 1 Help 2 3 View 4 Edit 5 Copy 6 Move 7 New 8 Delete 9 Menu bar 10 Quit
01 · Two panes
One is where you are. The other is where things go.
The orthodox model: no dialog ever asks where to. Marks, sizes, free space and the encoding of the listing are always on screen. Names are bytes, so 東京 and Tromsø are just names.
TabInsertF502 · The viewer
An image is shown as an image.
F3 opens anything. Pictures render as colour cells in any terminal, Markdown as styled text, and binaries as hex. Previewers are WASM plugins you approve.
F303 · Read without leaving
A README reads like a README.
Headings, emphasis, code, lists and quotes, from a sandboxed previewer that never sees the path of what it renders.
F304 · Code
Source code, highlighted.
Rust, Python, Go, C, Java, shell, YAML, JSON and more through syntect, running as a WASM plugin that reads that one file and nothing else.
F305 · The disk map
Where did the space go?
Every folder a rectangle sized by everything inside it. The arrows walk them, Enter goes in, and a folder it could not read completely is marked, never reported short.
Alt+Z06 · Operations
Copies are tasks. You keep working.
Every copy, move, delete, sync and index runs in the background with progress, a clean cancel, pause and resume, and a serial queue for spinning disks.
F5Ctrl+Alt+KCtrl+Alt+Q07 · The journal
Everything that changed, and a way back.
Every mutation — yours, the window's, an agent's — lands in a journal. The timeline shows it, and undoes back to any point without ever touching a file it did not make.
Ctrl+P timeline08 · Go anywhere
Frequent places, bookmarks and history in one list.
Type three letters and jump. Each suggestion is decoded with the encoding of the pane it came from.
Ctrl+G09 · The palette
Every command, found by name.
All 190 commands are in the palette, the F9 menus and the help, each with the key your preset gives it.
Ctrl+PF910 · New · terminal in a panel
A shell under your files.
Ctrl+Alt+S opens a real terminal in the focused directory — colour, alternate screen, vim and less. Press it again to get the keyboard back; the shell keeps running.
Ctrl+Alt+S11 · Settings
Every option, in sections, with real controls.
Theme, keys, columns, stripes, icons, the status bar. Changes apply live and are written to the norte.toml you already have.
F1112 · Help
A manual that knows your keys.
The help is written for your preset and your language, and every plugin brings its own page.
F1
New in v0.3 alpha
What landed since the last alpha.
Ctrl+Alt+K
Pause and resume
A copy stops at the end of its chunk and carries on where it left off.
Ctrl+Alt+Q
A queue for transfers
One at a time on a spinning disk, reordered while they wait.
Ctrl+Alt+R
Retry what failed
The last failed transfer again, same options, one key.
ADR 0155
Type to jump
In the Krusader preset a letter jumps to the first name that starts with it.
ADR 0131–0138
A window like VS Code
Activity bar, panels you drag between edges, tabs, a marks ruler, custom title bar.
ntc · norte · gui
--lang es|en
The language of one run, in all three binaries, without touching the config.
ADR 0144–0145
Owners by name
Owner and group columns as ls -l shows them, and every attribute column sorts.
protocol 0.81
Search, narrowed
Size, date, type, depth, hidden, links: ten filters on fs.search.
ADR 0146
Status bar progress
One light bar for running work, and a quiet ✓ when it is done.
Ten themes, both frontends
Make it look like the rest of your desk.
Catppuccin, Gruvbox, Nord, VS Code, two CRT phosphors and norte's own. One theme file paints the terminal and the window alike, follows your desktop's light and dark, and can be written from scratch.
Click one to try it in the hero.
Seven keymaps
Your fingers already know it.
Transcribed from the managers they are named after, not guessed. Every command exists in all seven, or the preset's header says why not.
| Command | orthodox | vim | cua | krusader | far | norton | total-commander |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next row | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| First row | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Parent folder | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Copy | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Search | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New tab | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Next tab | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Swap panes | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Palette | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Agents, governed
Your AI works with your files. Never around them.
Claude, Codex or any MCP client reaches your files through the same core the human frontends use: scoped access, approvals, expiring grants, attribution in the journal, and undo for an agent's whole session after it is gone.
01
Plans, not actions
An agent proposes a rename or an organization; you review the tree and approve it in one batch.
02
One gate
The policy engine sits in the core. There is no side door for a plugin, an agent or a frontend.
03
Plugins ask first
A WASM plugin arrives unapproved. It runs only after you grant what it asked for, and a changed binary asks again.
ada@norte — F12
File Operate Mark Go Panels Tabs Find View Tools Help F9 ┌/home┌ Extensions ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐─────┐ │ Na│columns │[Enable] [Approve] [Settings] [Uninstall] [Help] │ Mode│ │ 📁 │> Media info v0.1.0 ⚠ not approved │ │ │ │ 📁 │ Size bar v0.1.0 ✓ │Media info │-xr-x│ │ 📁 │decorator │v0.1.0 · norte · columns │-xr-x│ │ 📁 │ File icons v0.2.0 ✓ │⚠ not approved │-xr-x│ │ 📁 │previewer │ │-xr-x│ │ 📁 │ Image preview v0.1.0 ✓ │Two columns from file headers: image dimensions and audio duration. │-xr-x│ │ │ Markdown v0.1.0 ✓ │ │ │ │ │ Syntect Highlighter v0.1.0 ✓ │[location] │ │ │ │thumbnail │2 columns · Help │ │ │ │ Image thumbnails v0.1.0 ✓ │ │ │ │ │ │press Enter, or click the row, to see its settings │ │ │ │ ┌Grant these capabilities?──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │Media info │ │ │ │ │ │ · location │ │ │ │ │ │an approved extension acts on your behalf with everything listed here │ │ │ │ │ │ y approve n deny Esc cancel │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └ 5 di└ [Enter] confirm [y] approve [Esc] cancel [e] toggle [d] remove ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘─────┘ /home/ada 3 hidden 1/6 Name ↑ UTF-8
Why norte
The file manager stopped evolving. Your work did not.
Not a prettier explorer. A programmable, governed system for everything you keep.
One namespace
Local disks, SFTP, FTP, S3 and archives behave like one filesystem.
Work in motion
Copies, comparisons, syncs and indexes are observable, cancellable tasks.
Control stays human
AI proposes, agents request, the core enforces — and every change leaves a way back.
Nothing phones home
No account, no cloud, no telemetry switch hidden in settings. AGPL, with permissive protocol and providers.
Your filesystem, headed somewhere
Ready to point north?
Install the Linux alpha today, or build norte anywhere Rust runs. No account. No telemetry. Just your files, under control.
Terminal · Linux x86_64v0.3.0-alpha.4
ntc — the file manager
$curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/compilando/norte/releases/latest/download/norte-tui-installer.sh | shnorte — daemon, CLI, MCP
$curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -LsSf https://github.com/compilando/norte/releases/latest/download/norte-cli-installer.sh | shThe window · one bundle, three binaries
Each package carries norte and ntc with it, so a clean install always has a daemon to talk to.
Linux x86_64 today. macOS and Windows build from source; they ship the day releases run in CI.