Opening and viewing files
Open a file from the tree, the palette or the diff, see what changed, and use the image, PDF, CSV, notebook and Mermaid viewers.
Three ways to open
| Path | What happens |
|---|---|
| Single click on the tree row | Opens in preview — a tab that will be replaced when you open another file |
| Double click on the tree row | Opens as a permanent tab |
| “Go to file” palette | Opens the chosen file for editing |
The difference between preview and permanent tab is what keeps the tab bar from filling up while you browse the tree.
The file type decides the viewer. A binary file does not open as text: the opening reports that it was not opened and which type was recognized, instead of showing unreadable content.
View a file’s diff
- The diff starts from the project’s git and compares the file before and after the change.
- By default, the diff is of unstaged changes. There is an option to open the diff of what is already staged.
- Binary files produce no text diff: the opening reports the type, instead of trying to compare bytes as lines.
The same diff can be opened in the Inspector’s side panel, in read-only mode. The panel title shows the path and indicates when the diff is of what is staged.
Viewers
| File type | What the tab offers |
|---|---|
| Image | Viewer with zoom and navigation, with an option to enlarge |
| Reader with search | |
| CSV / TSV | Read-only table |
Notebook (.ipynb) |
Its own viewer for the format |
| Mermaid | Rendered diagram |
Two details that explain strange behaviors:
- CSV and notebook reuse the editor’s mode slot, with their own metadata — that is why the mode switcher changes labels depending on the file. In CSV, that mode does not edit: it is a table.
- An image can be compared in a diff, with both sides on screen.
Limits
- Viewers for large data depend on each one’s rendering limit; there is no promise of opening any size.
- Files not supported by the tree for “open in browser” produce a notice instead of opening — the supported type list is the one the app knows.
- Opening a file does not create a copy: you are looking at the workspace’s file.
On the command line
Opening a file and opening its diff also have commands, with explicit workspace selection — useful when the current directory is not the project’s. See Files command reference.