Notilus

A Finder-style file manager built in Flutter, with a built-in Ollama chat panel, a Quick-Look-style preview viewer, and a workflow editor for running custom prompt chains against your local files.

Notilus is a single-developer, local-first project. It runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iPad, and iPhone from one Flutter codebase, and talks to a local Ollama instance — no cloud, no account, no telemetry.

Current version: 0.1.5 (see pubspec.yaml).

Highlights

Finder-style three-pane layout on desktop — sidebar, file area, Info / Chat / Workflows panel — with a fluid wide layout and a bottom-tab compact layout below 750-px width (iPhone, iPad portrait split-view, narrow desktop windows).
Quick-Look-style preview for images, text/source code, rendered Markdown, PDF, video, and audio. Sibling files in the same folder are navigable via swipe (touch) or arrow keys + space (desktop).
Integrated terminal (desktop) — bottom-docked PTY-backed panel with VSCode-style tabs, toggled by ⌘J (macOS) / Ctrl+J (Windows / Linux). New sessions inherit the current folder as their working directory; switching folders sends cd to the active tab.
Disk-cached thumbnails for PDFs (first page), SVGs, and text files (first-lines snippet). Cache keys include path + mtime + size, so an external edit invalidates the entry automatically.
Live filesystem updates — the current folder is watched with Directory.watch() and re-listed automatically on create / rename / delete (debounced ~180 ms). No manual refresh button needed.
Ollama chat panel with token-by-token streaming over /api/generate. Attach the selected file to send its extracted text (PDF via pdftotext, Office docs via LibreOffice) or pass images straight through as base64 to a vision-capable model.
Multi-step workflows — chain prompts (each with its own template and optional model override) and run them against the selected file.
System Overview screen — disk usage per drive, shallow folder breakdown for Desktop / Documents / Downloads, plus an "AI Insights" panel that asks your local model for cleanup suggestions.
Native context menu on right-click / long-press with Open, Open With (default app + system chooser), Rename, Duplicate, Copy Path, Reveal in Finder / Files, and Move to Trash.
Pure-neutral dark theme (R = G = B grays) plus a light theme; follows the system appearance by default and can be overridden in Settings.

Install

Prebuilt binaries are published on the Releases page.

One-liner

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JayashBhandary/Notilus/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JayashBhandary/Notilus/main/install.ps1 | iex

The installer detects your platform, downloads the latest release asset, and installs to:

Platform	Install location
macOS	`/Applications/Notilus.app`
Linux	`/opt/notilus` (symlinked at `/usr/local/bin/notilus`)
Windows	`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Notilus` (Start Menu shortcut added)

Manual download

Grab the asset for your platform from the Releases page:

Asset	Target
`Notilus-<v>-macos-arm64.dmg`	Apple Silicon Macs (M1/M2/M3+)
`Notilus-<v>-macos-x64.dmg`	Intel Macs
`Notilus-<v>-macos-universal.dmg`	Either architecture (larger file)
`Notilus-<v>-windows-x64.zip`	Windows 10/11 x64
`Notilus-<v>-linux-x64.tar.gz`	Linux x86_64

macOS builds are ad-hoc signed but not notarized. The install script strips the Gatekeeper quarantine attribute for you. If you download a DMG directly through a browser and macOS refuses to open it, run: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Notilus.app

iOS / iPadOS are not currently distributed as prebuilt binaries — see Build from source.

First launch

Start Ollama locally:

ollama serve
ollama pull llama3.2     # or any model you prefer

Open Notilus. It points at http://localhost:11434 by default; the green dot in the top bar confirms it can reach the host.
Open Settings → Default Model and pick a model from the list.
Optionally switch the appearance (System / Light / Dark) and tweak temperature.

Running Ollama on a different machine? Open Settings and set the Host URL to e.g. http://192.168.1.42:11434. Make sure Ollama is bound to that interface (OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 ollama serve). The iOS app already includes the ATS exception and Local Network usage description required to reach it.

UI tour

Top bar (desktop)

◀  ▶   Documents                          [▥|≣]  ● llama3.2   ⚙

Back / Forward — navigates the in-app history stack.
Current folder name — just the basename (no breadcrumb clutter).
Grid / List toggle — view-mode for the file area.
Connection pill — green = Ollama reachable, red = unreachable. Click to open Settings.
Settings gear — global preferences.

The pill collapses to just a dot when the main column is narrow; chrome reflows so the toggle and settings stay pinned at the right end.

