Quick Start

Get up and running with Termix in minutes! This guide covers the essentials to help you become productive with Termix right away.

First Launch

After installing Termix, launch it from your terminal:

termix

You'll see Termix's two-pane interface:

• Left pane: File and directory listing
• Right pane: File preview (shows content of selected file)
• Bottom: A minimal status bar with hints. For a full list of commands, press ? at any time.

Basic Navigation

Moving Around

Key	Action
↑ / k	Move selection up
↓ / j	Move selection down
gg	Jump to the first item
G	Jump to the last item
Ctrl+u / Ctrl+d	Scroll up/down half a page

Opening Files and Directories

Key	Action
l or Enter	Open selected file or enter directory
h or Backspace	Go to parent directory

Try navigating through your file system using these keys. Notice how the right pane updates to show a preview of the selected file!

Essential File Operations

Yanking, Cutting, and Pasting

Termix uses Vim-style verbs for file operations. "Yank" means copy.

Yank (Copy) a file:

1. Select the file.
2. Press y to yank (copy) it to the internal clipboard.
3. Navigate to the destination.
4. Press p to paste.

Move (Cut) a file:

1. Select the file.
2. Press x to cut it.
3. Navigate to the destination.
4. Press p to paste.

Yank a File's Full Path:

Need to paste a file path into another terminal window?

1. Select the file or directory.
2. Press Y (Shift + y) to yank its absolute path to the system clipboard.

Creating Files and Folders

Press a to add a new file or folder:

1. Press a
2. Type the name (add / at the end for folders)
3. Press Enter

Examples:

• README.md - Creates a file
• new-folder/ - Creates a directory
• script - Creates script.txt (auto-adds .txt extension)

Renaming

1. Select the file/folder you want to rename.
2. Press r.
3. Edit the name and press Enter.

Deleting

1. Select the file/folder.
2. Press d.
3. Confirm with y or cancel with n.

Working with Multiple Items: Visual Mode

For batch operations, Termix includes a powerful Visual Mode, inspired by Vim.

1. Press v to enter Visual Mode. The status bar will change to indicate you're in a new mode.
2. Use k and j to move up and down.
3. Press Space to toggle the selection for the highlighted item. Selected files will be marked.

While in Visual Mode, you have access to new shortcuts:

Key	Action
a	Select all items in the current directory
i	Invert the current selection
y	Yank (copy) all selected items to the clipboard
x	Cut (mark for moving) all selected items
d	Delete all selected items (with confirmation)
v or Esc	Exit Visual Mode

Example Workflow: Moving Multiple Files

1. Navigate to a directory with several files you want to move.
2. Press v to enter Visual Mode.
3. Move down with j and press Space on each file you want to select.
4. Once all files are selected, press x to cut them. You will exit Visual Mode, and the clipboard will show you have multiple items.
5. Navigate to the destination folder.
6. Press p to paste all the files.

Smart Pasting & Conflict Resolution

What happens if you try to paste a file into a directory that already has a file with the same name? Termix won't just fail—it will ask you what to do.

When a conflict is detected, you'll see a prompt with these options:

Key	Action
S	Skip pasting this one file and move to the next.
L	Skip All remaining files that have a name conflict.
R	Replace the existing file with the one you are pasting.
A	Replace All existing files if any more conflicts occur.
Esc	Cancel the entire paste operation.

This gives you full control over your file operations, preventing accidental data loss.

Managing and Jumping to Favorite Directories: Bookmarks

Tired of navigating to the same project directories over and over? Bookmarks let you save and instantly jump to your favorite locations.

Creating a Bookmark

1. Navigate to the directory you want to save.
2. Press m.
3. Type a memorable name for your bookmark and press Enter.

The Bookmark Menu

From anywhere in the file navigator, press b to open the Bookmark Menu. This full-screen menu lists all your saved bookmarks and provides a complete set of tools for managing them.

Key	Action
↑ / k	Move selection up
↓ / j	Move selection down
Enter	Jump to the selected bookmark's directory
s	Enter live filter mode to search by name or path
r	Rename the selected bookmark
d	Delete the selected bookmark (with confirmation)
v	Enter Visual Mode to select multiple bookmarks
Esc	Close the bookmark menu and return to the file view

Just like with files, you can press v to enter a visual mode for selecting and deleting multiple bookmarks at once.

The Help Screen

Termix keeps the main interface clean. To see a full list of all available keybindings at any time, simply press ?. This will open a scrollable help screen. Press ?, q, or Esc to close it.

Organizing Your View with Sorting

Tired of scrolling to find the most recent file? Termix's interactive sort menu lets you reorganize the file list instantly.

1. Press t to open the sort menu.
2. Use k and j to highlight an option.
3. Press Enter to apply the sort.

You can sort by Name, Date, or Size, and choose whether to keep folders grouped at the top.

Search and Filter

One of Termix's most powerful features is real-time, recursive search:

1. Press s to enter search mode.
2. Start typing to filter files instantly across all subdirectories.
3. Press Esc to apply the filter and navigate the results.
4. Press Esc again to clear the filter.

Search Tips

• Search is case-insensitive.
• Results update in real-time as you type.
• After opening a directory from a search result, press b to return to your search list.

Preview Pane

The right pane shows previews of your files:

• Text files: Content with syntax highlighting
• Images: Terminal-friendly image preview
• Directories: A tree view of the directory's contents
• Archives: A browsable list of the archive's contents

Scrolling Previews

For large files, you can scroll the preview:

Key	Action
Alt + ↑/↓	Scroll vertically
Alt + ←/→	Scroll horizontally

Tips for Success

The Help Key is Your Friend

The footer is intentionally minimal. Whenever you're unsure of a key, just press ? to see everything.

Smart Ignoring

Termix automatically respects .gitignore files and ignores common build directories like node_modules, bin, and obj. This keeps your search results clean and relevant.

Vim Users

If you're comfortable with Vim, you'll feel right at home with v for Visual Mode, j/k/h/l for movement, and y/p for yank/paste.