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Collection of extensions for Nautilus (Ubuntu/GNOME file manager) that add advanced preview and file management features directly from the context menu.

• What are Nautilus extensions
• Available extensions
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
• Troubleshooting
• Uninstallation

Nautilus extensions are Python scripts that add new entries to the menu that appears when you right-click on a file or folder. These extensions allow you to:

• View advanced previews of data files (CSV, Excel, JSON, Parquet)
• Merge or split PDF files
• Analyze Dockerfiles
• Find duplicate files
• View README files directly from Nautilus
• Integrate Git directly into Nautilus (blame, diff, status, graph)

View CSV files with:

• Formatted table of the first 100 rows
• Descriptive statistics (with pandas)
• Automatic delimiter detection
• Information on numeric columns and null values

Supported formats: .csv, .tsv

📖 Read the complete guide →

View Excel/LibreOffice files with:

• All document sheets
• Tabular data with column types
• Descriptive statistics for numeric columns
• Document metadata (author, creation date)

Supported formats: .xlsx, .xlsm, .xltx, .xltm, .ods

📖 Read the complete guide →

View JSON and JSONL files with:

• Navigable tree structure
• Automatically inferred schema
• Data preview for arrays/JSONL
• Statistics for JSONL files
• Gzip compressed file support

Supported formats: .json, .jsonl, .ndjson, .json.gz, .jsonl.gz

📖 Read the complete guide →

View Parquet files with:

• Complete schema with data types
• Metadata and row groups
• Data preview
• Descriptive statistics
• Compression information

Supported formats: .parquet

📖 Read the complete guide →

Merge multiple PDF files into one:

• Multiple PDF selection
• Reorder via drag & drop
• Page count preview
• Choose output filename

Usage: Select 2 or more PDFs → right-click → "Merge PDF"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Split a PDF into multiple files with 4 modes:

• Custom ranges (e.g., 1-3, 5-7, 9)
• Every N pages (e.g., every 5 pages)
• One page per file
• By bookmarks/chapters

Usage: Right-click on PDF → "Split PDF"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Analyze Dockerfiles with:

• Structure and instructions
• Multi-stage builds
• Environment variables and arguments
• Best practices and security suggestions
• Common issue detection

Usage: Right-click on Dockerfile → "Analyze Dockerfile"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Find duplicate files in a folder:

• Recursive scan with MD5 hash
• Grouping by identical content
• Smart selection (keeps the first)
• Move to trash with one click

Usage: Right-click on folder → "🔍 Find duplicates"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Show the current folder's README:

• Markdown rendering (if available)
• Support for README.md, README.txt, README.rst
• Quick open in editor

Usage: Right-click on folder background → "Show README.md"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Adds Git columns to Nautilus list view:

• Last commit author for each file
• Relative commit date (e.g., "3 hours ago")
• Commit message (truncated to 55 characters)
• Result caching and async loading

Usage: List View (Ctrl+2) → right-click column headers → enable Git columns

📖 Read the complete guide →

Visual diff viewer for modified files:

• Side-by-side view with aligned lines
• Unified view with toggle
• Green/red coloring for additions/removals
• Support for staged and working tree diffs

Usage: Right-click on modified file → "⎇ Mostra Diff Git"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Visualize the Git commit graph:

• Visual graph with nodes and Bézier curves
• Color palette for distinct branches
• Branch badges and golden HEAD marker
• Interactive legend and status bar

Usage: Right-click on background → "⎇ Mostra Git Graph…"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Git status panel with automatic refresh:

• Current branch with ahead/behind indicator
• Staged, modified and untracked files with colored icons
• Last 10 commits with hash, author and date
• Stash count and 3-second auto-refresh

Usage: Right-click on background → "⎇ Stato Git…"

📖 Read the complete guide →

Before installing the extensions, make sure you have:

1. Ubuntu/GNOME (or another distribution with Nautilus)
2. Python 3 (already installed on Ubuntu)
3. nautilus-python (the bridge between Nautilus and Python)

Open the terminal (press Ctrl+Alt+T) and type:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-nautilus

If it doesn't already exist, create the folder where Nautilus looks for extensions:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions

Some extensions require additional Python libraries. Install the ones you need:

sudo apt install python3-pandas python3-openpyxl python3-pypdf python3-markdown
pip install pyarrow --break-system-packages

CSV Preview:

sudo apt install python3-pandas

Excel Preview:

sudo apt install python3-pandas python3-openpyxl

JSON Preview:

sudo apt install python3-pandas  # optional, for JSONL statistics

Parquet Preview:

sudo apt install python3-pandas
pip install pyarrow --break-system-packages

PDF Merger/Splitter:

sudo apt install python3-pypdf

README Viewer:

sudo apt install python3-markdown gir1.2-webkit2-4.1  # optional, for Markdown rendering

Dockerfile Analyzer and Duplicate Finder: No additional dependencies (use only standard libraries)

Git Blame, Git Diff, Git Graph and Git Status: No additional dependencies (only require git installed on the system)

Copy the .py files of the extensions you want to use to the created folder:

# Example: install all extensions
cp csv-preview/csv_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp excel-preview/excel_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp json-preview/json_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp parquet-preview/parquet_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp pdf-merger/pdf_merger.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp pdf-splitter/pdf_splitter.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp dockerfile-analyzer/dockerfile_analyzer.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp duplicate-finder/duplicate-finder.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp readme-viewer/readme_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp git-blame/git_blame.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp git-diff/git_diff.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp git-graph/git_graph.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp git-status/git_status.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/

Or install only the ones you need, for example only CSV and PDF:

cp csv-preview/csv_preview.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/
cp pdf-merger/pdf_merger.py ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/

To activate the extensions, restart Nautilus:

nautilus -q

Then reopen Nautilus normally (click the "Files" icon in the dock or press Super+E).

