otty / apps

All apps/lf

lf

A terminal file manager written in Go with a heavy inspiration from ranger file manager.

Runs as lf|macOS, Linux, Windows|github.com

Open form in Otty otty.toml

Sync rules

What travels, what stays, what never leaves

lf in your home directory Every rule on this page, by file

· lfrc Sync

· colors Sync

· icons Sync

· ~/.local/share/lf/ Exclude

Only what the catalog names. A directory that syncs brings everything inside it except what is listed as excluded here.

apps/lf/otty.tomlThe file this page is generated from

id = "lf"

name = "lf"

homepage = "https://github.com/gokcehan/lf"

description = "A terminal file manager written in Go with a heavy inspiration from ranger file manager."

executables = ["lf"]

[dotfiles]

# doc.md, "CONFIGURATION", gives a table per file:

# lfrc Unix ~/.config/lf/lfrc Windows AppData\Roaming\lf\lfrc

# colors Unix ~/.config/lf/colors Windows AppData\Roaming\lf\colors

# icons Unix ~/.config/lf/icons Windows AppData\Roaming\lf\icons

# and then the variables behind them, "given with their order of precedences

# and their default values": on Unix $LF_CONFIG_HOME, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME,

# ~/.config; on Windows %LF_CONFIG_HOME%, %XDG_CONFIG_HOME%, %APPDATA%. That is

# the XDG config home under both platform names — macOS is "Unix" here, lf has

# no Application Support path — which is exactly [configHome].

paths = [

"[configHome]/lf/lfrc",

"[configHome]/lf/colors",

"[configHome]/lf/icons",

]

# The same section puts lf's four state files in the *data* home, a different

# directory: selection (files), marks, tags and command history live at

# ~/.local/share/lf/ on Unix and AppData\Local\lf\ on Windows. lf joins those

# from $LF_DATA_HOME / $XDG_DATA_HOME / ~/.local/share, so the dotted spelling

# is the default rather than a constant; they are named here as literals

# because they are being excluded rather than resolved.

exclude = [

"~/.local/share/lf/",

"%LOCALAPPDATA%/lf/",

]

# A file manager with no accounts: lfrc is commands and settings, colors and

# icons are per-extension display rules.

secret = []

# No machine_lines. An lfrc is `set` options, `map` keybindings and `cmd`

# definitions — the user's own shell snippets, which is the whole point of

# carrying the file. Some of them do name a previewer script by path, but that

# script travels with the config directory rather than staying behind, so

# stripping those lines would break the file on arrival.

[commands]

format = 1

label = "Open lf"

description = "Start the lf file manager in a directory, optionally with extra startup commands, a config file, or shell-integration output. Remote control, profiling and server flags are left out."

quality = "ai-draft"

parser = { end_of_options = "--", interleave = "permute", long_equals = true, short_attached = false, short_bundles = false }

[[commands.source]]

id = "doc"

kind = "manual"

url = "https://github.com/gokcehan/lf/blob/master/doc.md"

revision = "2026-10"

evidence = """

**-command** *command*

**-config** *path*

**-last-dir-path** *path*

**-log** *path*

**-print-last-dir**

**-print-selection**

**-selection-path** *path*

**-single**

[*path*]

Execute *command* during client initialization (i.e. after reading configuration, before `on-init`). To execute more than one command, you can either use the **-command** flag multiple times

Use the config file at *path* instead of the normal search locations.

Print the last directory to stdout when lf exits.

Same as **-print-last-dir**, but write the directory to *path* instead of stdout.

Print selected files to stdout when opening a file in lf.

Same as **-print-selection**, but write the newline-separated list to *path* instead of stdout.

Start a stand-alone client without a server. Disables remote control.

Append runtime log messages to *path*.

"""

[[commands.field]]

id = "start_dir"

label = "Start directory"

type = "path"

position = 0

path = { kind = "any", role = "input" }

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "command"

label = "Startup command"

description = "lf command run after the config is read; repeat for several."

type = "string"

option = ["-command"]

multiple = true

effect = "exec"

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "config"

label = "Config file"

type = "path"

option = ["-config"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "input" }

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "print_selection"

label = "Print selection on exit"

type = "boolean"

option = ["-print-selection"]

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "selection_path"

label = "Write selection to file"

type = "path"

option = ["-selection-path"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "output", must_exist = false }

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "print_last_dir"

label = "Print last directory on exit"

type = "boolean"

option = ["-print-last-dir"]

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "last_dir_path"

label = "Write last directory to file"

type = "path"

option = ["-last-dir-path"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "output", must_exist = false }

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "single"

label = "Stand-alone (no server)"

type = "boolean"

option = ["-single"]

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "log"

label = "Log file"

type = "path"

option = ["-log"]

path = { kind = "file", role = "output", must_exist = false }

sources = ["doc"]

[[commands.task]]

id = "browse"

label = "Browse a directory"

fields = ["start_dir"]

[[commands.task]]

id = "pick_files"

label = "Use as a file picker"

fields = ["start_dir", "print_selection", "selection_path"]

required = ["print_selection"]

[[commands.task]]

id = "cd_on_exit"

label = "Record last directory"

fields = ["start_dir", "last_dir_path"]

required = ["last_dir_path"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "basic"

label = "Basic"

fields = ["start_dir", "print_selection", "print_last_dir", "command"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "advanced"

label = "Advanced"

fields = ["config", "selection_path", "last_dir_path", "single", "log"]

Use it with your dotfile manager

Same data, in the shape your tool already reads

Opens Otty and adds this tool to what it syncs

Opens otty://sync/add/lf. Otty ships with this catalog, so the link only has to name the tool — nothing is downloaded.

Every one of these is generated from the same rules as this page.