🗂️ Install Latest superfile on Debian

What is superfile?

superfile is a terminal file manager built around panels you keep open. Several directories sit side by side, a sidebar holds your home shortcuts, your pinned folders and the mounted disks, and a preview pane renders whatever the cursor is on: syntax-highlighted source, plain text, a directory listing, an image. Copying, moving and compressing run in the background and report themselves in a process bar, so a large transfer never freezes the panel you are browsing. Deleted files go to the trash and can be brought back, archives are extracted and created in place, and every key, colour, border and panel width is a line in a TOML file. It is a single static Go binary, and the command you type is spf.

⚡ Key Features of superfile

📦 Installation from deb.griffo.io

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://deb.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update

install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://deb.griffo.io/EA0F721D231FDD3A0A17B9AC7808B4DD62C41256.asc | gpg --dearmor --yes -o /etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/deb.griffo.io.gpg] https://deb.griffo.io/apt $(lsb_release -sc 2>/dev/null) main" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/deb.griffo.io.list > /dev/null
apt update

sudo apt install extrepo
sudo extrepo enable griffo
sudo apt update

# Install latest superfile
sudo apt install superfile

# Optional, for the plugins that need them: exiftool for the
# metadata panel, zoxide for the smart directory jump
sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl zoxide

# Verify installation, the command is spf and not superfile
spf --version

# Install latest superfile
apt install superfile

# Optional, for the plugins that need them: exiftool for the
# metadata panel, zoxide for the smart directory jump
apt install libimage-exiftool-perl zoxide

# Verify installation, the command is spf and not superfile
spf --version

# Open the directory you are in
spf

# Or start somewhere else
spf ~/Downloads

# Two paths on the command line means two panels
spf ~/src ~/Downloads

# Where the config, hotkeys, theme, log and data files live
spf path-list

# Inside superfile, ? opens the full hotkey list
spf --help

🎯 Basic Usage Examples

Starting it:

# The current directory
spf

# A directory you name
spf /var/log

# One panel per path, opened side by side
spf ~/src ~/Downloads /mnt/backup

# Try settings without touching your own files
spf --config-file /tmp/spf.toml --hotkey-file /tmp/spf-keys.toml

# What is installed?
spf --version

Keeping the config current:

# Add the fields and hotkeys a new release introduced,
# leaving everything you already changed alone
spf --fix-config-file
spf --fix-hotkeys

# Print every path superfile uses
spf path-list

# Environment, terminal and version details for a bug report
spf --debug-info

Wiring it into your shell:

# Set cd_on_quit = true in config.toml, then put this in
# ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc so quitting with Q leaves you in the
# directory the panel was showing
spf() {
    export SPF_LAST_DIR="${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/superfile/lastdir"
    command spf "$@"
    [ ! -f "$SPF_LAST_DIR" ] || { . "$SPF_LAST_DIR"; rm -f -- "$SPF_LAST_DIR"; }
}

# The path that function reads
spf path-list --lastdir-file

# Use superfile as a file picker for another program: it writes
# the chosen path to the file and exits
spf --chooser-file /tmp/picked

🚀 Why Choose deb.griffo.io?

• ✅ The Only apt Source: superfile is in neither the Debian nor the Ubuntu archives; this repository packages the official upstream release
• ✅ The Command Is spf: the package is called superfile because upstream is, and it puts /usr/bin/spf on your PATH, which is the command every tutorial and every hotkey page uses
• ✅ Automatic Updates: packages updated within hours of upstream releases, so auto_check_update can go to false and apt can do the checking
• ✅ Complete Package: the official upstream Linux build installed as /usr/bin/spf, nothing added, nothing patched
• ✅ Honest Dependencies: the binary needs nothing, xdg-utils is only recommended, and exiftool, zoxide, ffmpeg, poppler-utils and a clipboard tool are suggested for the optional features that use them
• ✅ Two Architectures: amd64 and arm64, both statically linked Go binaries, so the same package runs on every suite
• ✅ Multi-Distribution: works on Bookworm, Trixie, Forky and Sid
• ✅ Easy Maintenance: standard apt commands for updates

📦 Package Build Repository

The Debian packages are automatically built and maintained in this GitHub repository:

• 🗂️ superfile-debian - Latest release builds

🔗 Related Packages

Also available from deb.griffo.io:

• Yazi - The other terminal file manager here, if a single panel and Lua plugins suit you better
• zoxide - The jump database behind superfile's z key
• eza - Modern ls, for the listings you want without opening a file manager
• fzf Fuzzy Finder - Fuzzy finding for the searches that start at the shell prompt instead