RFile

RFile documentation

RELEASE REFERENCE

Know what is stable and what is still changing.

Status: Production

Status labels describe product maturity or availability, not a security rating or a promise that every environment supports every operation.

Feature status

  • Local file workspace: Production

    Folders, drives, search, selection, tabs, split view, and Inspector.

  • Robocopy transfers: Production

    Recommended for eligible ordinary local folder jobs.

  • Velocity Rust: Production

    Available general and recovery transfer path with verification, bandwidth controls and compatible checkpoints.

  • Windows Native: Production

    Available for eligible local NTFS folder copies; unsupported jobs fall back and interrupted direct output may require review.

  • Google Drive: Limited rollout

    Requires account availability and Google authorization.

  • Nearby Sharing: Preview

    LAN discovery, pairing, the Off/On/Auto mode, incoming-folder and bandwidth controls, trusted-device sends, consent notifications, browsing, and transfers are still being expanded.

  • Internet pairing and iroh: Preview

    Direct and relayed authenticated connectivity is still being expanded.

  • OpenSCAD 3D Preview: Preview

    Optional 3.4 MB managed plugin for self-contained UTF-8 .scad files up to 1 MiB. Source works without installation; imports, external libraries and fonts are not supported.

  • RFile account and browser access: Production

    Authenticated access to desktop-approved roots while the PC is online.

  • Desktop customization: Production

    Categorized Settings, merged Help & About, density, text size, motion, contrast, visible surfaces, shortcuts, preference import/export, background behavior, and trusted terminal choice.

  • Git status overlay: Production

    Optional read-only branch and working-tree context for local repositories; off by default and ignored files stay hidden.

  • PC metadata index: Production

    Qualified in 0.3.82: opt-in fixed-local-drive or folder metadata indexing, search as you type, visual filters, and explicit refresh when events may have been missed.

  • Tags and smart folders: Production

    Qualified in 0.3.82: local, identity-checked tag assignments and saved queries; no file-content changes or cross-device tag sync.

  • Search & storage analysis: Production

    Qualified in 0.3.82: bounded local storage maps and exact duplicate review. Copies can be moved after confirmation; no automatic deletion or recycling.

  • Encrypted ZIP and 7z: Production

    Qualified in 0.3.82: AES-256 archive creation and compatible password-based listing/extraction with operation-local credentials and existing safety limits.

  • OneDrive synced folders: Production

    Qualified in 0.3.82: explicit shortcuts to folders already configured by Windows OneDrive. Direct Microsoft cloud sign-in and Graph browsing are not available.

Verified desktop capabilities in 0.3.86

The following capability groups are present in the current Windows desktop build. This list is explicit so product comparisons do not need to infer ordinary file-manager behavior from screenshots or broad marketing copy.

  • Local file operations (Production)

    Browse local and removable drives; cut, copy, move, paste, rename, create, recycle, permanently delete, drag and drop, copy paths, inspect properties, and undo supported create, rename, move, and recycle operations. Single-item rename and New folder use inline list/grid naming; paste and supported drops use one compact conflict review with Replace, Skip, and Keep both choices plus an optional saved default in Settings.

  • Navigation and session (Production)

    Folder tree, Home locations, Recents, bookmarks, tab history, breadcrumbs, editable local paths, Back, Forward, Up, refresh, search, restoration of the folder just left when returning to its parent, and restoration of the saved tab workspace. Special pages also expose tab-history Back and Forward controls.

  • Views and selection (Production)

    Details, List, extra-large/large/medium/small icon grids, supported thumbnails, metadata sorting, per-folder view state, multi-selection, hidden-file visibility, file-extension visibility, and Inspector visibility.

  • Tabs and split view (Production)

    Open, close, reorder, detach, move between windows, reattach, and drop a tab into a left or right split workspace with independent pane history.

  • Archives (Production)

    Browse supported archives; create ZIP, 7z, TAR, and TAR.GZ in background jobs; explicitly stop, skip existing entries, or use a new folder during extraction; extract supported ZIP, TAR, TAR.GZ, 7z, and RAR; cancel active jobs; and prepare eligible unencrypted entries for drag-out. The protected ZIP/7z workflow graduated from Preview in 0.3.82: AES-256 contents, with encrypted filenames for new 7z but visible filenames in ZIP. Archive mounting, first-class archive tabs, encrypted drag-out, encrypted-archive modification, and encrypted RAR workflows are not included.

  • Indexed search and organization (Production)

    Search & storage > Search files keeps an opt-in metadata-only index across fixed local drives or a chosen folder, as-you-type queries, visual filters, and refresh warnings. Optional fuzzy filenames is off by default and bounded to 10,000 candidates. Separately enabled Local content search scans eligible UTF-8 documents, with source-code inclusion requiring its own choice, inside one selected local folder. Content is not indexed or retained, and neither feature adds cloud-wide or remote search. Tags & smart folders stores local identity-checked assignments and saved queries without moving files.

