Customization

Customization

Table of contents

• Theming
  • Colors
  • The prompt
  • Dividing line
  • FZF window
  • A modern look
• Custom commands
• Files listing
• Keybindings
• Aliases
• Profile and prompt commands

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Theming

All customization settings (theming) are made from a single configuration file (the color scheme file). They are installed by default in XDG_DATA_DIRS/clifm/colors (usually /usr/local/share/clifm/colors or /usr/share/clifm/colors), though color scheme files found in XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clifm/colors (usually HOME/.config/clifm/colors) take precedence. This latter could be used to store custom color schemes.

Each color scheme file may include any (or all) of the following options:

Option	Description	Full description
FiletypeColors	Colors for different file types, such as directory, regular files, and so on	Here
InterfaceColors	Colors for clifm's interface, such as ELN's, file properties bits, suggestions, syntax highlighting, etc.	Here
ExtColors	Colors for files based on file name's extension	Here
DateShades	A comma separated list of colors to colorize timestamps1
SizeShades	A comma separated list of colors to colorize file sizes1
DirIconColor	Color for directories icon (when icons are enabled)	Here
Prompt	Clifm's prompt	Here
DividingLine	The line dividing the current list of files and the prompt	Here
FzfTabOptions	Options to be passed to fzf when using the fzf mode for TAB completion, including colors	Here

¹ More information on how to set up these fields in the default color scheme file.

The color scheme (or just theme) can be set either via the command line (--color-scheme=NAME), via the ColorScheme option in the main configuration file, or using the cs command, for instance,

cs mytheme

Enter cs (or cs <TAB>) to get a list of available color schemes.

To edit the current color scheme enter

cs edit

By default, clifm ships several themes, though more can be found in our colors repository.

Note: The default theme file includes documentation on how to read/build custom themes.

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Colors

Default colors used by CliFM

Color support

If 256 colors support is detected for the current terminal (see below), and not set in any other way (either via the ColorScheme option in the configuration file or the --color-scheme command line switch), clifm will attempt to load the 256 colors version of the default color scheme: default-256. Otherwise, it falls back to the 16 colors version.

LS_COLORS is also supported. See the LS_COLORS support section for more details.

Color detection

Color is always disabled in any of these cases:

1. Either NO_COLOR or CLIFM_NO_COLOR is set (to any value)
2. CLICOLOR is set to 0
3. If running with --no-color
4. The terminfo database reports no color support for TERM (for example, xterms).¹

The amount of supported colors is taken from TERM (via the terminfo database). If COLORTERM is set to either 24bit or truecolor then clifm assumes that true color (and thereby 256 colors) is supported.

¹ If your terminal does support colors, no matter what terminfo says, you can force the use of colors setting CLIFM_FORCE_COLOR to any value (or CLICOLOR_FORCE to 1). Note that if terminfo does not report color support, and you nonetheless set CLIFM_FORCE_COLOR or CLICOLOR_FORCE, clifm will run in 16 colors mode for maximum compatibility.

Setting colors

Colors and interface elements are specified in the color scheme file and can be modified as you wish using the below codes (see the colors command).

Colors are defined using the same format used by dircolors(1) and the LS_COLORS environment variable, namely, a colon separated list of codes with this general format: name=value, where name refers to an interface element and value to the color to be used by this element.

The following codes are used for different elements of clifm's interface:

File types

Code	Reference
bd	Block device
ca	File with capabilities
cd	Character device
di	Directory
ed	Empty directory
ee	Empty executable file
ef	Empty regular file
ex	Executable file
fi	Regular file
ln	Symlink
mh	Multi-link file
nd	Directory with no read/exec permission
nf	File with no access permission
no	Unknown file type
oo	Doors/Ports (Solaris)
or	Orphaned or broken symbolic link
ow	Other writable directory
pi	FIFO/pipe
so	Socket
su	SUID file
sg	SGID file
st	Sticky and not other writable directory
tw	Sticky and other writable directory
uf	Inaccessible files (stat(2) error)

NOTE: LSCOLORS Generator provides a nice and graphical way of constructing a LS_COLORS line.

Syntax highlighting

Code	Description
hb	Parenthesis, Brackets: () [] {}
hc	Comments: #comment
hd	Slashes: /
he	Expansion operators: * ~
hn	Numbers (including ELN's)
hp	Commands parameters: -p --parameter
hq	Quotes: "str" 'str'
hr	Redirection operator: >
hs	Commands separator: | & ;
hv	Variables (environment and internal): $FOO
hw	Backslash (aka whack): \

Auto-suggestions

Code	Description
sb	Shell builtins
sc	Aliases and shell command names
sd	Internal commands description
sf	ELN, bookmark, tag, and file names
sh	Commands history entries
sp	Suggestions pointer (e.g.: 12 > filename, where > is the suggestion pointer)
sx	Clifm's internal commands and parameters
sz	File names (fuzzy)

File properties

Code	Description
db	File allocated blocks (since 1.17.10)
dd	Last access/birth/change/modification time1
de	File inode number (long view only) (since 1.17.3)
dg	Group ID (provided the user has access to the file)
dk	Number of links (long view only) (since 1.17.3)
dn	Dash (unset property)
do	Octal value for file permissions
dp	SUID, SGID, sticky bit
dr	Read permission bit
dt	Timestamp identification mark2 (since 1.19.11)
du	User ID (provided the user has access to the file) (since 1.19.11)
dw	Write permission bit
dxd	Executable permission bit (directories)
dxr	Executable permission bit (regular files)
dz	File size1

¹ If unset (default), gradient colors are used based on either file size or timestamp.
² If unset (default), a dimmed version of the current timestamp color is used.