Sidebar

Finder-style sidebar that extends edge-to-edge under the macOS traffic lights:

System Overview — disk + folder analysis screen.
Favorites — Home / Desktop / Documents / Downloads (only those that exist on the current platform).
Locations — mounted volumes / drives (/Volumes/* on macOS, drive letters on Windows, /media/<user>/* and /mnt/* on Linux, On My iPhone on iOS).
Tags — placeholder section for future tag support.

In compact mode (phones / narrow windows) the sidebar collapses to a slide-in drawer toggled by the menu button.

Right panel — Info / Chat / Workflows

A CupertinoSlidingSegmentedControl switches between:

Info — preview, name, kind, size, modified, location of the current selection (Finder's "Get Info"-style panel).
Chat — Ollama chat with an attach toggle on the selected file: text is extracted (text capped at 200 KB; PDFs and Office docs use external tools if available) and images are passed as base64 to a vision-capable model.
Workflows — list, edit, and run saved prompt chains.

On compact widths these become tabs in the bottom tab bar (Files / Info / Chat / Flows) alongside the file area.

Preview viewer

Quick-Look-style full-screen modal. Trigger:

macOS / desktop: select a file, press Space.
iOS / touch: single-tap a file (folders still navigate).

Per-type viewers:

Type	Extensions	Viewer
Image	`png` `jpg` `jpeg` `gif` `bmp` `webp` `heic` `tif`	`InteractiveViewer` + `Image.file` (pinch / drag zoom)
Markdown	`md` `markdown` `mdown`	`flutter_markdown` rendered, with a toggle to view raw source
Text / code	`txt` `json` `yaml` `xml` `csv` `html` `css` `js` `ts` `dart` `py` `go` `rs` `c` `cpp` `java` `kt` `swift` `sh` `toml` `ini` `conf` `log` `+more`	Monospaced, selectable, capped at 1 MB
PDF	`pdf`	`pdfx` (PDFKit on Apple, PDFium elsewhere)
Video	`mp4` `mov` `m4v` `mkv` `webm`	`video_player` with play / pause / seek overlay
Audio	`mp3` `wav` `m4a` `aac` `flac` `ogg`	`just_audio` with scrubber
Anything else	—	Info fallback with name / kind / size

Top nav shows filename — n of total, plus prev / next buttons.

Right-click / long-press menu

Open
Open With ▶  (macOS)  →  Default Application
                          Choose Application…   (native AppleScript picker)
Share…       (iOS)
─────────
Get Info
Rename…
Duplicate
Copy Path
Reveal in Finder  /  Open Parent Folder (iOS)
─────────
Move to Trash  /  Delete  (iOS — hard delete; no sandbox Trash)
─────────
New Folder
Use Groups
Sort By ▶
Show View Options

Keyboard / gesture cheat sheet

Action	Desktop	iOS / touch
Select file	Click	Tap
Open folder	Double-click	Tap
Preview file (Quick Look)	Space (after selecting)	Tap
Context menu	Right-click	Long-press
Cycle preview siblings	← / → / Space	Swipe
Close preview	Esc	Back / swipe down
Toggle integrated terminal	⌘J (macOS) / Ctrl+J	—

Filesystem changes (files created, renamed, or deleted by another app) appear automatically — no refresh shortcut needed.

Ollama setup

Notilus speaks the /api/generate streaming protocol. Defaults:

Host: http://localhost:11434
Temperature: configurable in Settings (0.0 – 1.5)
Model: chosen from the list returned by /api/tags

# Install + start Ollama
brew install ollama       # macOS; see ollama.com for other platforms
ollama serve
ollama pull llama3.2

In Settings, hit Save & Test after editing the Host URL. The "Default Model" picker is populated from /api/tags.

Reaching Ollama from an iPhone

localhost on iOS means the phone itself, not your Mac. Set Host URL to your Mac's LAN IP (e.g. http://192.168.1.42:11434) and run Ollama bound to all interfaces:

OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 ollama serve

The bundled ios/Runner/Info.plist already includes:

NSAppTransportSecurity → NSAllowsLocalNetworking (HTTP on LAN)
NSLocalNetworkUsageDescription (iOS 14+ prompt)
UIFileSharingEnabled + LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace (so the app's Documents folder shows up in the iOS Files app)

Workflows

A workflow is an ordered list of WorkflowSteps. Each step has:

name — display label
prompt template — supports placeholders:
- {file_content} — text contents of the selected file
- {file_name}, {file_path}
- {prev} — previous step's output
- {step_1}, {step_2}, … — output of any earlier numbered step
model (optional) — overrides the default chat model for this step only

Workflows are saved as JSON via SettingsStore (shared_preferences) and re-run from the Workflows tab on the home screen. Step-by-step output streams into a results panel while the run is in flight.

