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jarun
nnn
C2017–2026
jarun / nnn

nnn

n³ The unorthodox terminal file manager

41Distinct people
107Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
22.1KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

n³ The unorthodox terminal file manager

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

I use nnn[0], a C tui file manager, and from the makefiles, you mostly need readline pcre ncurses pthread and POSIX (and some unix thingies) Which is why I love C projects,…

skydhash used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

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Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year107 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2017-04-13 15:34:40 UTC to 2026-08-20 22:23:23 UTC.

01020302017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 19 mentions; 10 submissions, 9 comments20172018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 18 mentions; 8 submissions, 10 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 20 mentions; 10 submissions, 10 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 27 mentions; 9 submissions, 18 comments2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 0 submissions, 5 comments20212022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 10 mentions; 2 submissions, 8 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 3 mentions; 0 submissions, 3 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC19109
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC18810
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC201010
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC27918
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC505
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC1028
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC303
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 12, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
nnn - Supercharge your productivity! [Features] $~~$ [Quickstart] $~~$ [Plugins] $~~$ [Wiki] nnn (n³) is a full-featured terminal file manager. It's tiny (~150 KiB), nearly 0-config and incredibly fast. It is designed to be unobtrusive with smart workflows to match the trains of thought. nnn can analyze disk usage, batch rename, launch apps and pick files. The plugin repository has tons of plugins to extend the capabilities further e.g. live previews, (un)mount disks, find & list, file/dir diff, upload files. A patch framework hosts sizable user-submitted patches which are subjective in nature. Independent (neo)vim plugins - nnn.vim, vim-floaterm nnn wrapper and nnn.nvim (neovim exclusive). Runs on the Pi, Termux (Android), Linux, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Cygwin, WSL, across DEs or a strictly CLI env. (more use cases) Features Quality Privacy-aware (no unconfirmed user data collection) POSIX-compliant, follows Linux kernel coding style Highly optimized, static analysis integrated code Frugal Typically needs less than 3.5MB resident memory Works with 8 colors (and xterm 256 colors) Disk-IO sensitive (few disk reads and writes) No FPU usage (all integer maths, even for file size) Minimizes screen refresh with fast line redraws Tiny binary (typically around 150KB) 1-column mode for smaller terminals and form factors Hackable - compile in/out features and dependencies Portable Language-agnostic plugins Static binary available (no need to install) Minimal library deps, easy to compile No config file, minimal config with sensible defaults Plugin to backup configuration Widely available on many packagers Touch enabled, handheld-friendly shortcuts Unicode support Modes Light (default), detail Disk usage analyzer (block/apparent) File picker, (neo)vim plugin Navigation Filter with automatic dir entry on unique match Type-to-nav (turbo navigation/always filter) mode Jump to an entry with visible relative offset Contexts (aka tabs/workspaces) with custom colors Sessions, bookmarks, mark and visit a dir Remote mounts (needs sshfs, rclone) Familiar shortcuts (arrows, ~, -, @), quick look-up cd on quit (easy shell integration) Proceed to next file on file open and selection Search Instant filtering with search-as-you-type Fuzzy, regex (POSIX/PCRE2) and string (default) filters Subtree search plugin to open or edit files Sort Ordered pure numeric names by default (visit /proc) Case-insensitive version (aka natural) sort By name, access/change/mod (default) time, size, extn Reverse sort Directory-specific ordering Mimes Built-in previewer for directory and text files FIFO-based previewer plugins with extensive mime support Open with desktop opener or specify a custom opener File-specific colors (or minimal dirs in context color) Icons and Emojis support (customize and compile-in) Plugin for image, video and audio thumbnails Create, list, extract (to), mount (FUSE based) archives Option to open all text files in $EDITOR Convenience Detailed file stats and mime information Run plugins and custom commands with hotkeys FreeDesktop compliant trash utility integration Cross-dir file/all/range selection Create (with parents), rename, duplicate files and dirs Create new file or directory (tree) on startup Batch renamer for selection or dir List input stream of file paths from stdin or plugin Copy (as), move (as), delete, archive, link selection Easily copy, move paths in system clipboard to current dir Dir updates, notification on cp, mv, rm completion Copy file paths to system clipboard on select Launch apps, run commands, spawn a shell, toggle exe Access context paths/files at prompt or spawned shell Lock terminal after configurable idle timeout Capture and show output of a program in help screen Basic support for screen readers and braille displays Quickstart Beginners Install nnn, preferably using the package manager. Run the following command to generate (and optionally add to your rc file) a shell function to start with. sh -c "$(curl -Ls https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jarun/nnn/master/misc/quickstart.sh)" Use the shell function name you chose to run nnn with your preferred configuration. Power users Install nnn and the dependencies you need. Install plugins. Configure cd on quit. The desktop opener is default. Use -e to open text files in the terminal. Optionally open detached. In a CLI environment, set NNN_OPENER to nuke. Use option -c. For GUI apps, consider xopen. Sync subshell $PWD to nnn. Use -x to sync selection to clipboard, show notis on cp, mv, rm and set xterm title. Bid ls goodbye! alias l='nnn -dDe' 😎 Visit the Live previews and Troubleshooting Wiki pages. Don't memorize! Arrows, /, q suffice. Tab creates and/or cycles contexts. ? lists shortcuts. Videos nnn file manager on Termux (Android) NNN File Manager This Week in Linux 114 - TuxDigital I'M GOING TO USE THE NNN FILE BROWSER! 😮 NNN: Is This Terminal File Manager As Good As People Say? Checkmate, GUI users. | 4P Elsewhere AddictiveTips ArchWiki FOSSMint gHacks Tech News Hacker News [1] [2] It's FOSS Linux Format Issue 265; Manage files with nnn LinuxLinks [1] [2] [3] Linux Magazine; FOSSPicks Make Tech Easier Opensource.com Open Source For You PCLinuxOS Magazine Issue June 2021 Suckless Rocks Ubuntu Full Circle Magazine Issue 135; Review: nnn Using and Administering Linux: Volume 2: Zero to SysAdmin: Advanced Topics Wikipedia Developers Arun Prakash Jana (Copyright © 2016-2026) 0xACE Anna Arad KlzXS Léo Villeveygoux Luuk van Baal NRK Sijmen J. Mulder and other contributors Visit the Tracker thread for a list of features in progress and anything up for grabs. Feel free to discuss new ideas or enhancement requests.
Read the full README on GitHub

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