Prompt elements

Code	Description
em	Error message indicator
nm	Notice message indicator
wm	Warning message indicator
ro	Read-only mode indicator
si	Stealth mode indicator
li	Selected files indicator
ti	Trash indicator
tx	Command line text (regular prompt)

Miscellaneous interface elements

Code	Description
df	Default color1
dl	Dividing line2
el	ELN's3
fc	Files counter
lc	Symbolic link indicator (only for ColorLinksAsTarget)4
mi	Miscellaneous indicators (disk usage, sort method, bulk rename, jump database list, and others)
ts	Matching prefix for TAB completed possible entries
tt	Tilde character (~) for trimmed file names
wc	Welcome message
wsN	Color for workspace N (1-8)
xs	Exit code: success
xf	Exit code: failure

¹ The default color is used when no specific color needs to be used, that is, as the base color of the interface. For example, after printing a file name, the color will be set back to df. As a rule of thumb and for consistency reasons, this color should be set to the foreground color of the console/terminal emulator, that is to say, 00, which is the default.

² If unset, the color of the current workspace will be used instead.

³ If running clifm with the --eln-use-workspace-color command line switch, the color of the current workspace will be used instead of this color.

⁴ See the configuration file for details about this option.

Color specification

Color codes are basically traditional ANSI color codes less the escape character and the final m. Thus, for instance, if you want non-empty directories to be bold blue, add this to the FiletypeColors line in the corresponding color scheme file:

di=1;34

If you want ELN's to be red, add this code to the InterfaceColors line:

el=0;31

Color codes can be used for file extensions as well (regular files only) using this format: *.ext=color. For example, to print C source files in bold green, add this to the ExtColors line in the corresponding color scheme file:

*.c=1;32

Note: Non-accessible (non-readable by the current user), executable (including SUID and SGID) files, and files with capabilities take precedence over file extensions. For example, the file file.mp3, if executable, will be printed using the color code associated to executable files (ex) even if there is a color code associated to .mp3 files.

Note 2: In case ExtColors is not found in the color scheme file, or it is set to the empty string, clifm will fallback to the default colors (as defined in default and default-256 color schemes). To completely disable colors for file extensions you need to set at least one value. For example:

ExtColors="*.conf=0"

Supported colors

8-16, 256, and 24-bit colors are supported. For example:

fi=04;38;2;245;76;00;48;2;00;00;255

will print regular files underlined and using a bold orange foreground color on a blue background.

NOTE: Bear in mind that a color scheme (or theme) does not need to specify colors for each code, but only for those that differ from the defaults (as defined in the default color scheme). If you just want to change directories color to, say, red, and ELN's to bold magenta, you can create a color scheme file (named for example red.clifm) under the colors directory with the following content:

FiletypeColors="di=01;31;ed=02;31"
InterfaceColors="el=01;35"

Only di, ed, and el are defined. Undefined codes will be set to the default values. The same goes for the prompt (both regular and warning prompt), and FZF options.

For 256 colors, Xterm-like color names can be used as well. In the case of 24-bit colors, (both the RGB and the HEX format are supported).

256-colors

Though ANSI escape sequences can be used to specify 8-bit colors (aka 256-colors), the following short syntax can be used as well: @NUM[-[1-9]], where 1-9 is a display attribute (only one attribute is allowed):

Number	Name
1	Bold or increased intensity
2	Faint, decreased intensity or dim
3	Italic (Not widely supported)
4	Underline
5	Slow blink
6	Rapid blink
7	Reverse video or invert
8	Conceal or hide (Not widely supported)
9	Crossed-out, or strike

For instance,

di=@160-1

means that directories (di) will be printed in bold (1) red (160).

Hex color codes

Three/six digits hexadecimal color codes are also supported using this format: #RRGGBB[-[1-9]] (or #RGB[-[1-9]]), where 1-9 is a display attribute (only a single attribute is allowed). For example, to get underlined red ELN's:

el=#ff0000-4

or, if you prefer directories to be printed in Royal Blue:

di=#4169e1

Xterm-like color names (256 colors)

A name is assigned to each color in the 256 colors palette. The list of color names (as found in vifm(1)) is a as follows:

