menucd – curses directory browser and changer

menucd is a terminal-based directory browser and changer built around a small ncurses interface. It displays the subdirectories of the current location alongside saved bookmarks, letting you move through the filesystem without repeatedly typing paths.

The program deliberately keeps its scope narrow. It is not a general-purpose file manager and does not offer copying, moving or deleting files. Instead, it concentrates on browsing directories, maintaining bookmarks and handing the selected path back to the current shell. A small wrapper function is used because a child process cannot directly change its parent shell’s working directory.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Displays subdirectories and saved bookmarks in an ncurses menu.
• Navigate the list with the arrow keys and page navigation keys.
• Incremental filtering narrows the displayed directories as you type.
• Save the current directory as a bookmark for later access.
• Delete unwanted bookmarks directly from the interface with a confirmation step.
• Use Backspace to move immediately to the parent directory.
• Accepts an optional starting directory, allowing the browser to open somewhere other than the current working directory.
• Can quit while changing to the currently selected directory or cancel without altering the shell’s location.
• Includes an integrated help screen showing the available key bindings.
• Stores bookmarks beneath the XDG data directory, falling back to the user’s local data directory.
• Uses a lightweight shell wrapper to transfer the chosen path back to the calling shell.
• Works with shell configuration files such as those used by Bash and Zsh.
• Runs on Linux as well as BSD systems and macOS.
• Uses ncurses and its menu library for the terminal user interface.
• Builds with the Meson build system and a standard C compiler.

Website: github.com/andy5995/menucd
Support:
Developer: Andy Alt
License: The Unlicense

menucd is written in Bash. Learn Bash with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

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