Vifm Q&A - Recent questions

Use file type (not MIME) to define fileviewer

Mon, 18 May 2026 19:40:48 +0000

For an OpenSSH public key, Vifm reports this with ctrl+g:

Name:        machine.pub
Size:        563   B
Type:        OpenSSH RSA public key
Mime Type:   application/vnd.ms-publisher

I'd like to define a fileviewer for files with type "OpenSSH RSA public key".

Using the incorrect MIME type for the fileviewer seems brittle: fileviewer <application/vnd.ms-publisher> ssh-keygen -l -f %c

vifm --remote example with if then statement

Wed, 06 May 2026 00:06:42 +0000

Hello,
I have the following code:

vifm --remote +':if filetype('.') == 'dir' | echo 'Directory' | else | echo 'File' | endif'

Unfortunately, it's not working. What am I doing wrong?
Output messages:

Invalid expression: filetype(.) == dir
Invalid expression: Directory
Misplaced :else
Invalid expression: File
:endif without :if

Integrating zoxide with vifm

Sun, 03 May 2026 03:39:41 +0000

This is more of an answer rather than a question.

I use zoxide to quickly jump to most recent directories which matches a substring. For example, if often cd into MyApp directory whose full path is ~/Work/Projects/Apps/MyApp, then (assuming I have visited that directory using cd a couple of times) I can just use zd mya or maybe shorter substring to jump to the directory. Below I have shown how I integrate it to vifm and within cd version of fzf command in vifm

" Choose directory with zoxide query, where user enter a search term after `Zcd` like `:Zcd substring` and cd into the first match
command! Zcd : set noquickview
              \| let $Z_PICK = term('zoxide query "%a"')
              \| if $Z_PICK != ''
              \|     let $dir_name = fnameescape($Z_PICK)
              \|     cd $dir_name
              \|     execute '!zoxide add %%d %%i'
              \| endif

" Choose directory with zoxide interactive and cd into it
command! ZcdI : set noquickview
               \| let $Z_PICK = term('zoxide query -l | fzf --height 20 2>/dev/tty')
               \| if $Z_PICK != ''
               \|     let $dir_name = fnameescape($Z_PICK)
               \|     cd $dir_name
               \|     execute '!zoxide add %%d %%i'
               \| endif

You can even add execute '!zoxide add %%d %%i' to the fzf cd command as below

" Choose directory and cd into it
command! Fzfcd : set noquickview
                \| let $FZF_PICK = term('fd --type d --hidden --follow | fzf-tmux 2>/dev/tty')
                \| if $FZF_PICK != ''
                \|     execute 'cd' fnameescape($FZF_PICK)
                \|     execute '!zoxide add %%d %%i'
                \| endif

copy transfer speed

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:54:13 +0000

I was trying to optimize the internal 10gbit LAN connection to my server and while with

dd if=/home/john/bigfile.dat of=/mnt/server/bigfile.dat bs=4M status=progress

I can reach ~546 MB/s over sshfs, when I use the vifm's copy command it caps at ~220MB/s.
Is there a way to improve the transfer speed on vifm?

Passing v:servername to script

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 15:33:19 +0000

I want to have a Tmux popup window with FZF to search for a file from inside Vifm.

I have a custom .zsh script in ~/.config/vifm/scripts which gets the job done (works well if I hardcode server name) but fails if I try to pass the server name dynamically:

nnoremap f :!~/.config/vifm/scripts/vifm_fzf.sh "%d" "%{v:servername}" &<cr>

I do logging in my script and see that path is passed correctly but the server name is passed as literal: v:servername} which causes Sending remote commands failed.

I don't want to hardcode serve name becasue I want my script to handle multiple instances of Vifm well.

Please advice how to invoke a custom script with dynamic server name (I've tried some attempts with escape etc. but failed).

all menus available

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 17:29:09 +0000

Try to make an exhaustive list of all menus available

bmarks......................display all bookmarks in a menu
ca[bbrev]..................display cmdline abbrevs
chi[story]..................display history of menus
cmap.........................mappings for command line mode
cnoreabbrev...........display noremap cmdline abbrevs
colo[rscheme]........display color schemes
com[mand].............display a menu of user commands
dirs...........................display directory stack
dis[play]..................display menu with registers content
f[ile]........................display menu of programs set for the file type
fin[d] pattern........display results of find command in the menu
gr[ep] pattern.......display results of grep command in the menu
his[tory]..................display a menu with list of visited directories
jobs..........................display menu of current backgrounded processes
locate filename.....menu of file names
lstrash.....................display a menu with list of files in trash
marks......................display menu of all marks
media......................display media management menu
nmap.......................mappings for normal mode
plugins....................display plugins menu
qmap.......................mappings for view mode
reg[isters]...............display menu with registers content
trashes....................list all valid trash directories in a menu
undol[ist]................display list of latest changes
ve[rsion]..................display menu with version information
vmap........................same as vnoremap - mappings for visual mode
volumes...................display menu with volume list

Feel free to correct me or update the list - I will be grateful

Howto compare files ?