Project layout

lib/
├── app.dart                          # MultiProvider + CupertinoApp wiring
├── main.dart
├── theme.dart                        # AppPalette light/dark (pure neutral)
├── utils/
│   └── responsive.dart               # 750-px compact breakpoint helper
├── models/
│   ├── file_entry.dart               # FileSystemEntity + cached stat
│   ├── chat_message.dart             # user / assistant + streaming flag
│   ├── workflow.dart
│   └── workflow_step.dart
├── providers/
│   ├── browser_provider.dart         # history, watcher, sort, view mode
│   ├── chat_provider.dart            # streaming chat state
│   ├── settings_provider.dart        # theme, host, model, temperature
│   └── workflow_provider.dart        # CRUD + run lifecycle
├── services/
│   ├── file_service.dart             # list, drives, shortcuts (per-OS)
│   ├── file_actions_service.dart     # open, open-with, rename, trash, …
│   ├── ollama_service.dart           # /api/tags + /api/generate stream
│   ├── attachment_service.dart       # text/PDF/Office → text; images → base64
│   ├── thumbnail_service.dart        # disk-cached PDF/SVG/text thumbnails
│   ├── settings_store.dart           # shared_preferences wrapper
│   ├── system_info_service.dart      # disk usage + folder breakdown
│   └── workflow_runner.dart
├── screens/
│   ├── home_screen.dart              # wide + compact layouts, top bar
│   ├── settings_screen.dart
│   ├── system_overview_screen.dart
│   ├── workflow_editor_screen.dart
│   └── file_preview_screen.dart      # Quick-Look-style viewer (incl. Markdown)
└── widgets/
    ├── sidebar.dart                  # full-height; drawer in compact
    ├── breadcrumb_bar.dart           # (legacy — currently unused)
    ├── path_status_bar.dart          # Finder-style bottom status bar
    ├── file_list_view.dart           # list view + context menu wiring
    ├── file_icon_grid.dart           # icon view with cached thumbnails
    ├── desk_context_menu.dart        # overlay menu with submenus
    ├── terminal_panel.dart           # PTY-backed terminal with VSCode tabs
    ├── chat_panel.dart
    ├── workflow_tab.dart
    ├── workflow_run_view.dart
    └── info_panel.dart

Per-platform native shims

File	Purpose
`macos/Runner/MainFlutterWindow.swift`	Transparent titlebar + `contentMinSize` 900 × 600
`windows/runner/win32_window.cpp`	`WM_GETMINMAXINFO` enforces 900 × 600 (DPI-scaled)
`linux/runner/my_application.cc`	`gtk_window_set_geometry_hints` with `GDK_HINT_MIN_SIZE`
`ios/Runner/Info.plist`	ATS exception, file sharing, local network usage

Architecture overview

State is plain ChangeNotifier + provider — one provider per domain (browser / chat / settings / workflows). No Riverpod, no BLoC, no codegen.
Persistence is shared_preferences only. No SQLite, no JSON files on disk for app data.
Networking is a single http.Client + dart:async stream for Ollama. Token chunks are forwarded straight to the chat / workflow UI as they arrive.
Filesystem is dart:io. Listing is shallow per directory; the current folder is watched with Directory.watch(recursive: false) and changes are debounced before re-listing. Falls back silently on platforms / filesystems where watching isn't supported.
Theming is a small AppPalette record with light / dark variants resolved via CupertinoTheme.brightnessOf. Dark surfaces are pure-neutral (R = G = B); the only chromatic tokens are the accent (system blue), folder icon (lighter blue), success (green), and danger (red).
Responsiveness is a single 750-px breakpoint:
- ≥ 750 px → 3-pane wide layout (sidebar full-height, fluid panel widths)
- < 750 px → bottom-tab compact layout (Files / Info / Chat / Flows), sidebar becomes a slide-in drawer

Build from source

Prerequisites

Flutter >=3.10.0 (Dart >=3.0.0)
A running Ollama instance (see above)
macOS: Xcode + CocoaPods (for the macOS / iOS targets)
Windows: Visual Studio with the Desktop development with C++ workload
Linux: clang cmake ninja-build pkg-config libgtk-3-dev liblzma-dev

Run

flutter pub get
flutter run -d macos      # or:  linux, windows, ios, ipad, chrome

Build release binaries

flutter build macos       # universal .app  (arm64 + x64)
flutter build windows     # build/windows/x64/runner/Release/
flutter build linux       # build/linux/x64/release/bundle/
flutter build ios         # archive in Xcode for distribution

Dependency notes

pubspec.yaml includes a dependency_overrides pin:

dependency_overrides:
  video_player_avfoundation: 2.6.5

video_player_avfoundation 2.8.x split its Apple plugin into a modular Obj-C subtarget that unconditionally imports <Flutter/Flutter.h>, which doesn't exist on macOS (macOS exposes FlutterMacOS). Pinning to the last pre-split version restores the macOS build; iOS is unaffected. Drop the override when the upstream plugin fixes the issue.

