19.10.2025

Yazi: Blazing Fast Terminal File Manager Built on Async I/O

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When managing infrastructure and troubleshooting production issues, efficient file navigation is essential. Traditional terminal file managers often struggle with performance and modern features. Yazi addresses these limitations with full async I/O and a rich plugin ecosystem. (github.com/sxyazi/yazi)

What is Yazi?

Yazi (meaning "duck" in Chinese) is a terminal file manager written in Rust that leverages non-blocking async I/O for exceptional performance. Unlike traditional file managers that process operations sequentially, Yazi distributes CPU tasks across multiple threads while handling all I/O asynchronously. This architecture delivers responsive navigation even with large directories and remote filesystems.

Key Features

Full Async Architecture: All I/O operations run asynchronously with CPU tasks spread across threads, maximizing resource utilization without blocking the UI.
Advanced Image Preview: Built-in support for Kitty, iTerm2, WezTerm, Sixel protocols, plus integration with Überzug++ and Chafa, covering virtually all terminal emulators.
Concurrent Plugin System: Lua-based plugins for UI customization, functional extensions, and custom previewers that execute without blocking the main interface.
Smart Pre-loading: Combined with built-in code highlighting and image decoding, Yazi reads only visible content—if your terminal shows 10 lines, only those 10 are processed, not the entire file.
Vim-like Navigation: Familiar keybindings with visual mode, multi-tab support, cross-directory selection, and auto-completion for paths.
Package Manager: Install plugins and themes with one command, keep them updated, or pin specific versions.

Installation

Install Yazi using your preferred package manager:

Homebrew (macOS/Linux):

brew install yazi

Cargo (Rust):

cargo install --locked yazi-fm

Binary releases: Download precompiled binaries from the releases page for Linux, macOS, Windows, and FreeBSD.

For Arch Linux:

pacman -S yazi

After installation, install optional dependencies for enhanced functionality:

# For file previews
brew install ffmpegthumbnailer poppler fd ripgrep fzf zoxide

# For image previews (optional)
brew install ueberzugpp  # X11/Wayland

Usage

Launch Yazi by running:

yazi

Basic navigation:

j/k: Move down/up
h/l: Navigate to parent/child directory
Enter: Open file or directory
/: Search files
Space: Toggle selection
y/p/d: Yank (copy), paste, delete

Advanced workflows:

Multi-tab management:

# Press 't' to create a new tab
# Use '1' through '9' to switch between tabs
# Press 'T' to close current tab

Bulk renaming:

# Select files with Space, then press 'r' for batch rename
# Opens your editor with all selected filenames

File search with ripgrep integration:

# Press '/' to search by name
# Press 'S' to search file contents with ripgrep

Archive preview:

Yazi automatically previews archive contents for .zip, .tar.gz, .7z files and provides extraction options.

usage

Operational Tips

SSH workflow: Install Yazi on jump boxes and bastion hosts for fast log file navigation and analysis. The async architecture prevents UI freezes when working with large log files over high-latency connections.

Plugin automation: Create custom plugins for repetitive tasks like log rotation checks, config file validation, or deployment package preparation. The Lua-based system integrates seamlessly with existing shell workflows.

Git integration: Install the official git.yazi plugin to see repository status, staged changes, and commit history directly in the file manager.

Resource monitoring: Yazi's efficient async design consumes minimal CPU and memory, making it suitable for resource-constrained environments like containers and edge devices.

Conclusion

Yazi reimagines terminal file management with modern async architecture, comprehensive image preview support, and extensive customization. Its performance characteristics and plugin ecosystem make it valuable for SRE teams managing complex infrastructure.

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Akmatori team