The Explorer Desktop
In Ideal, the file explorer is the desktop. There is no separate desktop environment layered on top of a file manager — the file explorer is the graphical shell, the primary entry point for all user interaction.
From File Manager to Desktop Shell
Traditional desktops treat the file manager as one application among many. You open it when you need to find a file, then switch to your email client, your calendar, your text editor. Each application provides its own window, its own navigation, its own way of presenting data.
Ideal collapses this distinction. Since applications integrate into the desktop, the file explorer becomes the universal interface for all data:
- Navigate to your email folder — a mail application renders it as an inbox with sender, subject, and date.
- Navigate to your calendar folder — a calendar application shows your events on a timeline.
- Navigate to a Git repository — development tools present it as a project with source tree and status.
- Navigate to your music folder — a music application renders it as a library with albums and playback.
Every experience is the explorer displaying data in the appropriate way. Applications provide the rendering and the actions, but the explorer provides the frame — navigation, layout, and a consistent interaction model across all data types.
Typed Folders
The mechanism that makes this work is typed folders. A typed folder is a directory with metadata that tells the desktop what kind of data it contains, which determines:
- How it's displayed — which application renders its contents.
- What actions are available — what operations the user can perform.
Type Assignment
A folder's type can be determined in two ways:
- Explicit declaration. A manifest file inside the folder declares its type — similar to how a
.gitdirectory marks a Git repository. - Content inference. The system can suggest a type based on the folder's contents. A folder full of
.icsfiles might be suggested as a calendar folder. This is always a suggestion, never forced — the user decides.
Examples
| Folder Type | How the Desktop Presents It |
|---|---|
maildir | Inbox view: sender, subject, date, read/unread status |
calendar | Calendar view: monthly, weekly, or daily event layout |
contacts | Address book: name, phone, email fields |
git | Project view: source tree, branches, commit status |
music | Music library: album art, artist, track listings |
gallery | Image grid: thumbnails with metadata |
Nesting and Composition
Typed folders can contain other typed folders. A project folder (type git) might contain a docs/ subfolder
(type documents) and a designs/ subfolder (type gallery). Navigation between them is seamless — you're
always in the explorer, the view adapts to whatever folder you're looking at.
This is what enables the user to organize information their way. A project can bring together code, mail, documents, and calendar events in a single tree. The desktop presents each part appropriately because the applications know how to render each type, regardless of where in the hierarchy it appears.
Window Management
Since every window is the explorer showing data, window management becomes simpler. Ideal proposes a fluid spectrum rather than a binary choice between stacking and tiling:
- Free windows — the default, universally understood behavior.
- Tabs — dragging one window's tab onto another merges them as tabs.
- Tiling — dragging a window or tab to a screen edge creates a split.
The behavior emerges from drag gestures, not from a global mode setting. Users discover the more advanced arrangements naturally as they need them.