Releasing

Releases are produced by .github/workflows/release.yml:

Trigger: push a tag matching v* or run the workflow manually with the tag input.
Builds: macOS (universal + arm64 + x64 DMGs), Windows x64 zip, Linux x64 tarball — all in parallel.
Publishes: a single GitHub Release named Notilus <tag> with all five archives attached and auto-generated release notes.

Typical flow:

# 1. Bump version in pubspec.yaml (e.g. 0.1.5 → 0.1.6)
# 2. Commit + push
git commit -am "Bump version to 0.1.6"
git push

# 3. Tag and push the tag
git tag v0.1.6
git push origin v0.1.6

The workflow resolves the tag from workflow_dispatch input or GITHUB_REF_NAME (in that order), so manual dispatches won't accidentally name the release after the branch.

Dependencies

Package	Why
`provider`	App-wide state via `ChangeNotifier`
`http`	Ollama REST calls
`shared_preferences`	Local settings + saved workflows
`path`, `path_provider`	OS-specific path helpers
`pdfx`	PDF preview + first-page thumbnails
`video_player`	Video preview
`just_audio`	Audio preview
`flutter_markdown`	Rendered Markdown preview
`flutter_svg`	SVG thumbnails + icons
`xterm`, `flutter_pty`	Integrated PTY-backed terminal
`archive`	Reading zip/tar contents (e.g. legacy `.docx` text extraction fallback)
`share_plus`	iOS share-sheet for "Open With"
`cupertino_icons`	Icon font

Dev-only: flutter_lints, flutter_launcher_icons.

Status & roadmap

Notilus is an early, single-developer project. Desktop targets (macOS / Linux / Windows) are the primary focus; iOS / iPadOS work but are limited by the iOS app sandbox (you can only browse the app's Documents folder and whatever you share into it from the Files app).

Things on the short list:

Notarized macOS builds (currently ad-hoc signed)
Tag support in the sidebar (UI is there; persistence isn't)
File search inside the current folder
Disk-cached raster thumbnails for raw images (PDFs / SVGs / text are already cached)
Optional: bundle pinning for share_plus 11.x once it stabilises

PRs and issues welcome at https://github.com/JayashBhandary/Notilus.

License

No license has been added yet — see the repository for updates. Until a license is published, default copyright applies: the source is readable but not freely redistributable.

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Repository files navigation

Notilus

Highlights

Install

One-liner

Manual download

First launch

UI tour

Top bar (desktop)

Sidebar

Right panel — Info / Chat / Workflows

Preview viewer

Right-click / long-press menu

Keyboard / gesture cheat sheet

Ollama setup

Reaching Ollama from an iPhone

Workflows

Project layout

Per-platform native shims

Architecture overview

Build from source

Prerequisites

Run

Build release binaries

Dependency notes

Releasing

Dependencies

Status & roadmap

License

About

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Releases 4

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 17 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
android		android
assets/icon		assets/icon
ios		ios
lib		lib
linux		linux
macos		macos
test		test
web		web
windows		windows
.gitignore		.gitignore
.metadata		.metadata
README.md		README.md
analysis_options.yaml		analysis_options.yaml
devtools_options.yaml		devtools_options.yaml
install.ps1		install.ps1
install.sh		install.sh
pubspec.lock		pubspec.lock
pubspec.yaml		pubspec.yaml

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Notilus

Highlights

Install

One-liner

Manual download

First launch

UI tour

Top bar (desktop)

Sidebar

Right panel — Info / Chat / Workflows

Preview viewer

Right-click / long-press menu

Keyboard / gesture cheat sheet

Ollama setup

Reaching Ollama from an iPhone

Workflows

Project layout

Per-platform native shims

Architecture overview

Build from source

Prerequisites

Run

Build release binaries

Dependency notes

Releasing

Dependencies

Status & roadmap

License

About

Resources

Uh oh!

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Watchers

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Releases 4

Packages 0

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Contributors

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