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 08:59:29 +0000

Hi,
How can I compare 2 selected files, either in the same directory/pane or not ?

Folder name with dot

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 23:21:25 +0000

Is there a way to make vifm not to separate the text after the last dot in a folder name? It considers it as extension and move it to the right side where all the file extensions are. I prefer it doesn't do this for folders.

Thank you

recall last selection

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:24:38 +0000

a feature that I find useful, grep on selected folders or files.

1st method:

position on the desired folders or files and press the t key and repeat - once the selection is made - run the grep command for example:

search for the string "main thread" with:
:grep main thread

2nd method:

in visual mode with the v key and leaving it with Enter to keep the selection and re-entering with av to select more files. Then grep.

How to recall the lost selection (a bit like copen) after the grep command ?

Automatic switch between light and dark themes

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:15:58 +0000

Probably via OSC 10/11 or similar.

Use case: user switches theme on the fly (well-supported in GTK3/4, QT5/6, vim/neovim, many terminal emulators, etc).

Three Letter Marker for filter

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:01:25 +0000

As we know, there are three basic file filters.

I have reviewed all the questions asked and answered - using the topic filter - and I did not find an equivalent.

Is it possible to add a three-letter indicator to the status bar ?

First indicator D when there is a filter for files starting with a dot. Second indicator L when at least one or more files are filtered by the local filter. Third indicator P when at least one or more files are filtered by the permanent filter.

So the possible values would be either Nothing, or D, or L, or P, or DL, or DLP, or LP, or DP.

Concerning a counter that counts the total number of filtered files, I already have one.

Thank you for your suggestions and your helpful advice

File/folder count on the bottom right corner

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:17:19 +0000

Hello, Is there a way to have the file/folder count on the bottom right corner (2/2 in the attached snapshot) to not count the first row (dot) or just show zero when the cursor is on dot? This way the second number is the correct file/folder count in the folder.

Thank you

synchronize vifm with Xviewer

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:44:26 +0000

Hi there,

say I have 100 pictures 1.jpg 2.jpg ... 100.jpg

To see the first one, I move on it in VIFM and press ENTER

It opens the picture in Xviewer, then I can go to the next picture with arrow right.... until 10.jpg

After exiting Xviewer the VIFM cursor stays on 1.jpg

Is there a way to synchronize VIFM cursor with Xviewer after leaving it ?

Thanks

behavior Enter Key

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:18:19 +0000

When using the Lenovo Z51 laptop, I like to use the key with a square and a cross inside (called stop/exit) which closes the active window like Alt-F4 would.

With VIFM, when I open a Vim document with the ee key that I mapped as follows: nnoremap ee :execute '!' $VIFM_TERMINAL ' vim %c &'<cr> and I close the document with the stop/exit key, VIFM remains open.

However, open a Vim document in VIFM by pressing the Enter key and then close it with the stop/exit key, the Vim document closes and VIFM closes too. How can I make the Enter key behave the same way as the ee mapping? Thank you.

open file with the second filetype command from :file

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 03:26:40 +0000

Hello,
I was wondering if there is a quick way to open a file using the second command in the list of Filetype associated commands from :file command?
Thank you

Zoom preview window

Fri, 02 Jan 2026 23:32:57 +0000

There are situations when preview does not fit on screen (say a markdown with long lines, etc).

It is indeed possible to make vifm show a single pane/side (<C-w>o), however doing the same in preview raises "Can't leave preview window alone on the screen". Is there a strong reason for it?

Show only symlinks

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 05:32:00 +0000

Is it possible to have a simple view displaying only the symlinks?

command! LnOnly :find . -t l -H --max-depth=1 works, but it shows them in the "menu view" which is rather useless in this case.

Locked (permanent) tabs

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 05:00:59 +0000

Total Commander has this neat "locked tabs" functionality so that a particular set of tabs is always present.

Navigating from a "locked" tab automatically creates a new one. This allows to have a set of frequently visited places always at hand and edit them on the fly (lock/unlock/rename).

