Feat: "Advanced Mode" to explore system directories (Root space support)

[pirate-boop]

Description of Improvement

Currently, TTT is tightly bound to the user's home directory scope. Even when executed with elevated privileges (e.g., via sudo), it often defaults back to /home/user due to how environment variables like $HOME are handled or how the directory tree is initialized. For power users, sysadmins, or users managing system-wide declarative configurations (like NixOS), this limitation causes a lot of friction.

Proposed Solution:
Introduce an explicit toggle in the settings menu labeled "Advanced Mode: Allow System Directory Exploration" (disabled by default for safety).

Expected Behavior:
When Disabled (Default): The left Explore sidebar behaves as it does now, locking the scope to the user's home folder to prevent accidental modification of critical system files.
When Enabled: The Explore sidebar exposes the actual root directory (/) or adds a system-wide folder tree alongside the user's home directory. This allows full-filesystem navigation, assuming the TTT process has the necessary read/write permissions.

[eugenioenko]

Hi @pirate-boop, thank you for feedback!

I think ttt already can handle this.

it often defaults back to /home/user

If you run ttt without any args it will open the current folder.

You can open specific folder by doing

ttt ~/home/user

You can also open multiple folders including root and the home directory

ttt / /home .

• / opens root
• /home opens home
• . opens curreent directory

Some docs one this:
https://tttedit.dev/guides/workspaces/#opening-files-and-folders

Does this cover your usecase?

[pirate-boop]

Ah, thanks for pointing that out! I completely missed the multi-folder CLI arguments in the documentation, my bad. ttt / /home . is a great workaround for now!
However, I still believe having this as a persistent setting (a toggle or a workspace configuration in settings.json) would be a huge UX improvement.
Typing down paths in the terminal every single time adds friction to the daily workflow. Having a built-in "Advanced/Root Mode" toggle inside the TUI settings would allow the editor to remember the user's preferred environment layout right out of the box, without relying on shell aliases or typing launch arguments.
What do you think about adding a default workspace layout option to the settings?

[pirate-boop]

Note: I know you are currently busy preparing the 1.0.0 release and the plugin system, so please feel free to just drop this into the backlog. It's not critical for current stability, just a quality-of-life idea for later!

[pirate-boop]

Good luck with implementing all your goals and tasks! Your work is truly worth it and highly appreciated. Looking forward to the updates!

[eugenioenko]

Typing down paths in the terminal every single time adds friction to the daily workflow. Having a built-in "Advanced/Root Mode" toggle inside the TUI settings would allow the editor to remember the user's preferred environment layout right out of the box, without relying on shell aliases or typing launch arguments.

I see, now, that does make sense.

"Advanced/Root Mode" toggle inside the TUI settings would allow the editor to remember the user's preferred environment layout right out of the box

However, I still believe having this as a persistent setting (a toggle or a workspace configuration in settings.json) would be a huge UX improvement.

This is a great idea! It also gets me thinking of more features:

• Allow adding a default workspace.ttt into .config/ttt folder. When the user opens ttt, and there is a default workspace in config directory, it will load that one if one has not been provided
• Allow setting default home folder in settings.ttt.json. Instead of opening current folder, it could default to whatever folder user set. This one would be your proposal with a small tweak of allowing setting a specific folder or folders

workspaces right now only save paths but eventually I want them to also store opened files and layout state

I'll keep this issue open for some brainstorming! Thank you for bringing it up

[pirate-boop]

Wow, those are incredible ideas!

Allowing a default array of folders in settings.ttt.json is a much better and more flexible approach than my initial binary toggle idea. It completely solves the UX friction while giving users total freedom to define their own default environment layout.

Also, the concept of a default_workspace.ttt file and eventually storing open files/layout states is huge. That would honestly elevate ttt from a simple terminal text editor to a powerful, lightweight IDE alternative. Persistent layouts across editor restarts are exactly what power users look for.

I really love the direction this is going. Happy to leave the issue open for further brainstorming whenever you have the time after the 1.0.0 milestone!