Install and set up Ranger(Vim based file manager) on mac

Simply speaking, Ranger is a vim file manager that allows you to use the terminal to browse and modify files. This article will also include how to integrate fzf and autojmp in Ranger.

Installation

Open Terminal and install it by homebrew.

$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" < /dev/null 2> /dev/null
$ brew install ranger
$ ranger --copy-config=all

After installing, type  $ ranger to play around.

Navigation

Ranger uses many of the same keybindings as "vim". The way of navigation is similar to VIM. Below are some basic hotkeys for your reference.

j = Move down
k = Move up
h = Move to parent directory
l = Go to the next level
gg = Go to the top of the list
G = Go to the bottom of the list
tab + n = Create a new tab
tab = Switch between differernt tabs

For more hotkey information, you can reference here

Basic file operation

D = delete files
i = Display file (useful if you'd like to view a text file in a pager instead of editing it)
l or E = Open file (opens file in default file-handler)
r = Open file with… (allows you to choose program to use)
o = Change sort order (follow by character in menu selection)
z = Change settings (commonly used toggle settings)
zh = View hidden files
<space> = Select current file
t = Tag file (you can perform actions on tagged files)
cw = Rename current file
/ = Search for files
n = Jump to next match
N = Jump to previous match
yy = Yank (copy) file
dd = Mark file for cut operation
<delete> = Delete selected file

As a side note, if you would like to avoid deleting files or folder permanently by mistake, you can consider having trash-cli.

$ npm install --global trash-cli # install trash-cli

Hook up and override delete functionality in Ranger.  Map 'DD' key to delete to Trash by adding this to your ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf

$ vim ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf

Add the below line to rc.conf
map DD shell trash %s

Preview images in Ranger

Add the below two lines to rc.conf

set preview_images true
set preview_images_method iterm2

Screenshot

Integration with fzf

$ vim ~/.config/ranger/commands.py

from ranger.api.commands import Command

# https://github.com/ranger/ranger/wiki/Integrating-File-Search-with-fzf
# Now, simply bind this function to a key, by adding this to your ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf: map <C-f> fzf_select
class fzf_select(Command):
    """
    :fzf_select

    Find a file using fzf.

    With a prefix argument select only directories.

    See: https://github.com/junegunn/fzf
    """
    def execute(self):
        import subprocess
        if self.quantifier:
            # match only directories
            command="find -L . \( -path '*/\.*' -o -fstype 'dev' -o -fstype 'proc' \) -prune \
            -o -type d -print 2> /dev/null | sed 1d | cut -b3- | fzf +m"
        else:
            # match files and directories
            command="find -L . \( -path '*/\.*' -o -fstype 'dev' -o -fstype 'proc' \) -prune \
            -o -print 2> /dev/null | sed 1d | cut -b3- | fzf +m"
        fzf = self.fm.execute_command(command, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
        stdout, stderr = fzf.communicate()
        if fzf.returncode == 0:
            fzf_file = os.path.abspath(stdout.decode('utf-8').rstrip('\n'))
            if os.path.isdir(fzf_file):
                self.fm.cd(fzf_file)
            else:
                self.fm.select_file(fzf_file)

Then, paste the below snippet to map the below commands to hotkeys. 
$ vim ~/.config/ranger/rc.conf

map cf fzf_select
map cl fzf_locate

Now, try to open Ranger, and type `cf`. It will show fzf search console

Integration with autojump

With integration with autojump, it makes you faster to navigate your filesystem.

First, create rc.conf in ~/.config/ranger

 $ vim ~/.config/range/rc.conf

Paste the key mapping between the below plugin and hotkey.

map cj console j%space

Second, create a plugin for that. After finishing this step, you can open ranger again, then type 'cj' to execute the autojump.

$ mkdir -p ~/.config/ranger/plugins
$ vim ~/.config/ranger/plugins/autojump.py

Paste the below code to autojump.py. You can reference my settings and code here.

import ranger.api
import subprocess
from ranger.api.commands import *

HOOK_INIT_OLD = ranger.api.hook_init


def hook_init(fm):
    def update_autojump(signal):
        subprocess.Popen(["autojump", "--add", signal.new.path])

    fm.signal_bind('cd', update_autojump)
    HOOK_INIT_OLD(fm)


ranger.api.hook_init = hook_init


class j(Command):
    """:j
    Uses autojump to set the current directory.
    """

    def execute(self):
        directory = subprocess.check_output(["autojump", self.arg(1)])
        directory = directory.decode("utf-8", "ignore")
        directory = directory.rstrip('\n')
        self.fm.execute_console("cd " + directory)