flea README

The project's README from github.com/thisisgm/flea. As one markdown file: README.md.

Flea

Flea

The fastest GUI file manager on Linux.
Keyboard-first. Built for Omarchy.

Install · Views · Performance · Keyboard · Releases

Flea 0.1.6 columns view playing an inline video, with file details and the hostname in the sidebar

Flea combines a Rust backend with a Quickshell interface that follows your Omarchy theme. Large directories stay responsive: the window loads rows and requests thumbnails as you need them.

Install

omarchy pkg add flea

Make Flea your default file manager, file chooser and the app opened by Super+Shift+F:

flea --default
systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal

Update through Omarchy:

omarchy update

0.1.6 is on GitHub. OPR updates are waiting on omarchy-pkgs#340.

File chooser only, development package and removal

Use Flea for portal Open/Save dialogs without changing your default file manager:

flea --picker
systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal

For the rolling development build:

omarchy pkg aur add flea-git

Before removing Flea, undo its desktop integration:

flea --default off
omarchy pkg drop flea

If you previously pinned another directory handler, restore that handler explicitly. Installation details cover dependencies, desktop integration and removal.

Views

List for file details. Grid for photos and clips. Columns for browsing folders with a preview beside them.

Grid view with image and video thumbnails List view with sortable file details

Space opens Quick Look from any view. Page through a PDF, play media or inspect an archive.

PDF preview with page navigation

Performance

Measured on 8 September 2026, using the source tree released as 0.1.6. Cold caches, three runs per app, medians below. Seven GUI apps on the same Omarchy machine.

100,000 files

Flea led this run in settled time, window memory and process-tree CPU. PCManFM mapped its window sooner.

File manager First window Settled Window PSS CPU
Flea 749 ms 1.21 s 88.0 MiB 0.89 s
Strata 632 ms 1.67 s 93.9 MiB 1.39 s
Dolphin 699 ms 5.43 s 211.2 MiB 8.97 s
Nemo 780 ms 22.23 s 459.6 MiB 25.34 s
Thunar 534 ms 22.72 s 346.0 MiB 22.33 s
PCManFM 415 ms 35.76 s 109.9 MiB 24.77 s
Nautilus 798 ms 79.83 s 335.1 MiB 18.61 s

2,000 mixed files

The apps produced different amounts of thumbnail work, so settled time and CPU are not ranked. These are observations, not an equal-work speed comparison.

File manager First window Settled Window PSS CPU Thumbnails
Flea 794 ms 2.49 s 102.9 MiB 1.23 s 36
Dolphin 682 ms 14.28 s 98.8 MiB 68.18 s 552
Nautilus 857 ms 16.95 s 172.4 MiB 12.54 s 541
Nemo 788 ms 3.36 s 53.7 MiB 5.25 s 60
PCManFM 389 ms Timed out 38.9 MiB 90.19 s 604
Strata 610 ms 7.83 s 87.2 MiB 2.31 s 205
Thunar 534 ms 12.88 s 41.1 MiB 7.22 s 221

“First window” records compositor registration. “Settled” means 500 ms without process-tree CPU activity; neither measures input readiness. PSS covers the window process, excluding helpers and GPU memory. Flea's separate backend used a median 5.3 MiB on the large listing and 2.1 MiB on media. CPU includes the process tree; shared libraries affect PSS. PCManFM did not settle in any media run. Results describe this machine and workload.

Method · Run details and TUI results · Scale CSV · Media CSV

Keyboard

Press ? for the full keymap, or , to change settings.

Action Keys
Move / parent / enter j k / h / l
Open with the default app Enter
Quick Look Space
Select / extend selection v / Shift + arrows
Copy / cut / paste y x p, or Ctrl+C Ctrl+X Ctrl+V
Rename / trash / undo r or F2 / dd or Delete / z
New folder Ctrl+Shift+N
Search / filter the list f / /
Enter a path : or Ctrl+L
List / columns / grid Ctrl+1 / Ctrl+2 / Ctrl+3
New tab / close tab / switch tab t / w / 1–9
Open terminal / context menu Ctrl+T / m
Show hidden files .

The Windows preset uses Ctrl+Shift+1/2/3 for views. Menu visibility does not disable shortcuts. See the full key table for preset bindings and pointer actions.

Build

Requires Omarchy, Quickshell 0.3.1 or newer, and Rust. See installation details for runtime and optional dependencies.

cargo build --release
FLEA_UI="$PWD/ui" ./target/release/flea --gui

Pass a directory to open it, or --select <path> to reveal a file. The terminal interface is not implemented yet.

./tests/run-all.sh

The headless runner builds both profiles and reports suites that need a display, credentials or a package. The test suites cover file operations, previews, persistence and input; the protocol guide documents the backend.

Support

If this saved you an afternoon, you can buy me a coffee.

Licence

MIT.

flea (thisisgm/flea)

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822 ·GitHub
Flea
What is this?Flea is a fast, keyboard-first GUI file manager built specifically for Omarchy, pairing a Rust backend with a Quickshell (QML) interface that follows your Omarchy theme.
Is this a standalone app or some kind of plugin?It's a standalone desktop application meant to replace your system file manager and file-picker dialogs, not a plugin for another app.
How do I install it and make it my default file manager?Update/install it through Omarchy (version 0.1.6 is on GitHub, with an OPR package pending); once installed you can set it as the default file manager, the file chooser for Open/Save dialogs, and bind it to Super+Shift+F.
What do I need installed before building it?You need the Omarchy environment itself, Quickshell version 0.3.1 or newer, and Rust to build the backend.
Any features that are still missing?There's no terminal/TUI mode yet, and it's tied to the Omarchy/Hyprland/Wayland stack rather than being a general cross-desktop Linux file manager.
Does this run on any Linux desktop or just Omarchy?It's built specifically for Omarchy (a Hyprland-based Wayland setup) and depends on Quickshell, so it isn't a generic cross-desktop Linux file manager.
How fast is Flea compared to other Linux file managers?In the README's own benchmark on 100,000 files, Flea settled in 1.21s using 88 MiB, well ahead of Nautilus (79.83s) and Nemo (22.23s); results are from the author's own machine and workload, not an independent test.
What does Quick Look do?Pressing Space opens a preview pane for images, PDFs, text, media and archive contents, viewable from any of the three main views.
Which network and cloud protocols can it browse?Flea supports SMB, SFTP, FTPS, WebDAV, NFS, Dropbox and Taildrop for remote and shared file access.
Can I customize the keybindings?Yes - press ? to see the full keymap, and you can switch between Default, Vim, Mac or Windows key presets (the Windows preset changes view-switching shortcuts to Ctrl+Shift+1/2/3).
What are similar projects?omastorm, shell, omarchy-workspace-layout, strata, omarchy-lock-explorer, omamail, serpantinum, AgentOS
Which topics is it in?quickshell, file-management, qml, omarchy, hyprland, linux-desktop, webdav, wayland, linux-app, file-manager, file-sharing, keyboard
Creator
thisisgm
Size
33.6 MB
Stars
822
Updated
CommitOct 17Releasev0.3.12Oct 17
Age
1mo
Commits · 90 Days