Listedir

Listedir is a software utility and library designed to enumerate the contents of a filesystem directory and report metadata about files and subdirectories. It is built to be cross-platform and usable both as a command-line tool and as an API for integration into other software. The project emphasizes efficient traversal, robust handling of symbolic links, and consistent metadata collection across different operating systems.

Key features include recursive listing with configurable depth, support for file attributes such as permissions, ownership, timestamps, and sizes, and detection of common file types. Output can be rendered in multiple formats, including human-readable text, JSON, and YAML, enabling easy consumption by scripts and automation tools. Listedir also provides filtering and sorting capabilities, allowing users to limit results by type, size, or modification time, and to order results by name, size, or date. Additional options cover colorized output, configurable date formats, and intelligent handling of large directories to minimize memory usage.

In practice, Listedir is used to generate directory inventories for backups and audits, to assist in data migration planning, and to support file-management workflows within larger tooling ecosystems. Its API is designed for languages that commonly interact with filesystems, enabling developers to build plugins or adapters for custom storage backends or virtual filesystems. Listedir is positioned as a modern successor or complement to traditional tools such as ls, find, or tree, offering structured data alongside flexible presentation.

See also ls, find, tree, os.listdir.