Color	Name
0	Black
1	Red
2	Green
3	Yellow
4	Blue
5	Magenta
6	Cyan
7	White
8	LightBlack
9	LightRed
10	LightGreen
11	LightYellow
12	LightBlue
13	LightMagenta
14	LightCyan
15	LightWhite
16	Grey0
17	NavyBlue
18	DarkBlue
19	Blue3
20	Blue3_2
21	Blue1
22	DarkGreen
23	DeepSkyBlue4
24	DeepSkyBlue4_2
25	DeepSkyBlue4_3
26	DodgerBlue3
27	DodgerBlue2
28	Green4
29	SpringGreen4
30	Turquoise4
31	DeepSkyBlue3
32	DeepSkyBlue3_2
33	DodgerBlue1
34	Green3
35	SpringGreen3
36	DarkCyan
37	LightSeaGreen
38	DeepSkyBlue2
39	DeepSkyBlue1
40	Green3_2
41	SpringGreen3_2
42	SpringGreen2
43	Cyan3
44	DarkTurquoise
45	Turquoise2
46	Green1
47	SpringGreen2_2
48	SpringGreen1
49	MediumSpringGreen
50	Cyan2
51	Cyan1
52	DarkRed
53	DeepPink4
54	Purple4
55	Purple4_2
56	Purple3
57	BlueViolet
58	Orange4
59	Grey37
60	MediumPurple4
61	SlateBlue3
62	SlateBlue3_2
63	RoyalBlue1
64	Chartreuse4
65	DarkSeaGreen4
66	PaleTurquoise4
67	SteelBlue
68	SteelBlue3
69	CornflowerBlue
70	Chartreuse3
71	DarkSeaGreen4_2
72	CadetBlue
73	CadetBlue_2
74	SkyBlue3
75	SteelBlue1
76	Chartreuse3_2
77	PaleGreen3
78	SeaGreen3
79	Aquamarine3
80	MediumTurquoise
81	SteelBlue1_2
82	Chartreuse2
83	SeaGreen2
84	SeaGreen1
85	SeaGreen1_2
86	Aquamarine1
87	DarkSlateGray2
88	DarkRed_2
89	DeepPink4_2
90	DarkMagenta
91	DarkMagenta_2
92	DarkViolet
93	Purple
94	Orange4_2
95	LightPink4
96	Plum4
97	MediumPurple3
98	MediumPurple3_2
99	SlateBlue1
100	Yellow4
101	Wheat4
102	Grey53
103	LightSlateGrey
104	MediumPurple
105	LightSlateBlue
106	Yellow4_2
107	DarkOliveGreen3
108	DarkSeaGreen
109	LightSkyBlue3
110	LightSkyBlue3_2
111	SkyBlue2
112	Chartreuse2_2
113	DarkOliveGreen3_2
114	PaleGreen3_2
115	DarkSeaGreen3
116	DarkSlateGray3
117	SkyBlue1
118	Chartreuse1
119	LightGreen_2
120	LightGreen_3
121	PaleGreen1
122	Aquamarine1_2
123	DarkSlateGray1
124	Red3
125	DeepPink4_3
126	MediumVioletRed
127	Magenta3
128	DarkViolet_2
129	Purple_2
130	DarkOrange3
131	IndianRed
132	HotPink3
133	MediumOrchid3
134	MediumOrchid
135	MediumPurple2
136	DarkGoldenrod
137	LightSalmon3
138	RosyBrown
139	Grey63
140	MediumPurple2_2
141	MediumPurple1
142	Gold3
143	DarkKhaki
144	NavajoWhite3
145	Grey69
146	LightSteelBlue3
147	LightSteelBlue
148	Yellow3
149	DarkOliveGreen3_3
150	DarkSeaGreen3_2
151	DarkSeaGreen2
152	LightCyan3
153	LightSkyBlue1
154	GreenYellow
155	DarkOliveGreen2
156	PaleGreen1_2
157	DarkSeaGreen2_2
158	DarkSeaGreen1
159	PaleTurquoise1
160	Red3_2
161	DeepPink3
162	DeepPink3_2
163	Magenta3_2
164	Magenta3_3
165	Magenta2
166	DarkOrange3_2
167	IndianRed_2
168	HotPink3_2
169	HotPink2
170	Orchid
171	MediumOrchid1
172	Orange3
173	LightSalmon3_2
174	LightPink3
175	Pink3
176	Plum3
177	Violet
178	Gold3_2
179	LightGoldenrod3
180	Tan
181	MistyRose3
182	Thistle3
183	Plum2
184	Yellow3_2
185	Khaki3
186	LightGoldenrod2
187	LightYellow3
188	Grey84
189	LightSteelBlue1
190	Yellow2
191	DarkOliveGreen1
192	DarkOliveGreen1_2
193	DarkSeaGreen1_2
194	Honeydew2
195	LightCyan1
196	Red1
197	DeepPink2
198	DeepPink1
199	DeepPink1_2
200	Magenta2_2
201	Magenta1
202	OrangeRed1
203	IndianRed1
204	IndianRed1_2
205	HotPink
206	HotPink_2
207	MediumOrchid1_2
208	DarkOrange
209	Salmon1
210	LightCoral
211	PaleVioletRed1
212	Orchid2
213	Orchid1
214	Orange1
215	SandyBrown
216	LightSalmon1
217	LightPink1
218	Pink1
219	Plum1
220	Gold1
221	LightGoldenrod2_2
222	LightGoldenrod2_3
223	NavajoWhite1
224	MistyRose1
225	Thistle1
226	Yellow1
227	LightGoldenrod1
228	Khaki1
229	Wheat1
230	Cornsilk1
231	Grey100
232	Grey3
233	Grey7
234	Grey11
235	Grey15
236	Grey19
237	Grey23
238	Grey27
239	Grey30
240	Grey35
241	Grey39
242	Grey42
243	Grey46
244	Grey50
245	Grey54
246	Grey58
247	Grey62
248	Grey66
249	Grey70
250	Grey74
251	Grey78
252	Grey82
253	Grey85
254	Grey89
255	Grey93

For example:

ex=LightGoldenrod3

to print executable files as LightGoldenrod3, namely, color 179 (#d7af5f).

Just as with hex colors, a single attribute can be appended to color names. For example, LightGoldenrod3-1 to get the bold version of this color.

Shades

By default, color shades are used to print both timestamps and file sizes (in long view mode and via the p command).

Shades can be customized via the DateShades and SizeShades fields in the color scheme file.

In both cases, the syntax used to specify color shades is as follows:

COLOR-TYPE,ERROR,SHADE1,SHADE2,SHADE3,SHADE4,SHADE5

COLOR-TYPE is one of: 1 (4-bit: 8 colors), 2 (8-bit: 256 colors), 3 (24-bit: truecolor)

For 4-bit colors (1), valid colors are in the range 30-37
For 8-bit colors (2), valid colors are in the range 0-255
For 24-bit colors (3), valid colors have this format: #RRGGBB

ERROR is the color used to print bad values.
SHADEn is the color used for the shade N.

