Yazi-Helix File Tree v2, now with a Closeable Sidebar!

Base Layout

The initial layout includes four panes:

• Tab-bar at the top
• Status-bar at the bottom
• Yazi pane (20% width) acting as a sidebar on the left
• Empty pane on the right

Swap Layout

When you create a fifth pane, you transition to the swap layouts:

• Open and close the sidebar by switching layouts.
• The fifth pane, on the left, is where new panes will appear, stacked.
• You can add more swap layouts as needed, using the KDL files in layouts.

Two or more panes open with the sidebar open:

Two or more panes open with the sidebar closed:

Improvements Over v1

• Sidebar Control: Now you can open and close the sidebar.
• Simplified Dependencies: No more nushell dependency. Nushell is a beautiful table-centric cross-platform shell written in Rust, but the way I used it was an ugly hack.
• Simpler Layout Files: The KDL files are more streamlined.
• Removes zjstatus Plugin: The plugin had to be downloaded and configured, while adding nothing really important.
• Status-bar is Back, baby!: Life without it isn't easy. The status-bar (help bar) makes the setup much more user-friendly.

Instructions to set it up

1. Install Yazi.
2. Install Zellij.
3. Install Helix.
4. Place the files from this yazi repo in your .config/yazi folder.
5. Place the files from this repo in your .config/zellij folder.
6. This layout is named stack_sidebar and is pre-configured in my setup.
   • If you haven't copied my config, add default_layout "stack_sidebar" to your configuration.
7. Add your full path to hx in scrollback_editor in your zellij/config.kdl.
8. It should also work with Neovim, but I haven't tested it.
9. Feel free to open issues and PRs 😉

Roadmap

Future Enhancements

• Simplify KDL Files: Reduce code repetition.
• Flexible Sidebar Control: Enable sidebar toggling with just four panes.
• Full Yazi pane: Integrate a full Yazi pane in another swap layout (showing parents and preview, not just the current dir). Learn more
  • This requires Yazi to accept config as an argument.
• Higher Helix Integration: Currently, selected files in Yazi open as a new pane in Zellij, running Helix. It would be nice to open them as a split or a buffer inside Helix (though this might be complex to code).
• Helix-friendly Remap: I'll definitely add a few remaps to zellij, so that it does not conflit with helix Learn more

Other Layouts

stack_sidebar_zjstatus (Optional) (does not feature v2 improvements)

This layout offers an advanced tab-bar with more features (e.g., time display, current layout).

• Setup: Change the config to default_layout "stack_sidebar_zjstatus" and install zjstatus, updating the path in your layout KDL file.
• Use Case: If you prefer a more powerful tab-bar without a status-bar, this layout is for you.