Getting started

Install

Ocelot File Manager runs on macOS 14.4 or later. Until the first release there is no download. Once the source code is public you can build it as CONTRIBUTING.md describes, and make run opens the app.

The app is called "Ocelot File Manager" in the Applications folder and "Ocelot" in the menu bar. Its process and its data folder are named OcelotFM.

First launch

The first time the app reads your Desktop, Documents or Downloads folder, macOS asks whether to allow it. Allow it, or the folder shows a "No permission" message; the answer can be changed later in System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Files and Folders.

The first window opens at your Home folder. From then on the app opens the windows and tabs you had when you quit. Settings ▸ General ▸ "Open at launch" has the other choices: "Home folder", or "Custom folder" with a folder of your own. A saved folder that is unreachable, such as a share on a computer that is off, does not hold up the launch: the window opens at Home and a banner says which folder was skipped.

Staying up to date

Ocelot ▸ What's New lists what changed in your version. Ocelot ▸ Check for Updates… opens the releases page, where a newer version is published; the app does not look for one by itself.

The window

Sidebar on the left: one tree of places, from Favorites to the Bin. ⌃⌘S hides and shows it.
Tabs above the file list. ⌘T opens one, ⌘W closes it.
Path bar under the tabs. Click a folder in the path to go there, or press ⌘L to type a path.
File list in the middle, as a list, as icons or as a gallery (⌘1 to ⌘5).
Status bar at the bottom: how many items the folder holds and how many are selected; while an operation runs, its progress and a Cancel button.
Properties (⌥⌘I) opens a panel on the right with the details of the selection: size, dates, flags, Sharing & Permissions, tags, Open With.
Toolbar: New Folder, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, the view modes, Sort and Properties by default. View ▸ Customize Toolbar… (or a right-click on the toolbar) changes the set; when the window is narrow, each group folds into one pull-down menu.

Opening and selecting

A double-click, Return, ⌘O or ⌘↓ opens the selection: a folder opens in the same tab, a file opens in its app, an application starts. Space shows the selection in Quick Look; the arrow keys move through the files while it is open.

A double-click never starts a rename. To rename, press F2, choose Rename in the context menu, or click the name of an item that is already selected and wait a moment.

A click selects an item, ⌘-click adds or removes one, ⇧-click selects a range, ⌘A selects everything. In icon view and the gallery, a drag that starts between items selects what the rectangle touches. Esc clears the selection.

The context menu of an item has what the File and Edit menus have for it; the context menu of the empty area has New Folder, New Document, Paste, sorting and the view options. Plugins add their commands to both under "Extensions".

Settings

⌘, opens Settings. The tabs:

General: what opens at launch; folders on top when sorting; hidden files; icon and text size; folder sizes in the background; the question before moving items to the Trash; archives in the sidebar tree; file icons (System, Mixed, By type); "Reset All Folders…" for the per-folder view settings.
Sidebar: which places the sidebar shows and in which order (drag to reorder); the Favorites list; icon colours; the Recents period; the apps' folders in iCloud Drive; text tags beside colour tags.
Access & Startup: Full Disk Access, the default file manager and the ocelot command line tool. See below and Troubleshooting.
Plugins: the installed plugins, their permissions, their logs. See the plugin guide.
Acknowledgements: the third-party art in the app and its licence.

Opening folders from other apps and from Terminal

The Services menu. Every app's context menu for a file or folder gains, under Services, "Open in Ocelot" and "Reveal in Ocelot". The request lands in the window used last; one request opens at most 20 folders as tabs and says how many were left out.

The ocelot command. Settings ▸ Access & Startup ▸ Command line tool installs a small shell script as ~/bin/ocelot ("Install in ~/bin"), or copies it to the clipboard ("Copy Script") for you to put wherever you like. Make sure that folder is in your PATH.

ocelot               # the current folder
ocelot ~/Projects    # a folder opens in a tab
ocelot report.pdf    # a file is shown selected in its folder

The default file manager. Settings ▸ Access & Startup ▸ "Make Ocelot the default file manager" makes folders opened by other apps, and their "Show in Finder" requests, open in Ocelot. Finder keeps the Desktop, its Dock icon and Dock folders, the Open and Save dialogs and Spotlight's "Show in Finder". Turning the switch off gives the role back.

Where the app keeps its data

What	Where
Plugins, New Document templates, the database of per-folder views and saved servers	`~/Library/Application Support/OcelotFM/`
The cache of folder sizes (safe to delete)	`~/Library/Caches/<bundle id>/Cache.sqlite`
Settings, favorites, the saved session	the app's preferences
Passwords of saved servers and shares	the Keychain, as items named "Ocelot — <server>"

Nothing leaves your Mac. The app has no analytics and makes no network connection of its own; the only connections are the ones you open to your servers and shares.