The meaning of each date shade is:

Code	Meaning
SHADE1	<= hour
SHADE2	<= day
SHADE3	<= weak
SHADE4	<= month
SHADE5	> month

The meaning of each size shade is:

Code	Meaning
SHADE1	byte
SHADE2	Kb
SHADE3	Mb
SHADE4	Gb
SHADE5	Bigger

An attribute (0-9) can be added to any color (either ERROR or SHADE) using a dash (-). For example:

Color-attribute	Description
34-1	Bold blue (4-bit colors notation)
226-2	Dimmed yellow (8-bit colors notation)
#ffaff00-4	Underlined orange (24-bit colors notation)

Note: For DateShades to work, the dd color code (solid color for dates) must be unset (default). In the same way, for SizeShades to work, the dz color code (solid color for sizes) must be unset (default).

Default values are:

DateShades="1,31-2,36-1,36,36-2,36-2,36-2" (4-bit colors)
DateShades="2,197-2,231,253,250,247,244" (256 colors)

SizeShades="1,31-2,36,32,33,31,35" (4-bit colors)
SizeShades="2,197-2,79,77,228,215,203" (256 colors)

Color variables

Up to 128 custom color variables can be used via the define keyword to make it easier to build and read theme files.¹ Example:

define RED=00;31
define MY_SPECIAL_COLOR=04;38;2;255;255;0;48;2;0;14;191

FiletpeColors="di=RED:"
InterfaceColors="el=MY_SPECIAL_COLOR:"

Color names (256 colors) can be used as well. For example:

define RED=MediumVioletRed
define MY_SPECIAL_COLOR=DarkTurquoise

¹ This only applies to FiletypeColors, InterfaceColors, ExtColors, and DirIconColor. Prompt and WarningPromptStr lines use full ANSI escape sequences instead.

LS_COLORS support

Besides clifm-specific themes, LS_COLORS (since version 1.15.8) is also supported via the --lscolors command line switch (GNU ls only). A few examples:

1. Via vivid

LS_COLORS=$(vivid generate nord) clifm --lscolors

2. Via a custom dircolors file (for example Nord):

eval $(dircolors FILE)
clifm --lscolors

--lscolors can be used together with --color-scheme: while the former sets file type and file extension colors, the latter takes care of interface colors. For example:

LS_COLORS=$(vivid generate nord) clifm --lscolors --color-scheme=nord

Note: Bear in mind that clifm-specific colors (like empty directories or inaccessible files) will be disabled. Note also that colors for specific file names, as defined in LS_COLORS, are not supported (only file extensions are supported). Consult dircolors(1) and the GNU guideline for more information.

Environment

You can also set colors using the following environment variables:

Name	Description
CLIFM_FILE_COLORS	File type colors
CLIFM_IFACE_COLORS	Interface colors
CLIFM_EXT_COLORS	File extension colors
CLIFM_DATE_SHADES	Color shades for timestamps
CLIFM_SIZE_SHADES	Color shades for file sizes
LS_COLORS	To be used with --lscolors (see LS_COLORS support)

For example, to temporarily set directories color to white run clifm as follows:

CLIFM_FILE_COLORS="di=01;37:ed=02;37:nd=04;37" CLIFM_IFACE_COLORS="fc=02;37" clifm

Terminal color capabilities

To test your terminal color capabilities use the colors script (in the plugins directory). You can also run msgcat(1) as follows:

msgcat --color=test

For further information about terminals and color support visit https://gist.github.com/XVilka/8346728.

NOTE: It might happen that, for some reason, you need to force clifm to use colors despite the value of the TERM variable. The OpenBSD console, for example, sets TERM to vt220 by default, which, according to the terminfo database, does not support color. However, the OpenBSD console does actually support color. In this case, you can set the CLIFM_FORCE_COLOR to either true or 1 to use color even if the value of TERM says otherwise.

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To see a colored list of the currently used file color codes run colors in clifm.

By default, clifm ships several themes. Some extra themes however are provided by the clifm-colors repository (for Archlinux users, the package is available on the AUR).

Color schemes are installed in DATADIR/clifm/colors (usually /usr/local/share/clifm/colors). To create your own modified and custom versions copy them to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clifm/colors and edit them to your liking (or create new ones if you like, in which case you can submit your cool theme to the clifm-colors repository).

Running colorless

To run colorless use the --no-color command line option or set either CLIFM_NO_COLOR or NO_COLOR environment variables to any value. For more information about the no-color initiative see https://no-color.org/

For a full no-color experience recall to edit your prompt removing all color codes. Clifm includes a colorless prompt in the prompts file (see the prompt command).

When running colorless this way, no ANSI escape code is used (exception made of suggestions, which are dimmed by default). For a customizable colorless theme, i.e., to use other non-color attributes like bold, italic, and so on, you can tinker with the nocolor theme.

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The Prompt

1. Setting your prompt

The prompt is taken from the Prompt line in the color scheme file. This line could be set to either a prompt name or a prompt code. Example:

# By name
prompt=clifm

# By code
prompt="%{b:red}> %{reset}"

Prompt names are defined in the prompts file and can be listed via the prompt list (or prompt list <TAB>) command.
To test a given prompt, run prompt set PROMPT_NAME.

These prompts can be edited and tweaked to your liking using the prompt edit command.