To verify that the extensions have been loaded correctly:

1. Open Nautilus
2. Go to a folder with CSV, PDF, JSON files, etc.
3. Right-click on a supported file
4. You should see the new entries in the menu (e.g., "CSV Preview", "Split PDF")

If the extensions don't appear:

1. Check Nautilus logs:

   nautilus -q
   nautilus 2>&1 | grep -i python

2. Verify that nautilus-python is installed:

   dpkg -l | grep nautilus-python

3. Check file permissions:

   ls -la ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/

   Files must be readable (permissions 644 or 755)

4. Make files executable (if necessary):

   chmod +x ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/*.py

1. Navigate to the file you want to view
2. Right-click on the file
3. Select "Preview [file type]" (e.g., "CSV Preview")
4. A window will open with:
   • "Data" tab: table with data
   • "Schema/Columns" tab: column information
   • "Statistics" tab: descriptive statistics (if available)
   • "Metadata" tab: file information

1. Select 2 or more PDF files (hold Ctrl while clicking)
2. Right-click on the selection
3. Select "Merge [N] PDFs"
4. In the window that opens:
   • Reorder files by dragging or using ⬆⬇ buttons
   • Remove unwanted files with ✕ button
   • Edit the output filename
   • Click "🔗 Merge PDF"
5. The merged file will be saved in the same folder as the first PDF

1. Right-click on a PDF file
2. Select "Split PDF"
3. Choose one of 4 modes:
   • Ranges: enter "1-3, 5, 7-9" to create 3 files
   • Every N pages: split every 5 pages
   • One per file: each page becomes a PDF
   • Bookmarks: one file per chapter
4. Choose the output folder
5. Click "✂ Split PDF"

1. Right-click on a Dockerfile
2. Select "Analyze Dockerfile"
3. Explore the tabs:
   • Overview: base images, ports, variables
   • Best Practices: security and optimization suggestions
   • Instructions: complete instruction list
   • Source: code with syntax highlighting

1. Right-click on a folder
2. Select "🔍 Find duplicates"
3. Wait for the scan (may take time for large folders)
4. In the results window:
   • Files are grouped by identical content
   • The first file in each group is NOT selected (will be kept)
   • You can modify the selection manually
   • Click "Select duplicates automatically" to select all except the first
   • Click "🗑 Move to Trash" to delete selected duplicates

1. Open a folder containing a README file
2. Right-click on the background (not on a file)
3. Select "Show README.md" (or README.txt, etc.)
4. The README will be displayed with Markdown rendering (if available)

Cause: nautilus-python is not installed or Nautilus hasn't been restarted

Solution:

sudo apt install python3-nautilus
nautilus -q

Cause: Missing pandas library

Solution:

sudo apt install python3-pandas

Cause: Missing pypdf library for PDF handling

Solution:

sudo apt install python3-pypdf

Cause: Missing pyarrow for Parquet files

Solution:

pip install pyarrow --break-system-packages

Cause: Very large file

Solution: Extensions load only the first 100 rows for speed. For huge files, consider using dedicated tools like LibreOffice Calc or DBeaver.

Cause: Missing WebKit or python3-markdown

Solution:

sudo apt install python3-markdown gir1.2-webkit2-4.1

Cause: Buggy extension or corrupted file

Solution:

1. Temporarily remove all extensions:

   mv ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions.backup
   nautilus -q

2. Reinstall extensions one at a time to identify the problematic one

rm ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/[extension_name].py
nautilus -q

Example to remove CSV preview:

rm ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/csv_preview.py
nautilus -q

rm ~/.local/share/nautilus-python/extensions/*.py
nautilus -q

sudo apt remove python3-nautilus
nautilus -q

• Preview extensions load only part of files (first 100 rows) for speed
• For very large files (>100MB), opening may take a few seconds
• Duplicate search can be slow on folders with thousands of files

• The Dockerfile analyzer highlights common security issues
• Never put passwords or secrets in ENV variables in Dockerfiles
• Always use specific tags for Docker images (not :latest)

You can modify the .py files to customize:

• Number of rows displayed (change PREVIEW_ROWS)
• Window sizes (change WINDOW_W and WINDOW_H)
• Colors and CSS styles (modify the CSS variable)

• Nautilus version: These extensions are designed for Nautilus 43+ (GNOME 43+) with GTK 4
• Python: Requires Python 3.8 or higher
• Threads: Heavy operations (file reading, hash calculation) are executed in separate threads to avoid blocking the interface

Found a bug or want to add a feature? Feel free to:

• Open an issue
• Submit a pull request
• Suggest improvements

These extensions are provided "as is" without warranties. Use at your own risk.

Q: Can I use these extensions on other Linux distributions?
A: Yes, they work on any distribution with Nautilus and nautilus-python (Fedora, Debian, Arch, etc.)

Q: Do they work with other file managers?
A: No, they are specific to Nautilus. For other file managers (Dolphin, Thunar, etc.) you need different extensions.

Q: Can I modify the code?
A: Absolutely yes! The files are readable and modifiable Python scripts.

Q: Do extensions slow down Nautilus?
A: No, they are loaded only when needed and heavy operations are in separate threads.

Q: Where are merged/split files saved?
A: In the same folder as the original file, or in the folder you choose in the dialog window.

Happy working with Nautilus! 🚀