SuperExplorer

Roadmap status and runtime/validation handoff: Post-parity roadmap handoff.

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A Windows 11 file explorer written in Rust with GPUI-CE. The project combines a native Windows shell integration layer with a custom GPUI interface inspired by Windows File Explorer.

This project is under active development. It is Windows-only and is not a drop-in replacement for every Windows Explorer shell feature.

Features

Navigation and views

• Tabbed folder navigation with Back, Forward, Up, address bar, breadcrumbs, and search.
• Real folder enumeration, file-system watching, sorting, filtering, and Details / icon / thumbnail layouts.
• Session restore for tabs, pins, view settings, and window placement.
• Light, dark, and high-contrast themes; DPI-aware layout; keyboard navigation; IME input; and UI Automation semantics.

Details columns

• Built-in columns for Name, Date modified, Type, Size, Date created, Authors, Tags, Title, File Count, Folder Count, and Permissions.
• File Count and Folder Count are visible by default on a fresh Details layout. Existing saved layouts keep their previous visibility.
• Header right-click opens a Windows 11-style column chooser: visible columns show a check mark, enabled rows can be toggled repeatedly without closing the menu, and Name stays checked and locked. Auto-size commands still dismiss the menu.
• Column reorder, resize, auto-size, and per-tab persistence.

File operations

• Native create, rename, copy, move, delete, conflict handling, cancellation, and undo journaling.
• Windows clipboard interoperability and OLE drag-and-drop with Explorer, including copy/move across volumes and remote providers.
• Multi-transfer center with progress, speed, and cancellation.
• Process lock-owner detection and recovery when a file or folder is in use.

Remote filesystems

• ADB (Android), SFTP, FTP, and Google Drive browsing with address-bar login where required.
• Cross-provider copy/move, remote properties and permissions, and symlink / shortcut creation where the provider supports it.
• Local APK install onto a connected Android device, with status notices.

Search, metadata, and performance

• Folder Options → General lets you pick exactly one search engine: Everything, MFT, or file enumeration. Unsupported engines stay visible but disabled, with a hint; search never silently falls back to another engine.
• MFT-backed folder size, File Count, and Folder Count for local NTFS volumes, shared across windows through the MFT service.
• Shell icons, overlays, BC7 icon/thumbnail caches, and a Preview pane with trusted rasters or Windows Preview Handlers.

Bookmarks, automation, and extensions

• Bookmark toolbar and manager for folders, files, and Lua commands.
• Extensible plugin platform (Rust DLL and Lua packages) for extra columns, views, and commands, including folder-size bars, Size Map, Code Lines, 7-Zip virtual folders, and lock-owner columns.
• Folder Options window for search engine, view preferences, language, extension enablement, cache budgets, and scoped session reset.

Shell integration

• Native immersive context menus for local files, with the same visual style for application-owned popups.
• Namespace roots such as This PC, Quick Access, Libraries, ZIP, Recycle Bin, and Network where the Shell exposes them.
• Windows 11-inspired chrome, taskbar/start integration through SuperDesktop when installed, and an NSIS installer.

Validation

• Automated unit, integration, architecture, visual, accessibility, lifecycle, and Windows interop validation scripts.

Requirements

• Windows 11 x64.
• Git with submodule support.
• Rust 1.85.0 or newer using the x86_64-pc-windows-msvc toolchain.
• Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools or Visual Studio with the Desktop development with C++ workload.
• A Windows SDK compatible with the MSVC toolchain.
• PowerShell 7 is recommended for the validation scripts.

Get Started

Clone the repository and initialize the GPUI-CE submodule:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/damody/file_explorer.git
cd file_explorer

If the repository was cloned without submodules:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Build and run the application:

cargo run -p explorer-app --locked

To open a specific folder at startup:

$env:EXPLORER_INITIAL_PATH = 'D:\'
cargo run -p explorer-app --locked

Release Build

Build and finalize the Windows executable, including its manifest and version resources:

./scripts/finalize_windows_artifact.ps1 -Profile release

The executable is written to target/release/SuperExplorer.exe.

Validation

Run the primary repository checks:

cargo run -p explorer-uitest -- --suite quick
cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo check --workspace --locked
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --locked -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace --locked

The manifest-driven runner scans every active OpenSpec requirement and fails validation when a requirement has no mapped regression case. Run headful and native integration coverage with:

cargo run -p explorer-uitest -- --suite full --fail-on-skip
cargo run -p explorer-uitest -- --suite interop --fail-on-skip

Headful Windows and visual checks require an interactive desktop session. Useful entry points include:

./scripts/run_headful_validation.ps1 -SkipBuild -OutputDirectory target/headful-evidence/local
./scripts/capture_dpi_matrix.ps1 -OutputDirectory target/dpi-evidence/local
./scripts/check_architecture.ps1
./scripts/check_ui_tokens.ps1

See Explorer UITest, Manual Tests, and Visual Testing for the complete workflows.

Workspace Layout

Path	Responsibility
crates/explorer-app	Application startup, Windows prerequisites, MFT service, and GPUI composition root
crates/explorer-common	Shared diagnostics and error types
crates/explorer-i18n	Embedded Fluent catalogs and locale negotiation
crates/explorer-jobs	Background job coordination
crates/explorer-model	Navigation, operations, window, and domain models
crates/explorer-mft	NTFS MFT index and folder-aggregate queries
crates/explorer-remote	ADB, SFTP, FTP, and Google Drive providers
crates/explorer-search	Query parsing and search engine
crates/explorer-shell-win	Native Windows Shell, clipboard, OLE, immersive popups, icons, and file operations
crates/explorer-ui	GPUI interface, state, layout, themes, and interaction
crates/explorer-extension-host	Plugin loading, package validation, and contribution runtime
crates/explorer-extension-broker	Isolated broker/worker for Shell providers and Preview Handlers
crates/explorer-test-support	Shared test fixtures and helpers
crates/explorer-uitest	Manifest-driven OpenSpec coverage and regression runner
vendor/gpui-ce	Pinned GPUI-CE Git submodule
SuperDesktop	Optional desktop-shell companion (submodule; not modified by ordinary app commits)
scripts	Build, smoke-test, interop, accessibility, and visual-validation scripts
docs	Status, evidence, testing guides, and implementation notes

Project Documentation

• Current status
• Final handoff and known gaps
• Parity matrix
• Checkpoint evidence
• Implementation plan

Known Limitations

• The application currently targets Windows only.
• Preview Handler rendering, cloud availability, Network discovery, and third-party namespace/handler behavior depend on the installed Windows environment.
• Some OLE drag-and-drop, mixed-DPI, Narrator, and Explorer-to-app scenarios still need manual validation on a real interactive Windows desktop.
• Search uses the engine selected in Folder Options. Everything needs the packaged SDK and IPC; MFT needs a local NTFS volume with a SuperExplorer MFT index; file enumeration needs a local folder. Remote locations cannot use these engines.
• Saved Details layouts keep their previous column visibility; File Count and Folder Count default to visible only on a fresh layout.

See Final Handoff for the detailed validation state and remaining gaps.

Licensing and contributions

SuperExplorer is proprietary, source-available software. It is not open-source software. You may inspect the source and prepare contributions or compatible plugins only under the applicable documents below; unauthorized redistribution, publication of modified core versions, and commercial use of the core are prohibited.

• EULA
• Plugin SDK License
• Contributing guide
• Contributor License Agreement
• Plugin Publishing Agreement

Third-party components, including materials under vendor/, third_party/, and build/tools/, remain governed by their own license and notice files.