This is a Rust port of TCDir, the original C++ implementation. Features generally show up in TCDir first, and I try to get them ported to RCDir within a week or so.

RCDir ("Rust Colorized Directory") is a fast, colorized directory listing tool for Windows consoles. It's designed as a practical dir-style command with useful defaults (color by extension/attributes, Nerd Font file/folder icons, sorting, recursion, wide output, and a multi-threaded enumerator).

See CHANGELOG.md for full release history.

Hat tip to Chris Kirmse whose excellent ZDir from the '90s was the original inspiration for TCDir/RCDir.

Grab the latest binary for your architecture:

• rcdir.exe — x64 (Intel/AMD 64-bit)
• rcdir-ARM64.exe — ARM64 (Snapdragon, etc.)

Place the .exe somewhere on your PATH, or add its directory to your PATH.

See all releases on the Releases page.

Make RCDir your default directory listing command:

# Add to your PowerShell profile ($PROFILE):
Set-Alias dir rcdir -Option AllScope

• Windows 10/11
• PowerShell 7 (pwsh) to run the build/test scripts
• Rust toolchain (install from https://rustup.rs/)
  • Targets: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, aarch64-pc-windows-msvc
  • Install with: rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-msvc aarch64-pc-windows-msvc
• Optional: VS Code with rust-analyzer extension

Run the setup script to install or verify all Rust prerequisites automatically:

.\scripts\Setup.ps1

Alternatively, the rust-toolchain.toml at the repo root will prompt rustup to install the correct toolchain, targets, and components automatically whenever you run cargo.

Build:

• VS Code: run a build task (e.g. Build Release (current arch))
• Command line: pwsh -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration Release

Run:

• .\target\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\release\rcdir.exe
• .\target\aarch64-pc-windows-msvc\release\rcdir.exe

Show help:

• rcdir.exe -?

Basic syntax:

• RCDIR [drive:][path][filename] [-A[[:]attributes]] [-O[[:]sortorder]] [-T[[:]timefield]] [-S] [-W] [-B] [-P] [-M] [--Env] [--Config] [--Settings] [--Owner] [--Streams] [--Icons] [--Tree] [--Depth=N] [--TreeIndent=N] [--Size=Auto|Bytes]

Common switches:

• -A[:]<attributes>: filter by file attributes
• -O[:]<sortorder>: sort results
  • both -oe and -o:e forms are supported
  • N name, E extension, S size, D date/time
  • prefix - to reverse
• -T:<timefield>: select which timestamp to display and sort by
  • C creation time, A last access time, W last write time (default)
• -S: recurse into subdirectories
• -W: wide listing format
• -B: bare listing format
• -P: show performance timing information
• -M: enable multi-threaded enumeration (default); use -M- to disable
• --Env: show RCDIR environment variable help/syntax/current value
• --Config: show config file diagnostics, syntax reference, and parse errors
• --Settings: show current merged configuration for all items and extensions
• --Owner: display file owner (DOMAIN\User format); not allowed with --Tree
• --Streams: display NTFS alternate data streams
• --Icons: enable Nerd Font file/folder icons; use --Icons- to disable
• --Tree: hierarchical directory tree view; use --Tree- to disable
• --Depth=N: limit tree depth to N levels (requires --Tree)
• --TreeIndent=N: tree indent width per level, 1–8, default 4 (requires --Tree)
• --Size=Auto|Bytes: Auto shows abbreviated sizes (e.g., 8.90 KB); Bytes shows exact comma-separated sizes. Tree mode defaults to Auto, non-tree defaults to Bytes

Standard attributes: D (directory), H (hidden), S (system), R (read-only), A (archive)

Cloud sync attributes (OneDrive, iCloud, etc.):

• O - cloud-only placeholder files (not locally available)
• L - locally available files (hydrated, can be dehydrated)
• V - pinned/always available files (won't be dehydrated)

Extended attributes:

• X - not content indexed (excluded from Windows Search)
• I - integrity stream enabled (ReFS only)
• B - no scrub data (ReFS only)
• F - sparse file
• U - unpinned (allow dehydration)

Use - prefix to exclude (e.g., /A:-H excludes hidden files).

When browsing cloud-synced folders (OneDrive, iCloud Drive, etc.), RCDir displays sync status symbols:

• ○ (hollow) - cloud-only placeholder, not available offline
• ◐ (half) - locally available, can be dehydrated
• ● (solid) - pinned, always available offline

When a Nerd Font is detected, the cloud symbols are automatically upgraded to dedicated NF glyphs (cloud-outline, cloud-check, pin).

When RCDir detects a Nerd Font in the console, it automatically displays file and folder icons next to each entry — in normal, wide, and bare listing modes.

Detection works via:

1. GDI glyph probe — renders a canary glyph to confirm Nerd Font symbols are available in the active console font
2. System font enumeration — checks whether any installed font's name contains "Nerd Font" or a "NF", "NFM", or "NFP" suffix
3. WezTerm detection — WezTerm bundles Nerd Font symbols natively, so icons are enabled automatically
4. ConPTY detection — Windows Terminal, VS Code terminal, and other modern terminals are recognized

Icon mappings (~187 extensions, ~65 well-known directories) are aligned with the Terminal-Icons PowerShell module default theme.

Use --Icons to force icons on, or --Icons- to force them off, regardless of detection.

