Wayfile

A native macOS file manager for power users – tabs and dual panes, undo for everything,
sync and compare, Git and Docker, remote storage, scripting and AI search. SwiftUI + AppKit, no Electron.

Inspired by Files for Windows. The interface is available in English and Slovak.

Highlights

Navigation

• Tabs in the title bar, dual pane (⌥⌘D) and quad pane, synchronized navigation, sessions restored on launch, named workspaces
• Omnibar with breadcrumbs and path autocomplete, folder tree, command palette (⇧⌘P), Vim mode, trackpad gestures
• Layouts: Details, List, Grid, Cards and Columns; grouping and per-folder view settings; themes, custom toolbar and remappable shortcuts

Search

• Instant filter and advanced search (name, contents, kind, size, date, tags, custom metadata, regex / glob) via Spotlight or a direct scan; saved searches and smart collections
• AI search – describe files in your own words; Ask AI about a file or folder. Models: Claude (Pro/Max or API), ChatGPT, Gemini, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, Ollama, or Apple on-device models
• Duplicate finder, large and unused files, organisation suggestions

File operations you can trust

• Transfer engine on copyfile with APFS cloning, a queue per destination volume, pause / resume mid-file, retry, integrity verification after copy
• Timeline – persistent history of every operation; undo or redo any past entry, with safety checks if files changed since
• Transfers are journaled and resume after a crash or force quit
• Conflict resolution per item, dry-run previews, batch rename (regex, EXIF dates, numbering, live preview)

Compare and sync

• Directory diff, one-way update / mirror and two-way sync that remembers the last synced state, so deletions travel both ways and conflicts never lose data – previewed and undoable
• Side-by-side file diff; folder integrity monitor (baseline fingerprints)

Previews and inspector

• Quick Look, Markdown, JSON tree, hex, logs (live follow), code with syntax highlighting, media codecs, EXIF, archive contents, file versions
• Properties: recursive sizes, checksums (MD5 / SHA-1 / SHA-256 / SHA-512), POSIX permissions, ACLs, extended attributes, quarantine

Developer tools

• Git: status columns, branches, pull / push / fetch, stage / unstage / discard, commit, side-by-side diffs, history
• Project detection (Swift, Node, Python, Rust, Go, .NET, PHP, Docker, Make…) with runnable scripts; integrated terminal
• Docker explorer: containers by compose project, logs, shell, images, volumes

Remote storage

• SMB / AFP / NFS / WebDAV with Bonjour discovery, SFTP / SSH, S3 and compatible services (AWS, R2, B2, Wasabi, MinIO); credentials in the Keychain
• Cloud drives (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box) in the sidebar

Scripting and automation

• JavaScript with a permission-checked wayfile API, dry runs and undo; shell, Python, AppleScript, Apple Shortcuts and pipelines
• JavaScript runs in a separate sandboxed process (wayfile-script-runner)
• Folder triggers, schedules, rules (move / copy / tag / trash by name, kind, age, size), plugins with a native UI, shareable .wayfilescript packages – see docs/Scripting.md

Disks and security

• Disk usage treemap, archive browser and compression (ZIP with password, tar.*), links, encrypted vaults (AES-256 sparse bundles)

The full list and roadmap are in TODO.md.

Build and run

Requires macOS 14.4 or later and the Swift 6 toolchain – the Command Line Tools are enough, Xcode is optional.

scripts/build-app.sh          # release build → build/Wayfile.app
open build/Wayfile.app

swift run                     # quick dev run without bundling
scripts/selftest.sh           # self-test suite (800 checks): file ops, undo, sync, git, hashes, scripting, shortcuts…
scripts/make-icon.sh          # regenerate Resources/AppIcon.icns after changing logo.png
scripts/gen-scripting-docs.py # refresh the API tables in docs/Scripting.md after changing ScriptAPI
scripts/i18n.py               # pull new UI text into the translations (docs/Localization.md)
scripts/make-dmg.sh           # disk image for distribution

Debug-only environment variables: WAYFILE_START=/path opens the first window at a folder, WAYFILE_NAVIGATE=/path navigates after launch, WAYFILE_LAYOUT=details|grid|columns, WAYFILE_PALETTE=1 opens the command palette, WAYFILE_GROUP=kind groups, WAYFILE_PROPERTIES=/path opens a Properties window, WAYFILE_THEME=nord applies a theme, WAYFILE_SHORTCUT_TEST=1 checks live shortcut remapping in the real menu, WAYFILE_SNAPSHOT=/out.png renders every open window to PNGs after launch.

Project layout

Sources/Wayfile/Models      file items, view settings, search queries, rules, themes, shortcuts
Sources/Wayfile/Services    copy engine, file operations, sync, search, Git, Docker, S3, SFTP, AI, scripting host
Sources/Wayfile/State       windows, panes, operation center, timeline
Sources/Wayfile/Views       SwiftUI / AppKit views
Sources/ScriptBridge        JavaScript engine shared by the app and the script runner
Sources/ScriptRunner        sandboxed JavaScript runner process
Tests/SelfTest              self-test suite
Resources/Localization      English and Slovak strings

Status

Pre-release. Not yet signed with a Developer ID or notarized; see "Before a public release" in TODO.md.

Author

Developed by Martin Pohorelský (martenech).

License

MIT, see LICENSE. Dependencies: SwiftTerm, Citadel and Yams (all MIT).