Frequently asked questions

TCVibe is a fast, portable dual-pane file manager for Windows, built for developers who work with coding agents. When agents write most of the code, the bottleneck is reviewing it: what changed, where, and can you undo it. TCVibe gives you a surface for exactly that, plus instant switching between the several projects you juggle at once.

It also works well without agents: git as a workflow, fast search across a project, a code viewer and a launcher for your editor.

1. Download TCVibe-win-x64-Portable.zip (or win-x86 for 32-bit Windows) from the latest release.
2. Unpack it into any folder.
3. Run TCVibe.exe. No installer, no admin rights.

It needs Windows 10 (1903 or later) or Windows 11. The .NET runtime is included, so there is nothing else to install.

Yes. The binaries are not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen does not know them. Choose More info → Run anyway. If you prefer, build TCVibe yourself from the source code: the README shows how.

Choose Help → Check for updates. TCVibe downloads only what changed and restarts into the new version.

Settings, workspaces and notes live in the data\ folder next to the program. Updates never touch it, and copying the program folder moves everything to another PC. Connection passwords are encrypted for your Windows account, so on another PC you enter them again.

Yes, TCVibe is free and open source under the MIT license. Third-party components and their licences are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt.

Mostly. Two panels with tabs and history, F3 to F8, the operation queue, archives, FTP, multi-rename and checksums work the way you expect. TCVibe does not chase full parity, though, and does not load Total Commander plugins: its focus is projects, git and agents.

TCVibe is an independent project, not affiliated with Total Commander or Ghisler Software GmbH.

A workspace is a project's whole context: both panels, every tab, the layout, its colour, notes and the terminal command. Switch with Alt+1...Alt+9, the Alt+W switcher or the workspace rail on the left. Switching takes under a second.

Pin workspaces to the rail, group them and drag them into order. Open one in its own window. The layout saves itself when you switch and when you quit. A *.tcvproj file can be committed with the project, so the workspace travels with the repository.

What a file manager naturally should: see what changed, build a commit, change branches. There is a worktree dashboard and "New worktree for a task", which creates the branch and folder, copies .env and other gitignored configuration, runs your setup command and opens a workspace. Stage, unstage, commit, branches, stash and clone are built in, and the branch shows on the tab.

Push and pull are left to your terminal or your agent: TCVibe is not trying to be a full git client.

Yes, right in a panel tab: FTP, FTPS, SFTP (with SSH keys and hosts imported from ~/.ssh/config), WebDAV, S3 and compatible storage, Azure Blob and Windows shares. Edit a remote file and it uploads on save. A dropped connection reconnects by itself, and a read-only mode protects production, from you and from agents.

Press Ctrl+Shift+D. The dashboard lists every change in the working tree, says where it came from and rolls any of it back. A tracked file goes back to HEAD through git; an untracked one is deleted through the operation queue. Either way a backup copy is saved first.

It is honest about the evidence. An agent write you approved, or an entry in TCVibe's own operation log, is proof. A change under a directory where an agent session was running is only a guess. Everything else is Unknown. No AI is involved, and the agent layer is off until you turn it on.

The local MCP server gives agents your selection, folder listings, file reads, search and the operation log, including inside archives and, if you allow it, in open remote panels.

• It listens on 127.0.0.1 only and needs a token that changes on every start.
• An agent reaches only the folders you approve. With an empty list it reaches nothing.
• Copy, move and delete are proposals: you Allow or Refuse each one, and an approved one goes through the operation queue into the log.

Any agent that can use an MCP server over HTTP. For Claude Code, the MCP server tab gives you a ready-to-paste claude mcp add line with the address and token filled in.

"Run agent here" (Ctrl+Shift+A) and "Launch an agent on a task" (Ctrl+Shift+R) find claude, codex, gemini and aider, and you can add any other CLI under Settings → External tools. The Agent changes dashboard works with every agent, MCP or not.

Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including local models in Ollama or LM Studio. TCVibe uses it for commit message drafts, summaries in the viewer, renaming files by their content (with a preview and undo) and local semantic search.

All AI features are off by default. You set the endpoint and the key; nothing goes to a cloud you did not choose.

No. There is no telemetry and no account. TCVibe goes online only when you ask it to: checking for updates, opening a connection, or calling the AI endpoint you configured. Everything it stores is in the data\ folder, and connection passwords are encrypted for your Windows account.

Not for TCVibe. The only thing that needs an account is the community forum on this site, so you can post. The account is free and has nothing to do with the app.

In the app, Help → Report a bug opens the bug form with your TCVibe version and Windows filled in, and Help → Open the log folder gives you the log to attach.

Questions and ideas are welcome in the community and in GitHub Discussions. Security issues, please report privately as described in the security policy.