Together with the tabs surviving the application restart it creates rather convenient environment for managing files at scale.

Admittedly, the functionality is somewhat similar to marks, but feels less rigid as it does not require editing the config.

Hide progress dialogue

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 04:23:54 +0000

With set uioptions=iodetails progress dialogue is shown by default.

How can it be hidden?

show UID only

Wed, 24 Dec 2025 09:19:31 +0000

is there a way to force showing uid only and not username with uid as fallback? because I get flapping and inconsistent results even on the same user, sometimes it shows as uid and sometimes as name

here are two example

set viewcolumns=-{name}..,6{},5{uid}.

set statusline="%6u:%-6g"

Image preview issue in vifm after upgrading kitty

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:25:32 +0000

I have been using this to preview images in vifm running in kitty:

 fileviewer *.bmp,*.jpg,*.jpeg,*.png,*.gif,*.xpm
    \ kitten icat --silent --transfer-mode=file --place=%pwx%ph@%pxx%py %c >/dev/tty </dev/tty %N
    \ %pc
    \ kitten icat --clear --silent >/dev/tty </dev/tty %N

It has been working great.

Recently I upgraded my kitty (no changes in vifm), and now the preview works for one or two images and then it starts to blink and turns black. As soon as I move the mouse it shows the preview.

I was wondering if you any opinion on what might be causing this and how to resolve this.
Thank you.

prompt sudo password

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:34:51 +0000

is there a way to prompt for sudo password inside vifm when accessing restricted directories, copy/moving files ecc, without executing vifm as root?

Different font for text and icons

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 17:01:45 +0000

I like Mono fonts for vifm, e.g. JetBrains Mono. However, they seem to have small/monospaced icons. Is there a way to use JetBrains Mono for texts (file/folder names) and another fonts for icons (left side of the texts)?

Thanks

fileviewer: catchall for readable and non-readable files

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:50:32 +0000

at the bottom of all fileviewers I would like to create a catchall fileviewer (maybe two?) that execute a program if the file under cursor has readable text, and another program if it doesn't have readable text (like .iso, .exe, .py ecc); would that be feasible?

selects files/folders matching a pattern

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:23:56 +0000

How can I select files/folders in the current directory that match a patern, e.g. jpg extension or partial filename.

thanks

add automatic increasing numbering to a list of files/folders

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 15:56:51 +0000

How can I add automatic increasing numbering to the beginning or end of a list of selected files/folders?

thanks

flat view - files starting with dot

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 19:41:25 +0000

I am using this command to see a flat view of my current folder:

:!fd%u<cr>

It doesn't shows the files starting with dot. Is there a way to make it to show everything?

Thanks

macro for custom view

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 10:56:47 +0000

I'm currently using a filextype configuration that execute a system command that uses vifm %d macro.
Would be possible to replace the %d with a macro that reference the current custom view if file is executed from such custom view?
For the system command to interact with custom view files like this, should a temporary directory be created with custom view files symlinked inside it?

shortcut for relativenumber

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 08:43:10 +0000

In VIFM, when you have the "set relativenumber" option in vifmrc, you get numbers displayed in front of files and folders, relative to the cursor's position.

Until now, when I wanted to enter a folder located 10 lines above the cursor, I would type 10, then the up arrow key, and then the Enter key. I was wondering if it's possible to create a shortcut by typing the number and then the 'u' key (for up) – which would have the effect of directly entering the folder or opening the file. For example, 10u would replace 10 + up arrow + Enter. The same for 10d which would have the effect of entering the folder located below the cursor.

Thanks for your advice and keep up the good work in developing this "terrible" program.

Blink cursor

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 15:10:37 +0000

Hello there!

I use tmux and sometimes it's not obvious which pane I'm currently in. I'd like to be able to blink the cursor or otherwise provide some feedback. Is there a way to do this?

Thank you

Open vifm with multiple tabs

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:59:51 +0000

Hi,

In case anyone wants to open a specified set of tabs when opening vifm but doesn't want to duplicate them when reloading

" Open vifm with three tabs per pane. The first tab of each pane is in current
" directory. Remaining are home directory.
"-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
if tabpagenr("$") == 1
    windo tabnew
    cd ~ ~
    windo tabnew
    cd ~ ~
    tabnext 1
    winc w
    tabnext 1
    winc w
endif

Sync tabs (like :sync for panes)

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 14:45:38 +0000

Hi,

I added commands to my $MYVIFMRC that can synchronize the view of the next tab to the current pane's directory or directory under the current cursor. Just posting it here in case it's useful for anyone else and in case anyone wants to suggest another alternative.

