Explore Better is a dual-pane file manager for Windows with a terminal in every tab, a map of your disk space, and copies and moves you can preview, recover and undo.
Its built-in local MCP server lets Codex, Claude, Cursor or VS Code work in the folders you pick. Read-only until you allow writes, and every write is previewed first.
One-click setup for
get_context
15 ms
activePane: "left" contextRevision: 13
search_files
60 ms
query: "README.md" scanned: 18 entries: 1
show_in_explore_better
29 ms
pane: "left" contextRevision: 14
Recorded in the app, not mocked up: a filtered search, the disk map, a previewed and completed copy, a refused overwrite, a terminal that follows the pane, and a Codex handoff through a read-only profile. Captions tell the story with the sound off.
The things that usually send you to a second Explorer window, a separate terminal, or a disk-usage tool are built into the panes you already have open.
Each file tab can open its own shell in a drawer below the pane. It starts in that folder, keeps its output when you switch tabs, and can follow you as you browse while it is idle.
Disk Map starts scanning when it opens and draws a nested treemap you can drill into, next to folder, file-type and largest-file tables that stay in sync.
Before a byte moves, Explore Better shows what will collide and lets you decide. The work is staged and journalled, so a crash or a pulled cable leaves something it can finish or roll back.
Source and destination side by side, each with its own tabs, history, filters and view. Vertical, horizontal or single-pane layouts.
In the 100,000-entry acceptance test the first rows appear in 101.5 ms (median), with only 47 rows ever rendered at once.
Filename and content search with size, date and attribute filters, and a duplicate finder with optional SHA‑256 confirmation.
Left-right folder comparison and explicit sync plans that refuse to apply if the files changed after the preview.
Text, images, PDF, audio and video, plus interactive STL and STEP models rendered locally.
Fuzzy search over every command, each labelled with whether it stays in the app, opens File Explorer, or launches something else.
| When you want to | File Explorer | Explore Better |
|---|---|---|
| Work with two folders at once | Two windows, snapped side by side | Two panes, each with its own tabs |
| Use tabs | Yes, in Windows 11 | Yes, per pane, with locking and history |
| Run a command in this folder | Open in Terminal starts a separate window | A terminal drawer that belongs to the tab |
| Find what is using space | Folder properties, one folder at a time | Treemap and tables for a whole folder or drive |
| Handle name conflicts | Asked while the copy is running | Previewed before anything is written |
| Survive an interrupted move | Partial result, no recovery journal | Journalled and reconciled at next launch |
| Let an AI agent work on files | No built-in access; agents fall back to a shell | Local MCP server scoped to chosen folders |
File Explorer stays installed and keeps working. Making Explore Better the default folder handler is optional, and Restore Previous puts back the exact settings it replaced.
Explore Better includes a local MCP server. Your AI client talks to it over stdio on your own machine, with no network listener. Each client gets its own profile: which folders, which tools, read-only or planned writes. Revoke one without touching the others.
get_context returns your active pane, open tabs, selection and a revision number, so “this folder” means the folder that is open.
Listings, search, disk analysis, duplicates and comparisons come back as typed, paged JSON from the same indexes and scanner the app uses.
Every change starts as a preview. Applying it takes a one-use token that expires in 120 seconds and is bound to the exact paths, policy and file signatures.
get_contextlist_locationsshow_in_explore_betterset_ui_viewlist_ui_actionsinvoke_ui_actionwait_for_uilist_directorysearch_filesinspect_pathsread_textcompute_checksumsget_index_statusanalyze_disk_usagefind_duplicatescompare_foldersget_jobcancel_joblist_collectionslist_labelsplan_collection_updateplan_label_updateplan_transferplan_renameplan_deleteplan_archiveplan_createplan_text_writeapply_operationget_operationcontrol_operationundo_operationOne-click setup for Codex, Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code: the app edits their configuration, keeps your other MCP servers, and backs the file up first. ChatGPT-compatible clients and any other stdio MCP host can use the generic snippet.
Read the MCP evidenceWhether you or your AI started it, every write goes through the same planner, journal and recovery system. The limits below are part of the design, not settings you have to remember.
Everything. There are no analytics, no account and no cloud file service. The AI Bridge keeps a 30-day local log of which tool ran on which paths, never file contents or tokens. What your AI client does with results is covered by its own terms.
The benchmark starts the real app and its MCP server, runs each workflow three times on the same fixture as an equivalent PowerShell script, and checks both against the known answer. All three matched.
| Workflow | Explore Better MCP | Fresh PowerShell | Faster by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Filename search | 1.5 ms | 222.4 ms | 148.3× |
| Duplicate analysis | 46.5 ms | 247.6 ms | 5.3× |
| Disk usage | 51.4 ms | 239.9 ms | 4.7× |
PowerShell times include starting a fresh process, so this is not a universal ranking: a warm persistent shell may be faster. Hardware, security software and folder contents change results too.
Large selections are handled in full, on a newer runtime, building on the v0.2.7 hardening release.
Copies and moves of thousands of items are planned in full. Selections beyond the limit are refused with a clear message instead of being quietly cut short.
A running copy shows its crash-recovery checkpoint as progress, not as a failure.
A current Chromium and Node runtime, with desktop, terminal and update behaviour verified unchanged.
File names can no longer inject shell commands, terminals no longer inherit backend credentials, and AI writes to Startup folders and client configs are refused.
Copying 1,000 files dropped from 111 s to 5 s. Disk Map reads exact allocation from directory metadata and counts hardlinks once.
Free and open source under the MIT license. The installer is per-user, normal use needs no administrator rights, and File Explorer stays installed.
In PowerShell, from the folder you downloaded to, run:
Get-FileHash .\ExploreBetter-0.2.8-x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Check that the hash it prints matches this one, also listed in SHA256SUMS.txt:
928cb8d35becea11ddc4ef0c68f061b3b2a13d49da044be20ae7396942ea786c
If they match and Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, choose More info, then Run anyway. If they do not match, delete the file. Never turn SmartScreen off.
Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT license, with source code and releases on GitHub. There is no account, subscription, or paid tier.
The public preview is not yet Authenticode-signed, so SmartScreen reports an unknown publisher. Download only from the GitHub release, compare the installer’s SHA-256 with the published value, and only then choose More info and Run anyway. Do not turn SmartScreen off.
Only if you choose. Explore Better works as a normal app. Making it the default for folder and drive opens is optional; it backs up the exact shell settings it changes, and Restore Previous puts them back. File Explorer stays installed either way.
No. The AI Bridge is off until you enable it, and each AI client gets its own profile listing the exact folders and tools it may use. New profiles are read-only; writes need a separate permission and a previewed plan. You can revoke a profile at any time.
Explore Better has no analytics, account, or cloud file service. The MCP server talks to your AI client locally over stdio. What your AI client does with tool results is covered by that client’s own terms.
Explore Better has one-click setup for Codex, Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code, and a generic configuration for any MCP host that supports local stdio servers.
No. The installer is per-user and normal browsing, search, Disk Map, previews, and file operations run as your account. Windows asks for approval only when you open an administrator terminal or touch a protected location.