Each prompt includes these values:

Option	Description
	The name of the prompt (in square brackets). Example: [my_cool_prompt]. This name is to be used to invoke this prompt in the color scheme file as described below
RegularPrompt	The code used to build the regular prompt. Consult the prompt code and advanced prompt customization sections below
Notifications	Set to either true or false, it tells clifm whether to automatically insert notifications at the left of the prompt. You might need to set this option to false if building a custom prompt. See the examples provided by the prompts file.
RightPrompt	The code used to build the right prompt. See the right prompt section below for details.
EnableWarningPrompt	Set to either true or false, it says whether clifm should switch to an alternative prompt used to highlight invalid/non-existent command names as you type. See the warning prompt section below for details.
WarningPrompt	The code used to build the warning prompt. If EnableWarningPrompt is set to false, this line will be ignored.

To permanently set a given prompt, set Prompt in the color scheme file (via cs edit) to the name of the prompt you like, for example:

Prompt="security-scanner"

Note: The remaining prompt lines, if any, should be commented out to avoid overriding the values defined in the prompts file.

2. The prompt code

A prompt code (for the regular, right, and warning prompts) is built following almost the same escape codes and rules used by the Bash prompt, except that it does not accept shell functions (like conditionals and loops). Command substitution (in the form $(cmd)), prompt modules (in the form ${module}), string literals, color notation (see below), and ANSI escape sequences can be used to build the prompt line.

a. Escape codes

Escape code	Description
\e	Escape character
\u	The username
\H	The full hostname
\h	The hostname, up to the first dot (.)
\s	The name of the shell (everything after the last slash) currently used by clifm
\S	Current workspace number (colored according to wsN codes (in InterfaceColors) in the color scheme file)
\l	Print an L if running in light mode
\P	The current profile name
\n	A newline character
\r	A carriage return
\a	A bell character
\d	The date, in abbreviated form (e.g.: Tue May 26)
\t	The time, in 24-hour HH:MM:SS format
\T	The time, in 12-hour HH:MM:SS format
\@	The time, in 12-hour am/pm format
\A	The time, in 24-hour HH:MM format
\w	The full current working directory, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde (~)
\W	The basename of the current working directory, with $HOME abbreviated with a tilde
\p	A mix of the two above, it abbreviates the current working directory only if longer than 40 characters. To change this value set the CLIFM_PROMPT_P_MAX_PATH environment variable to a value greater than zero.
\f	Abbreviate every path component but the last to a single character. To change the number of characters per path component, set the CLIFM_PROMPT_F_DIR_LEN environment variable to a value greater than zero (defaults to 1). To keep some path components unshortened, set the CLIFM_PROMPT_F_FULL_LEN_DIRS to a value greater than zero (defaults to 1).
\z	Exit code of the last executed command (colored according to xs (success) and xf (failure) codes in the InterfaceColors section in the color scheme file)
\b	Execution time of the last command (in seconds). Use the CLIFM_PROMPT_B_MIN environment variable to print times only if bigger than the specified value (defaults to 0, i.e., print always), and the CLIFM_PROMPT_B_PRECISION variable to print only the specified value of decimal places (defaults to 2).
\i	The value of CLIFMLVL (number of nested instances of clifm)
\I	Same as \i, but formatted as (n) (nothing is printed if CLIFMLVL is 1)
\$	#, if the effective user ID is 0 (root), and $ otherwise
\nnn	The character whose ASCII code is the octal value nnn
\\	A literal backslash
\[	Begin a sequence of non-printing characters. This is mostly used to add color to the prompt line
\]	End a sequence of non-printing characters

The following files statistics escape sequences are available as well:

Escape code	Description
\D	Amount of sub-directories in the current directory
\R	Amount of regular files in the current directory
\X	Amount of executable files in the current directory
\.	Amount of hidden files in the current directory
\U	Amount of SUID files in the current directory
\G	Amount of SGID files in the current directory
\F	Amount of FIFO/pipe files in the current directory
\K	Amount of socket files in the current directory
\>	Amount of door files in the current directory (Solaris only)
\B	Amount of block device files in the current directory
\C	Amount of character device files in the current directory
\x	Amount of files with capabilities in the current directory
\L	Amount of symbolic links in the current directory
\o	Amount of broken symbolic links in the current directory
\M	Amount of multi-link files in the current directory
\E	Amount of files with extended attributes in the current directory
\O	Amount of other-writable files in the current directory
\*	Amount of files with the sticky bit set in the current directory
\?	Amount of files of unknown file type in the current directory
\!	Amount of unstatable files in the current directory

Escape codes for prompt notifications, mostly used for custom prompts which need to handle notifications themselves. In this case, Notifications should be set to false in the prompts file to prevent the automatic insertion of notifications at the left of the prompt (a few examples are given in the prompts file).

Escape code	Description
\*	* + amount of selected files
\%	T + amount of trashed files
\#	R if root user
\)	W + amount of warning messages
\(	E + amount of error messages
\=	N + amount of notice messages

Note: Except for \#, nothing is printed if the number is zero (i.e. no selected, no trashed files, and so on).

b. Colors

Colorization is made using either of the two following methods:

1) Bash-style ANSI escape codes. For example:

\[\e[1;31m\] # Bold red

Or, for a 24-bit color:

\[e[1;38;5;128;37;45m\]

Note that \[ and \] are used to indicate that the string is made of non-printing characters.

2) (Since 1.21) Using the %{COLOR} syntax, where COLOR is:

a) A color/attribute name.

Color names: black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white

To get the full-brightness variant of any of the above colors use the br prefix followed by the color name (e.g.: brblue or brblack).
Note that brblack has has higher brightness than black (close to gray).

Attribute names: bold, dim, italic, underline, reverse, strike.

To disable a specific attribute use the no prefix followed by the attribute name (e.g.: nounderline or nobold).