" Sync next tab to current directory
command! TabSync : let $DIR_CUR = "%d"
                \| tabnext
                \| cd "$DIR_CUR"
                \| tabprev
nnoremap <a-u> :TabSync<cr>
" Sync next tab to directory under cursor
command! TabSyncCursor : let $DIR_CUR = "%c"
                      \| tabnext
                      \| cd "$DIR_CUR"
                      \| tabprev
nnoremap <a-p> :TabSyncCursor<cr>

I use it in combination with other sync keymaps like below:

" Sync other pane to current directory
nnoremap <a-i> :sync<cr>
" Sync other pane to directory under cursor
nnoremap <a-o> :sync %c<cr>

catch-all preview

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 07:58:26 +0000

at the bottom of my configuration I would like to create a catch-all like preview, one for all files that contains readable text and one, below, for all other files, how can I achieve this without manually specify file extensions?

I tried with

fileviewer <text/plain> mycommand
fileviewer * mycommand

but I'm missing something in the logic.

proposition for improving message : 1 file inserted

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:38:41 +0000

VIFM version 0.14.3

Hello,

After yanking a file with yy I have the message : 1 file yanked

Then I move in another directory and I copy it with p or move it with P - in both cases the message is : 1 file inserted

what about this little modification

for copying with p let the message as is: 1 file inserted

and for moving with P change the message to: 1 file moved

Thank you for your time and appreciate your feedback

File highlight broken?

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:53:06 +0000

Several files with the same extension (like .pdf or .jpg) don't get a correct highlight color whereas others do.

A few lines of my .config/vifm/colors/Default-256.vifm:

highlight {*.doc,*.docx} cterm=none ctermfg=122 ctermbg=default highlight {*.pdf} cterm=none ctermfg=160 ctermbg=default

.jpg highlight is set by default under " images
.pdf highlight is removed from " documents ... section

This should highlight all files with .pdf or .docx in their respective colors.
But this isn't always the case:

(even after renaming or even copying to another directory)

What could this be? I've already checked for file size or length of file, but it doesn't make a difference.

I use arch btw and kitty.

Help much appreciated.

Open .xlsx file with sc-im

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 02:35:14 +0000

MacOS, iTerm2. The CLI command sc-im <filename>.xlsx opens the file for editing. Accordingly, in vifm with the file selected, :!sc-im %c (or %f) opens the file.

I have added filetype *.xlsx sc-im %f & to vifmrc. When I do :file on a *.xlsx entry I get a [present] sc-im %f &, and also a [present] open -a LibreOffice.app but I don't have LO installed.

Pressing enter when a .xlsx entry is highlighted I get Background Process Error: Device not configured

Also tried adding the path: filetype *.xlsx "/usr/local/bin/sc-im" %f &

Filter by file permission

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 10:21:31 +0000

is possible to filter a directory content based on its file's permission?

Look behind in filetype regex pattern.

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 11:40:47 +0000

Hello there!

I have a question about customizing filetype associations.
I want to have different filetype associations for non-tar *.gz and *.tar.gz

If I define it directly, like:

filetype {*.tar.gz} command-1
filetype {*.gz}     command-2

then command-2 obviously will be linked to tar files too.

I have tried this way:

filetype {*.gz},!{*.tar.gz} command-2

or

filetype !{*.tar.gz},{*.gz} command-2

But it not worked at all, it adds command-2 both to tar files and to all non-tar.gz (any other, like txt,zip,avi, .etc).

The best way I have found is to use regex with negative look behind pattern, like:

(?&lt;!\.tar)\.gz

But as I understand, POSIX regex does not support this, so is there simple way to do that?
I want to avoid complex regex-es like in this SO question.

P.S.: Many thanks for VIFM, it is amazing software!

cp -n warning popup

Sat, 13 Sep 2025 19:50:28 +0000

Dear experts,

vifm Is my preferred file manager. I am now on Linux Lite 7.4 and am using a version that I recently compiled from source (Version: 0.14.3, compiled Aug 19 2025 -> latest commit available at that date).

When I yank an item and then paste/copy it to another location by pressing the "p" key I get an ascii warning popup stating:
"Background Process Error"
"cp: warning: behavior of -n is non-portable and may change in the future; use --update=none instead".

Since it is just a warning one can press Enter and the end result is as desired. However, since pasting files is an action that I perform with a certain regularity this message is becoming a small annoyance and I am looking for a way to suppress it.

