🚀 Why Nova?

Nova is a next-generation file manager built to bridge the gap between performance and modern design. While most file managers choose between being "fast" (but ugly) or "pretty" (but slow), Nova combines the raw speed of a Rust backend with the reactive elegance of Svelte 5.

✨ Key Features (Implemented)

🖥️ Immersive User Interface

• Glassmorphism Core: A modern, translucent interface tailored for modern compositors.
• Dual Layouts: Seamlessly switch between Grid View (visual) and List View (detailed).
• Adaptive Thumbnails: Fast thumbnail generation for Images (JPG, PNG, WEBP, GIF) and PDFs.
• Smart Breadcrumbs: Interactive path navigation.

🌪️ The "Iron" Backend (Rust)

• Zero-Blocking I/O: File operations run in separate threads, keeping the UI buttery smooth.
• Robust Undo/Redo: Accidentally deleted or moved a file? Ctrl+Z works instantly, powered by a persistent backend history stack.
• Safety Guards: Conflict detection prevents accidental overwrites during Copy/Move operations.

🔋 Power User Utilities

• Drive Management: Automatic detection of USBs and External Drives utilizing UDisks2.
  • Features: Auto-mount, Unmount, Format-safe Eject.
• Contextual Terminal: Launch your system terminal (gnome-terminal, kitty, etc.) directly in the current folder.
• Batch Rename: Built-in tool for bulk renaming with Find & Replace, Prefix/Suffix, and Auto-Numbering.
• Parallel Search: Multi-threaded search that scans your Home folder and mounted drives simultaneously.

🗺️ Roadmap & Future Vision

We believe in transparency. Here is the realistic development path for Nova:

🟢 Phase I: Core Stability (Completed)

• Rust Backend Migration: Full port of file operations to Rust.
• Undo/Redo System: State-safe operation history.
• Drive Management: Linux UDisks2 integration.
• Glassmorphic UI: Production-grade Svelte 5 implementation.

🟡 Phase II: Connectivity (In Progress)

• Video Thumbnails: FFMpeg integration for generating previews of MP4/MKV files.
• Cloud Integration: Wiring the backend's Rclone support to the Frontend UI (Google Drive, Dropbox).
• Remote Protocols: UI for connecting to SSH/SFTP and SMB servers.

🔴 Phase III: Ecosystem (Future)

• Dual-Pane Mode: classic "Commander" split-view.
• Plugin System: Lua/WASM extension support.
• AI Search: Semantic file search ("Find the receipt from last week").
• Mobile Sync: Companion app for Android/iOS.

🛠️ Installation

Prerequisites

• Linux OS (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, etc.)
• Webkit2GTK: sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev
• Poppler Utils: sudo apt install poppler-utils (Required for PDF thumbnails)

Development Setup

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone https://github.com/WRVbit/Nova-filemanager.git
   cd Nova-filemanager
   

2. Install Dependencies

   npm install
   # Ensure Rust is installed
   curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
   

3. Run Development Server

   npm run tauri dev
   

Distribution Build

To create an optimized release binary for your system:

npm run tauri build

The binary will be output to: src-tauri/target/release/nova

🏗️ Architecture

Nova follows a strict Separation of Concerns architecture:

⌨️ Keyboard Mastery

❤️ Special Thanks

Nova is built on the shoulders of giants. A massive shoutout to these incredible projects:

• m3-svelte: For the beautiful Material Design 3 implementation that powers our core UI.
• lucide-svelte: For the crisp, consistent, and beautiful icon set used throughout the app.