mq-dir vs Marta: native polish vs keyboard purity

Marta and mq-dir both occupy the "modern macOS file manager" niche, but they're philosophically opposite. Marta says "the keyboard should do everything; if your hand left the home row, we failed." mq-dir says "keyboard for the loop, mouse for the long-tail; both should be excellent."

This is the head-to-head.

TL;DR

• Marta if you came from Total Commander, want vim-like keyboard purity, and don't need 4 panes.
• mq-dir if you want native macOS feel, run 3+ projects in parallel, and accept Mac conventions over modal keyboard schemes.

Side-by-side

Where Marta wins

Keyboard purity

Marta is genuinely keyboard-first. There's a command palette (⌘P) that lets you fuzzy-find any action. There are vim-style key sequences. Many actions don't have mouse equivalents — by design.

If you came from Total Commander on Windows or vim/emacs on Linux, Marta's muscle memory transfers in a week. mq-dir's macOS-conventional shortcuts feel mundane in comparison.

JS scripting

Marta exposes a JavaScript scripting API. You can write custom commands, hook into events, build integrations with external tools. If you'd say "I want a button that runs my custom shell script and opens the result in pane 2" — Marta does it.

mq-dir has none of this. Roadmap mentions a plugin API for v0.3+ but nothing today.

Smaller surface area

Marta is deliberately minimal. Less to learn, less to misconfigure. If you don't need preview, projects, multiple panes — Marta gets out of the way faster.

Where mq-dir wins

Quad-pane parallelism

Marta is two-pane, period. You can open multiple Marta windows but each is independent — no shared sidebar, no ⌘1–4 to route focus, no shared "where am I" state.

mq-dir's 4-pane is the killer feature for AI multi-tasking. Three Claude sessions + one artifact stream = four contexts you want visible. Marta forces you back into Mission Control to juggle.

Native macOS polish

Marta is good but ports-feel — you can tell it wasn't built natively for Mac first. Some friction: how scrollbars appear, how text rendering reads, how Reduce Motion is honored.

mq-dir is SwiftUI + AppKit, native to the bone. SF Symbols, system theme tokens, traffic-light controls, animation-respect-reduce-motion. For users who care about Mac aesthetics, the difference is daily.

Comprehensive preview

Marta's preview is text/code-focused. mq-dir's preview handles:

• Images (with EXIF)
• Video (with controls)
• Audio (with waveform)
• PDF (multi-page)
• Markdown with full GFM (tables, code blocks, task lists)
• Office docs

For workflows that mix code with assets (web dev, content creation, AI-generated images), mq-dir's preview is dramatically more useful.

State persistence

Marta's state persistence is OK — tabs survive, sort doesn't always. mq-dir's is uncompromising — every aspect of every pane survives force-quit, schema bumps, even macOS migrations. Open the laptop tomorrow morning, you're exactly where you left off.

Projects (named workspaces)

mq-dir's "Projects" are named snapshots of layout + pane tabs + focus. Save your "Linear bug bash" setup; switch to "agent dev"; later switch back. Marta has nothing equivalent — it's one workspace, period.

Where they're tied

• Both serious about keyboard support.
• Both fast on large directories (10k+ files).
• Both deliberately minimal compared to Path Finder / Directory Opus.
• Both privacy-respecting (Marta is Polish indie, mq-dir is open-source MIT).

Use case routing

What Marta gets right that we should learn from

Honest credit:

1. Scripting API. mq-dir doesn't have one yet; Marta proves the value.
2. Command palette. Marta's ⌘P is great. mq-dir's roadmap includes ⌘K palette but it's not shipped.
3. Deliberate minimalism. Marta's small surface area is itself a feature.

What mq-dir gets right that Marta could borrow

1. Quad-pane. No equivalent in Marta.
2. State persistence depth. A real engineering investment.
3. Per-tab preview/tree. Each tab is a complete context.

Verdict

If you'd describe yourself as "vim user, Total Commander refugee, scripting-curious" — Marta. The fit is precise.

If you'd describe yourself as "AI multi-tasker, design-and-code mixed workflows, value native Mac feel" — mq-dir. Also precise.

These tools don't actually compete head-on; they're both alternatives to Finder/Forklift but for different brain shapes. Try both with a 1-week trial each. Your hand will tell you within days.

mq-dir is MIT-licensed and free. Marta is free with an optional $25 Pro tier. Neither bet is expensive; both are credible long-term plays.