Axolotl Commander
GitHub

Axolotl Commander

A keyboard-driven two-panel file manager for macOS.

Two panels, everything from the keyboard, and a quick look at any file with F3. A native Mac app in the spirit of Total Commander and Salamander.

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Free and open source · GPL-3.0 · macOS 15 Sequoia or later · Apple silicon and Intel

KeyCommand
TabSwitch panel
F3View
⌘YQuick Look
F5Copy
F6Move
F7New folder
F8Move to Trash
⌘KConnect to server
Axolotl Commander: two panels with path bars, tabs, marked files and the function key bar.

What it does

  • Two panels, all from the keyboard.

    Tabs, F-key commands, and every shortcut can be remapped.

    Tab

  • Safe file operations.

    Copy, move, rename, links — deleting goes to the Trash, and nearly 700 automated tests guard your data.

    F5F8

  • View and compare.

    Text and hex viewer, Quick Look, side-by-side comparison of files and whole folders.

    F3⌃F10

  • Archives as folders.

    ZIP, 7z and tar open like ordinary folders.

  • Servers and network.

    SFTP, FTP/FTPS and network shares, passwords in the Keychain.

    ⌘K

  • A real Mac app.

    Swift and AppKit, Trash, Quick Look, Finder tags. English and Czech.

    ⌘Y

Why

For years I used Salamander on Windows: two panels, everything from the keyboard, a quick look at a file with F3, comparing folders, archives and FTP as ordinary folders. Nothing on the Mac felt like that. Axolotl Commander is an attempt to have the same on the Mac — as a real macOS app, not a ported Windows program.

Milan Víšek, maintainer

Built with AI, in the open

A human decides, the AI writes the code, the specification is the source of truth.

Axolotl Commander is written by the AI assistant Claude Code, following specifications agreed on by the maintainer first. Every feature starts as a public spec made with GitHub Spec Kit — user stories, acceptance scenarios, edge cases — and only then is planned, coded and tested.

  1. 01
    Spec

    User stories, acceptance scenarios, edge cases.

  2. 02
    Approval

    Nothing is planned or coded until the maintainer agrees.

  3. 03
    Code & tests

    The AI writes the plan, the code and automated tests.

  4. 04
    Spec stays the source of truth

    Changes are recorded in the spec first, so code and spec never drift apart.

Spec Kit Claude Code Project specifications

Inspiration and thanks

The behavior, key layout and commands follow Tandem Commander, which builds on Open Salamander. The code is written from scratch. Thanks to their authors for decades of work on a keyboard-driven file manager.

Axolotl Commander is not affiliated with or endorsed by the authors of Tandem Commander or Open Salamander.