To disable all previous attributes use the reset keyword.

For example:

%{bold}%{underline}%{brred}text%{nounderline}text%{reset}

prints text twice, first in a bold underlined bright red, and then in a bold bright red (no underline), disabling all attributes afterwards.

Use the special fgreset and bgreset keywords to set the foreground and background color respectively to the default terminal value. For example:

%{k:red}%{blue}text%{bgreset}

prints text in blue on a red background, and then resets the background color (keeping the foreground color).

b) A number in the range 0-255 (256-colors). E.g.:

%{196}

c) A # followed by either a three or six digits hexadecimal number. E.g.:

%{#ff0000}

Attribute names can be used in all the three cases. E.g.:

%{bold}%{red}
%{dim}%{196}
%{reverse}%{#ff0000}

A single attribute can also be added via a character prefix followed by a colon (:).

Prefix	Description
b	Bold
d	Dim
i	Italic
k	bacKground
n	Normal/reset
r	Reverse
s	Strike
u	Underline

For example:

%{d:red} # for dimmed red
%{u:#ff0000} # for underlined red

To specify two or more attributes use the standalone attribute names. E.g.:

%{bold}%{u:green}
Or,
%{bold}%{underline}%{green}

To specify a background color (instead of foreground), use the k: prefix. E.g.:

%{u:red}%{k:blue}

will print underlined red on a blue background.

Writing a prefix in uppercase turns off only the corresponding attribute (unlike n, which turns off all attributes). For example:

%{b:red}%{k:blue}text%{B:red}text

will print text twice, first in bold red on a blue background, and then in red (no bold) keeping the blue background.
Note that N sets the foreground color to the default terminal value, while K sets the background color to the default terminal value.

By default, for example, clifm's prompt line is this:

Code string	Look
%{reset}\I[\S%{reset}]\l \A \u:\H %{cyan}\w%{reset}\n<\z%{reset}> %{blue}\$%{reset}

A more "classic" prompt can be built as follows:

%{green}\u@\h %{blue}\w%{reset}> 

c. Prompt modules and command substitution

Since escape codes are limited and internal to Clifm, prompt modules and command substitution are designed to provide external information to the prompt.

While command substitution work much like in regular shells, invoking shell commands (e.g. $(uname -s)), prompt modules are programs/scripts located in the plugins directory (either local or system wide).

To run a prompt module write ${NAME}. For example, to run the git prompt module: ${m_git_prompt_status}. Clifm will look for this module in the local plugins directory (~/.config/clifm/plugins), and, if not found, in the data directory (usually, /usr/local/share/clifm/plugins).

Note that you can also run a prompt module using command substitution, in which case you need to indicate the path to the module. For example, instead of

${m_git_prompt_status}

you can write

$(/usr/local/share/clifm/plugins/m_git_prompt_status)

By way of example, you can build a classic prompt using command substitution as follows:

$(whoami)@$(hostname) $(pwd)>

If you want to add git status information to this prompt, use the git prompt module:

$(whoami)@$(hostname) $(pwd) (${m_git_prompt_status})>

3. Advanced prompt customization

Besides commands substitution, which allows you to include in the prompt any information you like via shell scripts or simple shell commands, the use of Unicode characters allows you to build colorful and modern prompts.

Inserting Unicode characters in the prompt can be made in two ways:

a) Pasting the character itself using a text editor
b) Entering the octal code corresponding to the character. Use hexdump as follows to get the appropriate code:

echo -ne "[paste the char here]" | hexdump -c

The output will be something along these lines:

00000000  256 234 356                                          |...|
00000003

In this case, the octal code is: 256 234 356. So, to insert this Unicode character in the prompt, add this code as follows:

Prompt="... \256\234\356 ..."

Note: Make sure you have installed a font able to display Unicode characters.

A few examples:

Name	Look
Arctic particles
Fireplace
Stain
Green beret
Cold winter

The code for each of these prompts can be found in the prompts file. To try them out you can use the prompt command, for example, prompt Stain.

Note: Some of these prompts require a patched Nerdfont.

A simple use case for the files statistics escape codes

We all want to keep our systems safe. One of the many ways to get a bit of safety is by checking that there is no file in our file system that could somehow compromise our machines. SUID, SGID, executable, and world-writable files are to be count among these dangers.¹ This is why it could be useful to build a little files scanner for our prompt using the above mentioned files statistics escape codes. This is the code for our scanner:

%{reset}%{b:red}\U%{reset}:%{b:yellow}\G%{reset}:%{b:green}\O%{reset}:%{b:blue}\X%{reset}

By adding this code to our prompt line, we get something like this:

24:2:-:2389

This tells us that in the current directory we have 24 SUID files (printed in bold red), 2 SGID files (bold yellow), no world-writable file, and 2389 executable files.

NOTE: A predefined prompt with this files scanner integrated can be found in the prompts.clifm file.

NOTE 2: Most of the information these escape codes rely on depends on stat(3). Now, since stat(3) is not used when running in light mode (for performance reasons), this information won't be available in light mode either.

¹ See our resources page.

4. Prompt notifications

By default, clifm prints a few notification marks at the left of the prompt:

Mark	Default Color	Description
R	red	Clifm is running as root
*	green	There are selected files
T	yellow	There are trashed files
S	blue	Clifm is running in stealth mode
E	red	Error message
W	yellow	Warning message
N	green	A simple notice

5. The warning prompt

The suggestions system includes a secondary, warning prompt, used to highlight wrong/invalid/non-existent command names. Once an invalid command is entered, the regular prompt will be switched to the warning prompt and the whole input line will turn dimmed red (though it can be customized to fit your needs).

