lla - A Modern Alternative to ls

lla is a high-performance file explorer written in Rust that enhances the traditional ls command with modern features, rich formatting options, and a powerful plugin system.

Display Formats

Default View

Quick and clean directory listing

lla

Long Format

Detailed file information with metadata

lla -l

Tree View

Hierarchical directory visualization

lla -t

Table View

Structured data display

lla -T

Grid View

Organized layout for better readability

lla -g

Git-Aware View

Repository status and insights

lla -G

Timeline View

Group files by dates

lla --timeline

Core Features

• Smart Display Formats

  • Default view for quick browsing
  • Long format (-l) with detailed metadata
  • Tree view (-t) for directory visualization
  • Grid view (-g) for organized layouts
  • Table view (-T) for structured data
  • Size map (-S) for visual space analysis [experimental]
  • Timeline view (--timeline) for temporal organization
  • Git-aware view (-G) for repository insights

• Intelligent Organization

  • Sort by name, size, or date (-s)
  • Filter by name or extension (-f)
  • Recursive listing with depth control (-d)
  • Performance-optimized for large directories

• Plugin Ecosystem

  • Git integration for repository insights
  • File categorization and tagging
  • Code complexity analysis
  • Content keyword search
  • File hash calculation
  • Size visualization
  • Duplicate detection
  • Extended metadata display

Quick Start

1. Install lla:

# Using Cargo
cargo install lla

# On macOS
brew install lla

# On Arch Linux (btw)
paru -S lla

# On NetBSD (we see you)
pkgin install lla

2. Initialize your setup:

lla uses a TOML configuration file located at ~/.config/lla/config.toml.

# Create default config
lla init

# View your config
lla config

3. Start exploring:

# Basic usage
lla                     # List current directory
lla -l                  # Long format with details
lla -t                  # Tree view
lla -g                  # Grid view
lla -T                  # Table view
lla -S                  # Size map view
lla --timeline          # Timeline view
lla -G                  # Git-aware view

# Advanced usage
lla -ls size           # Sort by size in long format
lla -f .rs            # Show only Rust files
lla -t -d 3           # Tree view, max depth 3

Plugin System

plugins-use.mp4

lla uses a plugin system to extend its functionality so you can enhance it with custom functionality based on your needs. You can install plugins from a local directory or from a Git repository.

You can find official plugins here.

1. Install plugins:

# From Git repository
lla install --git https://github.com/user/plugin

# From local directory
lla install --dir path/to/plugin

2. Manage plugins:

# Enable plugins
lla --enable-plugin git_status
lla --enable-plugin keyword_search

# Disable plugins
lla --disable-plugin git_status

# Interactive plugin manager
lla use

# Update plugins
lla update              # Update all plugins
lla update plugin_name  # Update specific plugin

3. Plugin actions:

# Execute plugin actions
lla plugin --name keyword_search --action set-keywords --args "TODO" "FIXME"
lla plugin --name git_status --action show-status

Configuration

Your config lives at ~/.config/lla/config.toml:

# Core settings
default_sort = "name"          # name, size, date
default_format = "default"     # default, long, tree, grid
enabled_plugins = ["git_status", "file_hash"]
plugins_dir = "/home/user/.config/lla/plugins"
default_depth = 3

# Performance settings
[formatters.tree]
max_lines = 20000             # Max entries in tree view
[listers.recursive]
max_entries = 20000           # Max entries in recursive listing

Modify settings via CLI:

lla config --set default_sort size
lla config --set default_format long
lla config --set plugins_dir /custom/path
lla config --set default_depth 5

Plugin Development

Develop custom plugins to extend lla's functionality. Plugins are dynamic libraries that implement the Plugin trait from the lla_plugin_interface crate.

1. Create a new plugin:

cargo new --lib my_lla_plugin

2. Configure Cargo.toml:

[package]
name = "my_plugin"
version = "0.1.0"
edition = "2021"

[dependencies]
lla_plugin_interface = "*"

[lib]
crate-type = ["cdylib"]

3. Implement the plugin interface:

use lla_plugin_interface::{Plugin, DecoratedEntry, EntryDecorator, CliArg};

pub struct MyPlugin;

impl Plugin for MyPlugin {
    fn name(&self) -> &'static str {
        "my_plugin"
    }

    fn version(&self) -> &'static str {
        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION")
    }

    fn description(&self) -> &'static str {
        env!("CARGO_PKG_DESCRIPTION")
    }

    fn cli_args(&self) -> Vec<CliArg> {
        vec![
            CliArg {
                name: "my-option".to_string(),
                short: Some('m'),
                long: Some("my-option".to_string()),
                help: "Description of my option".to_string(),
                takes_value: true,
            }
        ]
    }

    fn handle_cli_args(&self, args: &[String]) {
        // Handle CLI arguments passed to the plugin
    }

    fn perform_action(&self, action: &str, args: &[String]) -> Result<(), String> {
        match action {
            "my-action" => {
                // Perform custom action
                Ok(())
            }
            _ => Err(format!("Unknown action: {}", action)),
        }
    }
}

impl EntryDecorator for MyPlugin {
    fn decorate(&self, entry: &mut DecoratedEntry) {
        // Add custom fields or modify entry
    }

    fn format_field(&self, entry: &DecoratedEntry, format: &str) -> Option<String> {
        // Return formatted string for display
    }

    fn supported_formats(&self) -> Vec<&'static str> {
        vec!["default", "long", "tree"]
    }
}

lla_plugin_interface::declare_plugin!(MyPlugin);

4. Build your plugin:

cargo build --release

5. Install your plugin:

lla install --dir path/to/plugin

or

lla install --git https://github.com/user/plugin

Plugin Interface

The lla_plugin_interface crate provides the following key components:

• Plugin trait: Core interface for plugin functionality
• EntryDecorator trait: Methods for decorating and formatting file entries
• DecoratedEntry struct: Represents a file entry with metadata and custom fields
• CliArg struct: Defines command-line arguments for the plugin

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests, report bugs, and suggest features.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some new-feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/new-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.