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Justin Maximillian Kimlim
Justin Maximillian Kimlim

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I Put VS Code, Claude, and a Terminal Inside a File Manager I built using React and Rust — Here's What Happened

#showdev #typescript #react #productivity

Remember when file managers were just... folders and files?

I got tired of switching between Finder, VS Code, Terminal, and ChatGPT every 30 seconds. So I built a file manager that has all of them built in. It's called Xplorer, it's free, and I just shipped the first alpha.

Xplorer — A modern file manager

The "Why" — File Managers Haven't Changed Since 2005

Think about it. Your code editor got AI autocomplete, your browser got extensions, your terminal got split panes. But your file manager? Still the same grid things...

I wanted one app where I could:

  • Browse files
  • Preview code with syntax highlighting
  • Ask AI "what's in this PDF?"
  • Run git commands
  • Open a terminal
  • Install extensions

So I built it.

What It Looks Like

VS Code Vibes, But For Your Files

Multi-tab browsing, split panes, file tree sidebar, AI chat — all in one window. Browse two folders side-by-side, ask the AI about a file, and preview code with syntax highlighting. No more juggling 5 different apps.

Split view with multiple tabs, file browsing, and AI chat sidebar

And yes — you can actually code in it too. There's a full code editor extension with syntax highlighting, multi-tab editing, an architecture analyzer, git history, and a project workspace sidebar. It's basically VS Code inside your file manager.

Full IDE mode — code editor, architecture panel, git history, workspace tree

The git integration lives in the bottom panel — stage commits, view diffs, push/pull, browse history. The terminal persists even when you navigate to different folders (which sounds obvious, but most file managers kill your terminal when you click a folder).

AI That Actually Sees Your Files

Select any file — a PDF, a Word doc, a spreadsheet, source code — type "explain this file", and the AI reads the actual content and tells you what's inside. Not just the filename. The content.

In the screenshot below, I selected a Chinese probability textbook PDF. The AI read it and told me it's a "Probability Theory Exam Crammer's Bible, compiled for a 2026 Spring semester course at Tsinghua University." I didn't open the file. I didn't copy-paste anything. It just read it.

AI chat reads your files — select a PDF and ask questions about it

It works with anything: PDFs, .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, Python scripts, Rust code, config files. You can ask follow-up questions, ask it to summarize, or ask it to compare two files. It's like having ChatGPT built into your file manager, except it can actually see what's on your disk.

The AI search is smart too — type "latest" and it sorts by date. Type "big videos" and it filters by type and size. It even works across languages.

Run Claude Code or Codex Right In Your File Manager

See that terminal at the bottom? That's Claude Code running inside Xplorer. Command palette on top, other extensions on the right, integrated terminal at the bottom. You can browse your project files, run claude in the terminal, and manage extensions — all without leaving the window.

The command palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) works just like VS Code — search files, jump to folders, run commands. And the terminal is a real PTY, so anything you run in Terminal.app or iTerm works here too — including Claude Code.

Command palette, Claude Code in terminal, and extensions panel

The Extension Marketplace

Just like VS Code has extensions, Xplorer has a marketplace at xplorer.space. That's how features above can work. One-click install, auto-updates.

There are 25+ extensions right now:

  • Git UI — full branch, staging, diff, blame interface
  • SSH Manager — browse remote servers like local folders
  • Code Editor — edit files with syntax highlighting
  • Image Editor — crop, resize, filters
  • SQLite Browser — open and query databases
  • 5 Themes — Tokyo Night, Dracula, Nord, Cyberpunk, Ocean Deep

And if you're a developer, you can build your own with the public SDK.

More Screenshots

File browsing with split view

Rich file previews — code, images, PDFs, 3D models

AI chat assistant built right in

Git integration in the bottom panel

Built With

  • Tauri 2 + Rust — 10x smaller than Electron, native speed
  • React 18 — modern UI with hooks
  • AI — works with Ollama (free/local), Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral
  • Runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux

Try It

This is an alpha release — it's fully functional but expect rough edges. Back up important files before going wild with file operations.

Download: github.com/kimlimjustin/xplorer/releases

Source code: github.com/kimlimjustin/xplorer (AGPL-3.0)

Extension marketplace: xplorer.space

If you like it, a star on GitHub or a sponsorship would mean the world to me.

Back years ago I posted I wrote a fully functioning File Explorer using TypeScript. That was the version I built when I learn programming. This is the sequel — rewritten from scratch in Rust with AI superpowers.

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