The best (or actually, the only) option that I can come up with myself is to remap to the shell command i.s.o. using the built-in paste:
nnoremap p :!cp -rp --update=none %"r" %"d<cr>
At first glance this seems to work, though I have not tested it extensively yet. The clone command associated to the "C" key results in the same warning, but I haven't figured out yet how to remap that one due to the [count] part that may precede it.

What is the advice of the experts w.r.t. suppressing the persistent warning popup? Is the remap mentioned above ok, or is there a better way to suppress the "may change in the future" warning?

Thanks so much for this awesome software and all the hard and terribly appreciated work in maintaining it as well as the Q&A forums!

ps.
My apologies if this is a repeated question.

Unsuccessful key binding (F3 and F4 keys)

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 05:53:29 +0000

I am very impressed with vifm capabilities, however I have found some strange behavior when pressing F3 and F4 in normal mode. Pressing F3 does nothing, and pressing F4 brings up the sort option dropdown menu, although vifmrc specifies nnoremap <f3> :!less %c<cr> and nnoremap <f4> :edit %c<cr>. However, the :edit %c command works correctly: it opens the file in vim. The terminal is xterm-color, the $TERM variable is set via .Xresources and has the correct value (xterm-color). I would be glad if someone could explain what is wrong.

How to expand macros when adding bookmarks

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:04:18 +0000

How can I expand a macro when using the :bmark command?
e.g.

nmap B :bmark %c %c:h

The goal is to write a shortcut where I can add a bookmark and expand it's path as the tag argument.

Desired end result looks like this:

https://0x0.st/KHPt.png

I don't know how I was able to do this before.

Thanks

How to 'detatch' an edit?

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 22:18:12 +0000

If I want vifm to open the config file in a new window how would I do this?
Given these two lines, I'd want the bottom one to behave similarly to the top one.

" Edit vifmrc and apply settings after returning to vifm
nnoremap ,c :write | edit $MYVIFMRC | restart full<cr>

" Edit vifmrc in separate window, apply settings after returning to vifm
nnoremap ,C :write | :execute('foot nvim $MYVIFMRC') | :restart full <cr>

Previously, this used :!gvim with the --remote-tab-silent flag. This allowed for "detatching" the config file for editing while the original window remains in vifm.

Forgive me for the formatting, I am not familliar with how Q2A handles markdown

How to `ga` or `gA` every file and directory on open?

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 14:46:26 +0000

I'd like vifm to display filesize of every file/directory I can see at all times without having to vjj...gA.

Is this inadvisable? Would it slow vifm down considerably?

Thank you

How would one toggle an executable?

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 06:44:25 +0000

I've tried a few variations of this and don't see any examples or questions about it.

\| command togglex :
\|   if test -x %c
\|     chmod -x %c
\|   else
\|     chmod +x %c
\|   endif

" Toggle executable
" map * <nop>
map \* togglex

Archive mounts on macOS

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 11:53:23 +0000

What is the proper way for mounting archives on a recent version of macOS?
FUSE is not natively supported by macOS. There is a macfuse kext, but Apple is currently trying to move such things into userspace. There is fuse-t, but it seems to only have fuse-zip, so there is no support for .rar or .7z files.
Are there any other ways to do this? Or did I miss something when looking at the aforementioned FUSE implementations?

Questions about the Lua API

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 15:25:02 +0000

Thanks for the Lua plugin support. I've experimented a bit and have a couple of questions about the Lua API.

I'm new to Lua, so some questions might be obvious. I've read https://wiki.vifm.info/index.php/Using_Lua_plugins and skimmed over :help vifm-lua.

1) Is the Lua API the only way to add a description to a key binding? As a workaround, I've been creating commands like command! RootEditFile :!sudo $EDITOR %f and then adding a key binding to that command nnoremap <Space>r :RootEditFile<CR>, but description = "edit file as root" is definitely a nicer way.

2) According to the help file: "Builtin print() function puts messages to plugin's log (see |vifm-:plugins| menu)." Where can I view these logs? Running :plugins just shows a list of plugins. I've been using vifm.sb.info('...') instead for logging, but that isn't ideal.

3) Is there something built-in to pretty-print tables? In Neovim you can do :lua print( vim.inspect( tbl ) ).

