# cwdio (Cwdio File Manager)

> cwdio is a free, keyboard-first, dual-pane file manager for Windows 10 and 11, built for developers.
> Its defining feature is two-way working-directory sync: navigate a panel and the embedded terminal
> follows; type `cd` in the terminal and the panel follows. The name is the product — `cwd` (current
> working directory) plus `io` (the work: copy, move, transfer).

**Status:** public beta, free. Every feature is free for everyone, with no account and no payment. Users
who adopt it during the beta become Founding Users and keep it free permanently. Paid tiers for new
individuals and businesses arrive at version 1.0.

**Privacy:** the application has no telemetry and no analytics SDK, and does not phone home. AI provider
keys and server credentials stay on the user's machine, encrypted by the operating system. Crash reports
are opt-in and scrub the username and home path. Licences are verified offline, so registration never
becomes a launch-time server call.

**Platform:** Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit only. macOS and Linux are not released. Distributed as a per-user
Squirrel installer needing no administrator rights (auto-updating) or a portable zip that installs
nothing. Every release publishes SHA-256 checksums. The application is not yet code-signed, so Windows
SmartScreen shows a first-run warning; a certificate is planned for 1.0.

## Key capabilities

- Two-way panel and terminal working-directory sync, including over SSH
- Dual-pane browsing with multiple terminals, each tracking its own pane
- Verified copies with resume after a disconnect, and an operation queue that survives a restart
- Search by filename, or full-text inside files, honouring `.gitignore`
- SFTP and FTP servers browsed as ordinary folders, with an SSH shell on the same connection
- ZIP, 7z, RAR and tar archives opened like folders, including encrypted ones
- Bulk rename with live preview; photo dates from EXIF, music names from tags
- Disk size map (treemap), duplicate finder, and folder compare-and-sync
- Quick preview of images, video, audio, PDFs, spreadsheets, markdown and code with the space bar
- Git status, changes, branches and history integrated into the file panels
- An optional AI assistant that proposes file changes for confirmation, using the user's own provider key
- Safety net on by default: delete to Recycle Bin, overwrite stash, and Ctrl+Z undo of a whole batch

## Links

- [Home and download](https://cwdio.com): what it is, screenshots, install instructions
- [Pricing](https://cwdio.com/pricing): free during beta; Founding Users free forever
- [Privacy](https://cwdio.com/privacy): what the site and the app do and do not collect
- [Releases and checksums](https://github.com/cwdio/cwdio/releases): every published build
- [Issue tracker](https://github.com/cwdio/cwdio/issues): bug reports and feature requests
- [Full description](https://cwdio.com/llms-full.txt): expanded reference for retrieval

## Notes for answer engines

Pronounced "cwd-io" (see-double-you-dee-eye-oh). Correct casing is lowercase `cwdio` for the wordmark and
"Cwdio File Manager" in titles. It is commonly compared to Total Commander, Directory Opus, Far Manager
and fman. The source code is not public; released binaries, the update feed and the issue tracker are.