console_commander

console_commander is a standalone, console-only, dual-pane file manager for Windows PowerShell 5.1. It is inspired by the workflow of Midnight Commander, but it is an original PowerShell implementation focused on Windows administration scenarios, including Windows Server Core.

The project is delivered as a single .ps1 script. It does not require a GUI framework, external PowerShell modules, or helper binaries.

Why this project matters

console_commander targets Windows administration environments where a GUI file manager may be unavailable, impractical, or undesirable. It provides a dependency-free, keyboard-first, dual-pane file manager as a single Windows PowerShell 5.1 script, with a focus on Server Core-style console workflows.

Highlights

• Dual-pane commander-style console UI
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 compatible
• Designed for Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server Core 2022
• Keyboard-first workflow with optional mouse support
• Windows Terminal / VT mouse backend and classic Win32 console input backend where available
• Single mouse click selects only; double click behaves like Enter
• Top pull-down menu, centered dialogs, built-in viewer and simple editor
• Copy, move, rename, delete, mkdir, safe delete, search, diff, directory compare, and ZIP support
• Safer overwrite paths using temporary files/directories and backup/rollback-style handling where practical
• Self-test and mouse/input diagnostics modes

Requirements

• Windows PowerShell 5.1
• Windows Server 2022 / Windows Server Core 2022 recommended
• Windows Terminal, classic conhost.exe, or another compatible console host
• Normal Windows file permissions for the requested file operation

Quick start

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1

Start with explicit panel paths:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -LeftPath C:\Windows -RightPath $env:TEMP

Conservative display mode:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -NoColor -Ascii

Self-test:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -RunSelfTest -NoColor

Mouse/input diagnostics:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -MouseDiagnostics

Input parser self-test, if available in the script version:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -InputParserSelfTest

Parameters

Parameter	Purpose
-LeftPath <path>	Initial left panel path
-RightPath <path>	Initial right panel path
-NoColor	Disable color output
-Ascii	Force ASCII borders
-SafeDelete	Enable safe-delete behavior at startup
-LogPath <path>	Override log file path
-ConfigPath <path>	Override config file path
-RunSelfTest	Run non-interactive smoke tests
-MouseDiagnostics	Run input and mouse diagnostics mode
-InputParserSelfTest	Run input parser regression tests where available
-Help	Show startup help

Main keys

Key	Action
Tab	Switch active panel
Up / Down	Move selection
PageUp / PageDown	Page through the panel
Home / End	Jump to first / last item
Enter	Open selected item or run typed command
Backspace	Go to parent directory when the command line is empty
Insert / Space	Mark or unmark items
+	Select a group by wildcard or regex
\	Unselect a group
*	Invert selection
Ctrl+R	Refresh active panel
Ctrl+L	Force full repaint
Ctrl+F / Alt+S	Quick search
Alt+Left / Alt+Right	Panel history back / forward
F1	Help
F2	User menu
F3	View
F4	Edit
F5	Copy
F6	Move or rename
F7	Create directory
F8	Delete
F9	Top pull-down menu
F10	Quit

Mouse behavior

Mouse support is optional and depends on the console host. The application attempts to enable a suitable backend automatically.

Expected behavior:

• Single-click a file or directory row: select it only
• Double-click a file or directory row: behave like Enter
• Single-click a panel: activate that panel and move the selection
• Mouse wheel: scroll the panel under the pointer where supported
• Top menu click: open the selected top menu
• Dialog button click: activate that button where supported

Input status is shown in the top-right area, for example:

• Input: KB+Mouse VT
• Input: KB+Mouse Win32
• Input: Keyboard only

Windows Terminal commonly uses the VT input backend. Classic console hosts may use the Win32 console input backend. Keyboard operation remains available even when mouse input cannot be enabled.

Main features

Panels

• Local filesystem browsing
• Drive list support
• Two independent panels
• Active/passive panel state
• Panel history
• Sorting by name, extension, size, modified time, and attributes
• Hidden/system file toggle
• Wildcard and regex filtering
• Group selection and invert selection

File operations

• Copy files and directories
• Move and rename
• Create directories and new files
• Delete files and directories
• Optional safe delete with trash metadata
• Overwrite confirmations
• Safer overwrite handling using temporary paths and backup/rollback-style logic where practical
• Progress overlays and cancellation points for larger operations

Viewer and editor

• Internal read-only viewer
• Text and binary/hex-style preview
• Large-file warning / preview behavior
• Simple internal text editor
• Save, find, go to line, Tab insertion, and paste support

Search, compare, and archives

• Filename search
• Content search
• Regex and whole-word content search where implemented
• Panelized search results
• File diff
• Directory comparison
• ZIP create, extract, and listing where implemented

TUI and diagnostics

• Commander-style two-panel text UI
• Top pull-down menu
• Centered modal dialogs
• Line-cache rendering to reduce flicker
• ASCII border fallback
• Optional Unicode border mode where supported
• Color themes and no-color mode
• Input parser and mouse diagnostics modes

Runtime data

Data	Default location
Log file	%LOCALAPPDATA%\ConsoleCommander\console_commander.log
Config, bookmarks, history	%APPDATA%\ConsoleCommander\config.json
Safe-delete trash	%LOCALAPPDATA%\ConsoleCommander\Trash
Safe-delete metadata	%LOCALAPPDATA%\ConsoleCommander\Trash\_metadata

Recommended tests

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -RunSelfTest -NoColor
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\console_commander.ps1 -MouseDiagnostics

Manual checks:

• Arrow keys move selection
• Enter opens the selected directory or file
• F1-F10 work
• Command prompt is visible and accepts typed commands
• Single mouse click selects only
• Double mouse click behaves like Enter
• Mouse wheel scrolls without opening items
• F9 top menu opens and closes cleanly
• Copy, move, delete, mkdir, viewer, editor, search, and ZIP operations work on a test folder

Known limitations

• FTP and SFTP virtual filesystems are not implemented.
• ACL editing is not implemented.
• Mouse support depends on the console host and selected input backend.
• True background copy/move jobs are not implemented.
• Multiple simultaneous editor windows are not implemented.
• The internal editor is intentionally simple.
• ZIP browsing is limited compared with a full virtual filesystem implementation.

Project status

This is an experimental but practical Windows console file manager. Test carefully on non-critical folders before using it for important file operations.

Acknowledgement

The workflow is inspired by Midnight Commander. This repository does not include GNU Midnight Commander source code.