The wrong command name check is omitted if the input string:

• Is quoted (e.g.: "string" or 'string')
• Is bracketed (e.g.: (string), [string], or {string})
• It starts with a stream redirection character (e.g.: <string or >string)
• Is a comment (e.g.: #string)
• It starts with one or more spaces
• Is an assignment (e.g.: foo=var)
• It is escaped (e.g.: \string)

The warning prompt could be customized by means of the same rules used by the regular prompt. To use a custom warning prompt modify the WarningPrompt line in the prompts file.¹ It defaults to \[\e[0;2;31m\](!) > : the last line of the regular prompt will become "(!) > ", printed in a dimmed red color, including the input string.

To disable this feature use the --no-warning-prompt command line option or set the WarningPrompt option to false in prompts file.

NOTE: Bear in mind that the warning prompt depends on the suggestions system, so that it won't be available if this system is disabled.

6. The right prompt

The right prompt is just like the regular prompt, but printed on the right side of the screen. A few caveats:

1. Right prompts only work with multiline regular prompts (in the case of a single line regular prompt, the right prompt is not printed).
2. Multiple lines are not supported by right prompts (only the first line will be printed).
3. If the decoded right prompt exceeds the amount of available terminal columns, the prompt is not printed.

For a concrete usage example see the info prompt in the prompts file.

---

The dividing line

This is the line dividing the current list of files and the prompt (see the interface section). It can be customized via the DividingLine option in the current color scheme file to fit your prompt design and/or color scheme.

DividingLine accepts one or more ASCII or Unicode characters (in both cases you only need to type/paste here the chosen character(s)).

If only one character is specified (by default, "-"), it will be repeatedly printed to fulfill the current line up to the edge of the screen or terminal window.

If you don't want to cover the whole line, specify two or more characters, in which case only these characters (and no more) will be used as dividing line. For example: "------->", or "💀💀💀💀".

To use an empty line, set DividingLine to "0" (as a character, not as a number).

Finally, if this value is not set (or set to an empty string), a special line drawn with box-drawing characters will be used (bow-drawing characters are not supported by all terminal emulators).

The color of this line is set via the dl color code in the color scheme file. Consult the colors section for more information.

---

FZF window

Refer to the TAB completion page.

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Unicode

By default, no Unicode characters are used to build the clifm interface. However, this is not a technical limitation, but a design decision (mainly for portability reasons). Indeed, you can easily get a more sleek and modern interface by tweaking a few values. For example:

To get this look, we have only changed three values in our color scheme file (cs edit or F8):

1. Use box drawing characters (not supported by all terminals) instead of an ASCII dash (-) to construct the dividing line:

DividingLine=""

Note: Unicode characters can also be used, for example, DividingLine="─", or, if you are in a good mood, DividingLine="😎".

2. Change the prompt to a Unicode one (in this case curves). See the prompt section for more information.

Prompt="curves"

3. If FzfPreview is enabled, remove the --no-unicode option from FfzTabOptions (bottom of the color scheme file) to tell fzf to draw the preview window using Unicode characters.

Note: Here we are using TAB completion in fzf mode with file previews enabled and image preview support.

Note 2: To add icons, please consult the icons section.

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Files listing

Since this is file manager, listing files is one of the most important aspects of clifm. Unlike most terminal file managers out there, clifm does not make use of any menu-based interface (traditionally curses based): it rather lists files as any other files listing utility for the terminal (notably ls(1)) would do, using colors for different file types and ELN's (entry list numbers) for each listed file.

Almost every aspect of the list of files can be customized to make this list look and behave as you want.

Feature	Default value	Command line option	Config file option	Command	Keybinding
List mode	Vertical list (ls-like)	-H, --horizontal-list	ListingMode
Max file names length	unset		MaxFilenameLen
Display ELN's	true	--no-eln
Columns	enabled	--no-columns		cl, columns
Colors	enabled	--no-colors	ColorScheme	cs, colorscheme
Count files in directories	enabled	--no-files-counter	FilesCounter	fc
Directories first	true	-f, --no-dirs-first, and -F, --dirs-first	ListDirsFirst	ff, dirs-first	Alt-g
Icons	disabled	--icons	Icons	icons
Sorting method	name	-z, --sort	Sort, SortReverse	st, sort	Alt-z, Alt-x
Case (in)sensitive list	Insensitive	-i, --no-case-sensitive, and -I, --case-sensitive	CaseSensitiveList
Hidden files	Not shown	-a, --no-hidden, and -A, --show-hidden	ShowHiddenFiles	hh, hidden	Alt-i, Alt-.
Long/detail view	normal view	-L, --long-view	LongView	ll	Alt-l
Filter files	No filter		Filter	ft, filter
Max displayed files	No limit	--max-files	MaxFiles	mf

Refer to the following sections for more information about each of these options: Command line options, Configuration file options, Commands, and Keybindings.

Available list modes

Vertical list (ls-like)	Horizontal list

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Keybindings

Clifm ships these keybindings by default. However, they can be freely modified using the kb edit command (or pressing F9) or editing the keybindings file to your liking. See the files section.

The GNU emacs notation is the main way to setup your keybindings. For example, \C-a for Control-A or \C-\M-x for Control-Alt-X.

When special keys like function or arrow keys are involved, the thing is a bit more tricky. Since clifm does not depend on the curses library, keybindings are set up via ANSI escape codes, for example, \[17~ for F6 key. The two main difficulties with ANSI escape codes are: 1) They are not intuitive at all, and 2) They vary depending on the terminal emulator used. This is why we provide a plugin (kbgen) to more easily configure your keybindings.

