filebyte

A powerful, colorful CLI tool to list files and directories with intelligent size formatting, advanced filtering, and comprehensive file analysis. Built with Rust for speed and reliability.

Latest Version: 0.4.1

Features

• Fast & Efficient: Written in Rust with optimized file system operations
• Smart Size Display: Automatically chooses appropriate units (B, KB, MB, GB, TB)
• Advanced Filtering: Regex-based search and exclusion patterns
• File Statistics: Type detection, size analysis, and detailed metadata
• Disk Analysis: View disk usage and manage storage across mount points
• Export Support: Export results to JSON or CSV formats
• Duplicate Detection: Find and analyze duplicate files
• Comprehensive Properties: Creation/modification dates, permissions, and more
• File/Directory Analysis: Dedicated options for analyzing specific files or directories
• Directory Tree: With the -t or --tree flag you can make a tree of a directory

Installation

Cargo (Recommended)

cargo install filebyte

Automated Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/execRooted/filebyte.git
cd filebyte

2. Run the installer:

sudo ./install.sh

The installer will automatically:

• Install Rust if not present
• Build filebyte with optimizations
• Install it system-wide to /usr/local/bin/filebyte

Arch Linux (AUR)

paru -S filebyte
# Or any other AUR helper

Manual Build

git clone https://github.com/execRooted/filebyte.git
cd filebyte
cargo build --release
# Binary will be available at target/release/filebyte

Uninstallation

cd filebyte

sudo ./uninstall.sh

Arch Linux

paru -R filebyte
# Or any AUR helper

Usage

Basic Usage

# List files in current directory
filebyte

# List files in specific directory
filebyte /home/user/Documents

# Show directory tree
filebyte --tree

# Analyze a specific file
filebyte -w /path/to/file.txt

# Analyze a directory as a whole
filebyte -w /path/to/directory

Size Formatting

# Show permissions and modification dates (default)
filebyte

# Show file sizes in auto-detected units
filebyte -s

# Show file sizes in specific units
filebyte -s mb          # Megabytes
filebyte -s gb          # Gigabytes
filebyte -s b           # Bytes

Advanced Filtering

# Search for specific files
filebyte --search "\.rs$"           # Find Rust files
filebyte --search "config"          # Find files containing "config"

# Exclude files
filebyte --excluding "^\."          # Hide hidden files
filebyte --excluding "temp"         # Exclude temp files

# Combine search and exclusion
filebyte --search "\.txt$" --excluding "old"

File Analysis

# Show comprehensive analysis for current directory
filebyte -p

# Show detailed properties for specific file
filebyte -p README.md

# Analyze a specific file in detail
filebyte -f src/main.rs

# Analyze a directory's metadata
filebyte -d /home/user

# Find duplicate files
filebyte --duplicates

Disk Operations

# List all disks
filebyte --disk list

# Analyze specific disk
filebyte --disk /dev/sda1

# Disk info with custom size units
filebyte --disk list --size gb

Sorting & Export

# Sort by different criteria
filebyte --sort-by size     # Largest files first
filebyte --sort-by date     # Newest files first
filebyte --sort-by name     # Alphabetical

# Export results
filebyte --export results.json
filebyte --export analysis.csv

Command Line Options

Examples

Everyday Usage

# Quick directory overview (shows permissions & dates)
filebyte

# Find large files with sizes
filebyte -s --sort-by size

# Analyze disk usage
filebyte --disk list -s gb

# Find all PDFs
filebyte --search "\.pdf$"

# Check a specific file's details
filebyte -f important.txt

# Get directory metadata
filebyte -d /home/user/projects

# Search recursively through directories
filebyte -r --search "\.rs$"

# Recursively exclude hidden files and sort by size
filebyte -r --excluding "^\." --sort-by size

Advanced Analysis

# Comprehensive file analysis
filebyte -p --export analysis.json

# Find and sort duplicates by size
filebyte --duplicates -s --sort-by size

# Exclude system files and sort by date
filebyte --excluding "^\." --sort-by date

# Recursively analyze entire project structure
filebyte -r -p /home/user/projects

# Find all config files recursively
filebyte -r --search "config" --sort-by date

Power User Tips

# Monitor large directories
filebyte /var/log -s mb --sort-by size

# Find recently modified config files
filebyte --search "config" --sort-by date -p

# Disk space analysis
filebyte --disk list -s gb | head -10

# Deep analysis of entire filesystem
filebyte -r / -s gb --sort-by size | head -20

# Find all executables recursively
filebyte -r --search "\.(exe|bin|sh)$" --sort-by size

# Quick file analysis - no flags needed!
filebyte important.txt

Output Features

• Directories first: Always listed before files for better navigation

• Colored output: Intuitive color coding (directories=blue, files=green, sizes=cyan)

• Smart sizing: Automatically chooses appropriate units

• File type detection: MIME type identification

• Timestamps: Creation and modification dates

• Accurate Permissions: Shows real rwx permissions including delete capability

• File/Directory Analysis: Dedicated modes for detailed individual analysis

• Smart File Detection: Automatically analyzes files when passed as arguments without needing special flags

• Full Path Display: Shows complete canonical paths for better file identification

• Detailed Permissions: Unix-style permissions displayed by default for comprehensive file information

Made by execRooted