FileView (fv)
Browse files, preview their contents, and search your project from the terminal. FileView shows text and image previews alongside your files, with Git status and keyboard or mouse navigation. No configuration is needed to get started.
Install
Download a binary for macOS, Linux, or Windows.
You don't need Rust. The installation guide covers which
archive to choose, how to run it, and how to add fv to your PATH.
If you have Rust 1.90 or newer:
cargo install fileview --locked
Get started
Run fv in a project folder, or pass a path:
fv ./my-project
Search and preview
Press Ctrl+P and type a filename. Use ext:rs git:changed to find Rust files
with Git changes, or text:TODO to search inside files. Select a content result
and press Enter to open the matching line and column.
Content search needs ripgrep (rg) on your
PATH. It matches literal text, is case-sensitive, and cannot be combined with
filename filters. Filename search works without rg. Search respects project
ignore rules, including .gitignore and .ignore.
The same queries work from the terminal, with JSON output for scripts:
fv search main
fv search 'ext:rs git:changed' . --json
fv search 'text:TODO' . --json
Text previews load pages as you scroll. With the preview focused, use g for
the beginning and G for the end. See the 3.0 release notes
for the changes and upgrade notes.
Markdown files are shown rendered, with headings, lists, emphasis, and code blocks formatted, when the preview pane is at least 80 columns wide. Narrower panes show the raw source.
A closer look
Each clip below was recorded with the tapes in demo/.
More details
- Installation, optional tools, and image support
- All keybindings and configuration
- Claude Code, MCP, and scripting
- Lua plugins
- Search and preview design, including current limits
- Performance measurements and changelog