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🗂️ Nexus Native File Manager Guide

Nexus Explorer is Cortex Workstation's high-performance native Windows file manager and dual-pane VFS workstation. Built to overcome Windows Explorer limitations when navigating massive filesystems, it provides responsive directory navigation, multi-source staging, real-time transfer telemetry, smart project scaffolding, and deep safety guards.

🌟 Key Features & Capabilities

1. Windows 11 Inline Tab Bar

  • Title Bar Integration: Folder tabs sit directly in the top window title bar, perfectly aligned horizontally with the window controls (Minimize -, Maximize □, Close ✕).
  • Tab Management:
  • Open new tabs with Ctrl+T or the + button.
  • Close tabs with Ctrl+W or the tab's ✕ button.
  • Middle-click any tab to close it instantly.
  • Drag and drop tabs to reorder.
  • Automatic session restoration preserves all open tabs across application launches.

2. Dual-Pane & Multi-View Explorer

  • Dual Pane (Ctrl+B): Split the workspace into two independent, side-by-side file explorers for instant drag-and-drop or cross-directory file operations.
  • View Modes (Ctrl+1 / Ctrl+2):
  • Details Table: Clean tabular layout with filename, modification date, file type, and human-readable size.
  • Icon Grid: Dynamic responsive icon cards with smooth thumbnail scaling.
  • Interactive Breadcrumb Bar: Click any ancestor segment in the path to jump directly, or click the edit icon to type custom paths.
  • Instant Search (Ctrl+F / F3): Real-time regex and glob filtering directly inside the active directory with highlighted matches.

3. Staging Shelf (Multi-Source Clipboard Dock)

  • Persistent Bottom Dock: Positioned in the lower half of the right-hand Preview Pane.
  • Multi-Source Accumulation: Copy (Ctrl+C) or Cut (Ctrl+X) files from different folders over multiple navigation steps. The Staging Shelf holds and tracks them all.
  • One-Click Paste: Navigate to any folder and click Paste N items to [Folder] or press Ctrl+V.
  • Drag & Drop Out: Drag items directly out of the shelf into any folder view or empty space.
  • Inline Controls: Remove individual items or clear the entire staging queue with one click.

4. Embedded Live Transfer Dock

  • Non-Intrusive Workflow: No blocking popup windows. Live transfer progress is seamlessly embedded right above the Staging Shelf.
  • Rich Real-Time Telemetry:
  • Kind Badge: Vibrant badge (COPY, MOVE, DELETE, DONE, ERROR).
  • Active File Indicator: Displays current file and destination (e.g. video.mp4 → backup).
  • Live Metrics: Percentage (45%), transfer speed (62.4 MB/s), byte counter (1.2 GB / 2.8 GB), and ETA (ETA 24s).
  • Inline Controls: Quick Pause / Resume toggle and Cancel button.
  • Auto-Dismiss: Green completion notice auto-collapses cleanly after completion.

5. Advanced File Creation & Project Scaffolding

  • Nested Creation: Create deep subdirectories or files in a single step (e.g. my_project/src/components/ui/button.py).
  • Batch Scaffolding: Generate entire project trees from indented text or path lists.
  • Scaffold Presets: 1-click generation of standard project layouts (Python Package, React/TypeScript, Rust Crate, Go Service, HTML/CSS Web).
  • Template Presets: Create new files pre-populated with boilerplate (.py, .json, .yaml, .md, .env, .sh).

6. Power Tools & Resilience

  • Bulk Rename (Ctrl+Shift+R): Batch rename selected files using string replacement, prefix/suffix insertion, regex substitutions, or zero-padded numbered sequences with live preview.
  • Safe Undo / Redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y): Complete transaction history for file renames, copies, moves, deletions, and folder creations.
  • File Previews: Live image previews with pixel dimensions (1920 × 1080 px) and background text/source code viewer.
  • Windows Read-Only Protection: Automatically strips Windows FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY flags and handles permission retries ([WinError 5] Access is denied).

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+T Open New Tab
Ctrl+W Close Current Tab
Ctrl+N New Folder
Ctrl+Shift+N New File
Ctrl+Shift+R Bulk Rename Selected Files
Ctrl+F / F3 Focus Search Box
Ctrl+B Toggle Dual Pane View
Ctrl+H Toggle Sidebar Navigation
Ctrl+1 Details Table View
Ctrl+2 Large Icon View
Ctrl+C Copy Selection to Staging Shelf
Ctrl+X Cut Selection to Staging Shelf
Ctrl+V Paste Staged Items to Active Directory
Ctrl+Z Undo Last File Operation
Ctrl+Y Redo Last File Operation
Delete Move Selection to Trash
Shift+Delete Permanently Delete Selection
F2 Inline Rename Active File
F5 Refresh Active Directory
Alt+Left Navigate Back in History
Alt+Right Navigate Forward in History
Alt+Up Navigate Up to Parent Directory
Space Quick Look File Preview

🏗️ Architecture & Modules

src/NexusExplorer/
├── native/
│   ├── nexus_explorer.py          # Main Qt6 Explorer Widget, Tab Bar, Splitter & Views
│   ├── nexus_transfer_queue.py    # Multi-threaded Transfer Engine with Speed & ETA
│   ├── nexus_transfer_monitor.py  # Standalone Detailed Transfer History Dialog
│   ├── nexus_undo.py              # Undo/Redo Transaction Journal
│   ├── nexus_icons.py             # Fluent Design Vector SVG Icon Engine
│   └── nexus_core.py              # Native FFI & Python Fallback File Operations
└── tests/
    └── native/                    # Comprehensive PySide6 UI & Engine Test Suite