  • Storage analysis and duplicate review (Production)

    Search & storage combines a cancellable logical-size map and full-content duplicate grouping. Select specific copies, retain at least one per group, and confirm an exact-path review move into an existing folder. Recycle is unavailable; a same-volume review move frees no space.

  • Windows integration (Production)

    Windows file clipboard, Recycle Bin, native Show more options shell menu, Open in Explorer, a safe choice of Windows Terminal, PowerShell, or Command Prompt, local Run for supported file types, and a notification-area icon with Open RFile and explicit Quit RFile.

  • Nearby trusted-device sends (Preview)

    Connected LAN device cards can send picked files, a picked folder, the current eligible selection, or an internal/native drop. Non-empty BLAKE3 sends between RFile 0.3.49 or newer peers use the authenticated dedicated V2 bulk core shared with Browse Devices; SHA-256 and older peers retain the authenticated stream. Outgoing sends appear in global Transfers with their actual V2, V1, or legacy carrier and available progress, speed, ETA, device, direction, and terminal state. Offline and iroh-only entries stay disabled. Global in-app cards own Accept or Decline, Windows notifications are informational, filenames are withheld before consent, and transient UI event-queue pressure retains and retries manual folder-approval delivery.

  • Developer integration (Production)

    An opt-in, read-only Git overlay shows the current branch and working-tree badges in local repository folders. It is off by default, never stages or commits, and does not list ignored files.

  • OpenSCAD 3D Preview (Preview)

    An optional install-on-click official WebAssembly engine renders self-contained .scad source as a final STL mesh. Source reading needs no plugin. Preview accepts UTF-8 source up to 1 MiB with no imported files, external libraries or fonts; rendering has a 60-second deadline, 512 MiB WASM linear-memory limit, 16 MiB output limit and 300,000-triangle cap. Source colors and separate modules are not preserved; measurements require a unit choice. Removal affects only RFile's managed copy.

  • Inspector and analysis (Production)

    Pin the current selection or detach up to four local Inspector windows. Supported read-only readers cover approximate DOCX pages, stored XLSX values, limited PPTX slides, EPUB chapters, TTF/OTF specimens and private SQLite snapshots. Source adds fold/outline/display-format tools; CSV offers virtualized loaded-row filtering. HTML loads bounded local images/fonts only after approval while scripts and networking remain blocked. Actual TIFF pages and bounded STEP/DXF geometry are distinguished from thumbnail-only HEIC/RAW and provider-dependent proprietary CAD. Existing text editing, image/OCR, PDF/archive, browser/VLC media, bounded 3D, folder statistics and explicit Run actions remain available within their documented scopes.

  • Customization (Production)

    Categorized grouped Settings, Compact or Comfortable density, bounded text scaling, reduced motion, high contrast, selectable toolbar/sidebar/status-bar controls, safe command shortcut changes, preferences-only import/export, close-to-background behavior, Nearby bandwidth, the live Off/On/Auto choice, optional VLC plugin management, and merged Help & About. No Narrator, NVDA, or JAWS setup is added.

  • Storage overview (Production)

    This PC reports used, free, and total capacity when providers supply it. Settings > Storage connections keeps Google Drive hidden until linked and explicitly adds existing Windows OneDrive synced-folder shortcuts. OneDrive remains responsible for sync and online-only downloads; RFile does not add direct Graph cloud browsing.

What graduated in 0.3.82

Local metadata indexing, tags and smart folders, storage maps and duplicate review, encrypted ZIP/7z workflows, and OneDrive synced-folder shortcuts are now Production within their documented scopes. Qualification includes native temporary-file tests and real-browser interface checks with simulated native responses; it does not claim every device, archive producer, or cloud environment was tested.

The audit verifies persisted searches and tags, changed-file and retained-copy protection, cancellation and archive rollback, password rejection, configured-only OneDrive shortcuts, and interface error recovery. It also fixes tags not following an ordinary Windows rename when the same path was opened with different capitalization.

Nearby discovery, trusted sends, shared browsing, and Internet pairing remain Preview. Same-host authenticated transfer tests pass, but independent-PC firewall, sleep/reconnect, interruption/resume, and representative direct/relay/NAT qualification are still required. Google Drive remains Limited rollout; this release does not change account availability.

How to read the labels

  • Production

    Available as a current supported product capability, subject to documented requirements and limits.

  • Beta

    Usable but unfinished; behavior, compatibility, and recovery paths can still change.

  • Preview

    Available for evaluation while the workflow, protocol surface, or compatibility is still developing.

  • Limited rollout

    Implemented but not yet available to every account or environment.

  • Coming soon

    Planned but not implemented as an available feature in this release.

Product claims

A Production label does not imply a universal performance result. Transfer speed, search responsiveness, preview compatibility, and folder-analysis time depend on the computer, storage, filesystem, network, file workload, and operating system.

The published July 2026 engine comparison retains its exact workload, samples, boundaries, and limitations. It is a historical direct Robocopy-versus-Windows-Shell result, not current RFile UI versus explorer.exe timing, and no benchmark result is treated as a guarantee for another computer.

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