Tree mode displays the directory hierarchy with Unicode box-drawing connectors (├──, └──, │). All metadata columns (date, time, attributes, size, cloud status) appear at every level. Directories and files are sorted together (interleaved) rather than grouped.

• rcdir --Tree — show full tree from the current directory
• rcdir --Tree --Depth=2 — show only 2 levels deep
• rcdir --Tree --TreeIndent=2 — narrower indentation (default is 4)
• rcdir --Tree *.rs — show only .rs files; empty subdirectories are pruned

Tree mode uses abbreviated file sizes (--Size=Auto) by default for consistent column alignment across directories. Junction points and symlinks are listed but not expanded, preventing infinite cycles.

Incompatible with -W (wide), -B (bare), -S (recurse), --Owner, and --Size=Bytes.

• Tree listing: rcdir.exe --Tree

Examples:

• Recurse through subdirectories: rcdir.exe -s

• Wide listing: rcdir.exe -w

RCDir supports customizing colors (and default switch behavior) via the RCDIR environment variable or a config file.

Create %USERPROFILE%\.rcdirconfig with one setting per line, using the same syntax as the environment variable. Comments (#) and blank lines are supported:

# Switches
Tree
Icons

# Extension colors
.cpp = LightGreen
.h   = Yellow on Blue
.rs  = LightCyan

# Display attribute colors
D = LightBlue

# File attribute overrides
Attr:H = DarkGrey

# Icon overrides
.go = LightCyan, U+e627

# Parameterized settings
Depth = 3
Size = Auto

Precedence: built-in defaults < config file < RCDIR env var < CLI flags.

Use rcdir --config to see config file diagnostics, and rcdir --settings to see the merged configuration from all sources.

Syntax:

• PowerShell: $env:RCDIR = "[<Switch>] | [<Item> | Attr:<fileattr> | <.ext>] = <Fore> [on <Back>][;...]"
• CMD: set RCDIR=[<Switch>] | [<Item> | Attr:<fileattr> | <.ext>] = <Fore> [on <Back>][;...]

Note: Switch names in the RCDIR variable do NOT include prefixes (/, -, --). Use just the switch name (e.g., W, Owner, Streams).

Enable default switches by including the switch name:

• W - enable wide listing by default
• S - enable subdirectory recursion by default
• P - enable performance timing by default
• M - enable multi-threading by default (already on by default)
• B - enable bare listing by default
• Owner - display file ownership by default
• Streams - display NTFS alternate data streams by default
• Icons - enable Nerd Font icons by default; Icons- to force off
• Tree - enable tree view by default; Tree- to force off
• Depth=N - set default tree depth limit
• TreeIndent=N - set default tree indent width (1–8)
• Size=Auto / Size=Bytes - set default size display format

Configure colors for display items, file attributes, and extensions:

Example:

• PowerShell: $env:RCDIR = "W;D=LightGreen;S=Yellow;Attr:H=DarkGrey;.png=Black on Magenta"
• CMD: set RCDIR=W;D=LightGreen;S=Yellow;Attr:H=DarkGrey;.png=Black on Magenta

Decoded breakdown of the example:

• W sets the default switch /W (wide listing) on
• D=LightGreen sets the Date display item color to LightGreen
• S=Yellow sets the Size display item color to Yellow
• Attr:H=DarkGrey sets the Hidden file attribute color to DarkGrey
• .png=Black on Magenta sets the .png extension color to black text on a magenta background

Display items for color configuration:

• D (Date), S (Size), N (Name), Attr (Attributes)
• CloudOnly, Local, Pinned - cloud sync status symbol colors

Icon override (<.ext>=<Color>,U+<codepoint>):

• Override the icon glyph for any extension: .rs=DarkRed,U+E7A8
• Color-only override (keep default glyph): .js=Yellow
• Glyph-only override (keep default color): .md=,U+F48A

File attribute colors (Attr:<letter>):

• H (hidden), S (system), R (read-only), D (directory)

• Here's an example of the default output, setting the RCDIR environment variable, then showing its effects:

To see the full list of supported colors and a nicely formatted explanation, use --Env.

• Any errors in the RCDIR variable are shown at the end.
• rcdir.exe --Env:

To see your current color configuration, use --Config:

• All configuration settings are displayed along with the source of that configuration.
• rcdir.exe --Config:

• VS Code: the repo includes .vscode/tasks.json with tasks wired up to scripts/Build.ps1 and scripts/RunTests.ps1
• Command line: use the PowerShell build scripts below

• Build: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Build
• Clean: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Clean
• Rebuild: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Configuration <Debug|Release> -Platform <x64|ARM64> -Target Rebuild
• Build both Release targets: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Target BuildAllRelease
• Run clippy lints: pwsh -File .\scripts\Build.ps1 -Target Clippy

Build outputs land under:

• target\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\debug\rcdir.exe, target\x86_64-pc-windows-msvc\release\rcdir.exe
• target\aarch64-pc-windows-msvc\debug\rcdir.exe, target\aarch64-pc-windows-msvc\release\rcdir.exe

Run unit tests:

• pwsh -File .\scripts\RunTests.ps1
• Or directly: cargo test

The version is managed in Version.toml and auto-stamped into the binary at build time by build.rs.

MIT License. See LICENSE.