4) A helper function like the following can pretty-print tables:

local function print_table(tbl, indent)
  indent = indent or 0
  local formatting = string.rep("  ", indent)
  for key, value in pairs(tbl) do
    local keyStr = tostring(key)
    if type(value) == "table" then
      vifm.sb.info(formatting .. keyStr .. " = {")
      print_table(value, indent + 1)
      vifm.sb.info(formatting .. "}")
    else
      vifm.sb.info(formatting .. keyStr .. " = " .. tostring(value))
    end
  end
end

How would one print, for example, vifm.currview(), which is of type Vifmview? I've also encountered the type userdata.

5) I expected there would be something like vim.cmd() in Neovim, but if I understand correctly, it's impossible to call a built-in command like :messages or :normal! j from the Lua API? For the latter, there's an alternative (local c = vifm.currview().cursor; c.pos = c.pos + 1), but for the former, there isn't?

6) There isn't a way to run Lua from the Vifm command-line either, like :lua print('foo') in Neovim?

The cmdline blinks when running long string map key than screen width

Sat, 26 Jul 2025 08:40:32 +0000

Hello, when i run a mapped key which has very long map string than my screen width, the cmdline always blinks, even adding "silent" parameter after nnoremap, it also doesn't work, and I really don't like it.

I wonder if there is any way to stop this blinking for such case?

It's really appreciated to look forward to your answer, thanks.

the below key map is for your reference, its map string is longer than my screen width.

nnoremap <silent> gT  :<c-u>
          \| if v:count == 0
          \|   exec 'normal gT'
          \| elseif v:count > tabpagenr('$')
          \|   tabmove
          \| elseif v:count >= tabpagenr()
          \|   exec 'tabmove' v:count
          \| elseif v:count < tabpagenr()
          \|   exec 'tabmove' v:count - 1
          \| endif
          \| <cr>

Misc feedback

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 17:14:21 +0000

Here is some miscellaneous feedback I would like to share.

When deleting two directories, you get the message Are you sure you want to delete 2 files? and after confirmation the message 2 files deleted. Just a small detail, but I found it a bit confusing. Changing the wording to 2 items or 2 entries would encompass both files and directories.
Another solution, but harder to implement than just changing the wording, would be to differentiate based on the type of entry: e.g. 2 directories deleted (in the case of only directories) or 1 directory and 3 files deleted (in the case of a mix of files and directories).
A :messages clear (sub)command might be useful when debugging user commands, like in Vim.
I don't know if Vifm is to blame for this, but when using the AppImage version, FUSE mounts over SSH work very slowly, to the point of being almost unusable. The Homebrew version works just fine.
Is it possible to configure how often the file is reloaded when using automatic forwarding? It feels pretty slow at the moment. Some tests seem to indicate that it's only forwarded once every 10 seconds, while tail -f reflects updates instantaneously.
The link to the #vifm@Freenode IRC channel on the website should probably be changed to Libera Chat, or removed.
I noticed two very small typos in the documentation. I could make a PR, but I'm not sure how to do so because there is both vifm-app.txt and vifm.1 and I assume one is generated based on the other.

removed should be remove in https://github.com/vifm/vifm/blob/14bfbae98be2180925c7f448c960b4638eeb6095/data/vim/doc/app/vifm-app.txt#L1925
the word is should be deleted in https://github.com/vifm/vifm/blob/14bfbae98be2180925c7f448c960b4638eeb6095/data/vim/doc/app/vifm-app.txt#L3247

Thanks a lot for the recent updates to Vifm!

how to make vifm choose a single file

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 04:37:45 +0000

CONTEXT: I am trying to use vifm as a xdg file chooser using the xdg-desktop-portal-termfilechooser library. But facing some limitations.

vifm --choose-files and --choose-dir always prints a newline to stdout when selection is abort/or no selection.
vifm --choose-files command line argument that lets user select one or multiple objects and then returns the selection. Unlike ranger, vifm doesn't have a mechanism where only one selection is valid and in case multiple objects selected, it will block and show warning. Is there any plugin or method to simulate such behavior?
Is there a navigation mode for normal command line operation? (afaik it only works in search mode)

How to spawn Erlang LSP server when editing Erlang source?

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:06:28 +0000

When using standalone Vim, the Erlang Language Server works as expected, using the following CocConfig:

{
  "languageserver": {
    "erlang": {
      "command": "erlang_ls",
      "filetypes": ["erlang"]
    }
  }
}

But when I try to open and edit Erlang source files from within Vifm, I get the following error:

erlang client: couldn't create connection to server.
Launching server using command erlang_ls failed. Error: spawn erlang_ls ENOENT

What command should I use in order to spawn the Erlang Lsp from within Vifm?

Thank you in advance.