The plugin can be found in the plugins directory as a C source file. The first step, therefore, is to compile this source file to produce a binary file. Compile as follows:

gcc -o kbgen kbgen.c -lcurses

Note: Depending on your system, you might need to compile against the curses library using lncurses instead of lcurses.

Now, run the plugin entering ./kbgen. Use either octal, hexadecimal codes or symbols. Example: For F12 kbgen will print the following lines:

Hex  | Oct  | Symbol
---- | ---- | ------
\x1b | \033 | ESC (\e)
\x5b | \133 | [
\x32 | \062 | 2
\x34 | \064 | 4
\x7e | \176 | ~

In this case, supposing you want to use F12 to open the configuration file, the keybinding would be any of the following:

open-config:\x1b\x5b\x32\x34\x7e (Hex)
open-config:\033\133\062\064\176 (Oct)
open-config:\e[24~ (Symbol)

NOTE: You can also try this program, but it only provides hex codes for the corresponding key presses.

Readline keybindings

Keybindings provided by readline (e.g. Ctrl-a, to move the cursor to the beginning of the line, or Ctrl-e, to move it to the end) are controlled via a custom configuration file to prevent conflicts with clifm's own keybindings. This file, readline.clifm, is located in the main configuration directory (usually, ~/.config/clifm) and can be customized using the same rules used by readline's inputrc file. See http://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/readline.html#SEC9.

If this file cannot not be found for any reason, readline falls back to ~/.inputrc, and then to /etc/inputrc.

Keybindings for plugins

Clifm provides sixteen customizable keybindings for custom plugins. The procedure for setting a keybinding for a plugin is the following:

1) Copy your plugin to the plugins directory (or use any of the plugins already in there)

2) Link pluginx (where x is the plugin number [1-16]) to your plugin using the actions edit command. For example:

plugin1=myplugin.sh

3) Set a keybinding for pluginx using the kb edit command. For example: plugin1:\M-7, that is to say, Alt-7.

For a concrete example take a look at this discussion.

In case of issues, consult the keybindings issues section.

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Custom commands

Before running a command, clifm checks first for aliases, then for user defined actions (plugins), then for internal commands, and finally for external commands. This means that you can make use of aliases and plugins to build custom commands, even overriding internal and external commands themselves. Let's, for example, build a custom copy command named c (overriding thereby the internal c command, also used to copy files).

We need two things:

1. The actual code for our command (namely a shell script).
2. A way to invoke it.

1. Writing our command

In this example case, we have a simple shell script, but it might be basically whatever you want and written in any language you like.

#/bin/sh

printf "Copying %s to %s\n" "$1" "$2"
cp -- "$1" "$2"

Name this file copy.sh (it could be whatever you want though) and place it in the plugins directory, usually ~/.config/clifm/plugins.

2. Invoking our command

2.a. Via an alias

Open the configuration file and, in the aliases section, add this line:

alias c='~/.config/clifm/plugins/copy.sh'

For more information about aliases consult the aliases section.

2.b. Via a plugin

Run actions edit to open the actions file and add this line:

c=copy.sh

Note the in this case it is not necessary to specify the path to our copy.sh script, since the actions function will automatically look for it in the actions directory.

For more information about plugins, consult the plugins section.

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Aliases

Aliases are another way of customization, though this time we are customizing, not interface, graphical elements, but commands. Much like in traditional shells, clifm allows you to set aliases for any command, be it internal or external.

1. Listing aliases

To list available aliases run alias.
To get information about some specific alias enter alias MY_ALIAS_NAME.

2. Adding new aliases

To create a new alias, add it to the configuration file as follows:

1. Open the configuration file, either by entering edit or pressing F10.

2. Add a new alias using the POSIX syntax for the alias shell command:

alias myalias='command arguments'

or, to alias a file or directory name:

alias myalias='/path/to/file'

After saving the file (clifm automatically updates aliases and settings), you can run your alias as any other command. For example:

cd myalias` (or just `myalias`)

or

myalias some_extra_argument

Bear in mind that when adding arguments to an alias they will be appended to the aliased command.

A nice and neat way of using aliases is aliasing those directories or files you use the most, ideally, using a one character alias:

alias a='/my/very/important/directory'

Afterwards, access your top directory by entering the corresponding alias, in this case, a

3. Importing aliases

You can also import aliases from the system using the import subcommand as follows:

alias import FILE

where FILE can be any file containing aliases defined according to the POSIX specification for the alias shell command. You usually want some of the below, depending on your shell:

Shell	Command
Bash	alias import ~/.bashrc
ZSH	alias import ~/.zshrc
Fish	alias import ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Note: When creating aliases always make sure they won't conflict with other commands. Since aliases are evaluated before command names as such, aliases has priority over them. If you set an alias named c, for example, you won't be able to use the c command, unless you create another alias for this latter, say cc or whatever alias you prefer.

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Profile and prompt commands

Clifm allows you to automatically run shell commands in two different ways:

1. Via profile commands (in which case commands will be executed at startup, even before listing files):

Open the profile file ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/clifm/profiles/PROFILE/profile.clifm) and add there whatever shell command you want, for example:

echo "This is a profile command"

2. Via prompt commands (unlike profile commands, they will executed immediately before each new prompt):

Open the main configuration file (edit or F10) and add your command preceded by the promptcmd keyword. For example:

promptcmd if [ "$PWD" == "/home/user/Downloads" ]; then printf "Welcome to my Downloads directory"; fi

A nice example of the usage of prompt commands is provided by the git integration procedure.