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All apps/ranger

ranger

ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings.

Runs as ranger, rifle|macOS, Linux|ranger.fm

Open form in Otty otty.toml

Sync rules

What travels, what stays, what never leaves

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

· ~/.config/ranger/ Sync

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

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

id = "ranger"

name = "ranger"

homepage = "https://ranger.fm"

description = "ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings."

# The logo ranger.fm serves as its own icon.

icon = "https://ranger.fm/ranger_logo.png"

executables = ["ranger", "rifle"]

platforms = ["macos", "linux"]

[dotfiles]

# ranger(1), FILES: "ranger reads several configuration files which are located

# in $HOME/.config/ranger or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ranger if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is

# defined" — rc.conf ("a list of commands which are executed on startup"),

# commands.py, rifle.conf ("the configuration file for the built-in file

# launcher"), scope.sh ("a script that handles file previews"), colorschemes/

# and plugins/.

# ranger/core/main.py backs that up: --confdir defaults to

# `xdg_path('XDG_CONFIG_HOME') or CONFDIR`, and ranger/__init__.py sets

# CONFDIR = os.path.expanduser('~/.config/ranger'). Reading $XDG_CONFIG_HOME

# with ~/.config as the fallback is what [configHome] means, on macOS too.

paths = ["[configHome]/ranger/"]

# The STORAGE files the man page lists — bookmarks, copy_buffer, history,

# tagged — are not in the directory above: core/fm.py builds them with

# datapath(), which is --datadir, `xdg_path('XDG_DATA_HOME') or

# ~/.local/share/ranger`. They are state and they live elsewhere, so nothing

# needs carving out for them.

secret = []

# No machine_lines: rc.conf and rifle.conf are keybindings, settings and the

# rules that pick a program per file type — exactly what a user wants on the

# next machine. Absolute paths do appear in the bookmarks file, which is in the

# data directory and not synced.

[commands]

format = 1

label = "Browse files with ranger"

description = "Open ranger on one or more paths, optionally as a file or directory chooser. Config and cache directory overrides are included; key-listing and copy-config options are not."

quality = "ai-draft"

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

[[commands.source]]

id = "man"

kind = "manual"

url = "https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/ranger/ranger.1.en.html"

revision = "2026-10-27"

evidence = '''

path ...

-d, --debug

-c, --clean

--cachedir=dir

-r dir, --confdir=dir

--datadir=dir

--choosefile=targetfile

--choosefiles=targetfile

--choosedir=targetfile

--selectfile=targetfile

--show-only-dirs

'''

[[commands.field]]

id = "paths"

label = "Paths"

description = "Each path opens in a tab. Empty means the current directory."

type = "path"

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

position = 0

multiple = true

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "clean"

label = "Clean mode (no config files read or written)"

type = "boolean"

option = ["--clean", "-c"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "debug"

label = "Debug mode"

type = "boolean"

option = ["--debug", "-d"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "confdir"

label = "Config directory"

type = "path"

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

option = ["--confdir", "-r"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "cachedir"

label = "Cache directory"

type = "path"

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

option = ["--cachedir"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "datadir"

label = "Data directory"

type = "path"

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

option = ["--datadir"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "choosefile"

label = "Write picked file to"

description = "Exit on opening a file and write its absolute path to this file."

type = "path"

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

option = ["--choosefile"]

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "choosefiles"

label = "Write picked files to"

type = "path"

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

option = ["--choosefiles"]

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "choosedir"

label = "Write last directory to"

type = "path"

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

option = ["--choosedir"]

effect = "overwrite"

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.field]]

id = "show_only_dirs"

label = "Show only directories"

type = "boolean"

option = ["--show-only-dirs"]

sources = ["man"]

[[commands.task]]

id = "clean"

label = "Start without config"

fields = ["paths", "clean"]

required = []

set = { clean = [true] }

[[commands.task]]

id = "choose_dir"

label = "Pick a directory"

fields = ["paths", "choosedir", "show_only_dirs"]

required = ["choosedir"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "basic"

label = "Basic"

fields = ["paths", "clean", "show_only_dirs", "choosedir", "choosefile", "choosefiles"]

[[commands.group]]

id = "advanced"

label = "Advanced"

fields = ["debug", "confdir", "cachedir", "datadir"]

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/ranger. 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.