Files & links
Can I click file paths in terminal output? Yes: Ctrl/Cmd+Click opens files and folders.
Can I click file paths in Mel's terminal output? Yes. Hover a file or folder path in a command's output and it turns blue and underlined; Ctrl+Click (⌘-click on a Mac) opens it. Folders open in your file manager, and files open in the app your computer uses for that type. Links in the agent's answers are clickable too.
Paths in command output
Mel looks for paths in the line under your pointer and turns one into a link only when it points at something that really exists on your computer, so ordinary words never become links.
| What you see | Becomes a link? |
|---|---|
/var/log/app.log, ~/notes.md, ./src/main.rs, ../README.md, src/lib.rs | Yes, when the file or folder exists |
'My File.pdf' (a quoted name with spaces) | Yes, when it exists |
A bare name such as Desktop or package.json | Yes after ls, ll, la, lsd, dir, tree, exa and eza, where the output is a list of names |
| A word that isn't a real path | No |
A relative path is resolved against the folder the command ran in, so links stay right after you cd elsewhere. Trailing punctuation such as a full stop or a colon isn't part of the link.
Steps:
- Run a command that prints paths, for example
lsorgit status. - Hover a path. The pointer changes and a hint says Ctrl+Click to open (Cmd+Click on a Mac), or …to open in file manager for a folder.
- Hold Ctrl (⌘ on a Mac) and click.
If the open fails, for example because no app is installed for that file type, Mel says so with the reason instead of doing nothing.
Links in the agent's answers
- Web addresses in an answer are links, coloured so you can see them. A
localhostlink that spells out its address, and links to a few well-known hosting sites such as GitHub, Vercel and Netlify open straight away; any other site asks you first, and the card shows where the link goes. - Only
httpandhttpslinks open. Anything else (file://,javascript:and so on) is blocked, and Mel tells you. - File paths the agent mentions ("the report is saved at …/report.md") are clickable too, as long as the link's own text shows the path. A file that could run something when opened (a script, an app, an HTML page) stays plain text, not a link.
Dropping files into Mel
Drag a file from your file manager onto Mel:
- In the terminal, its path is typed into the input.
- In an agent conversation, it's attached when the model can take it (an image, for example), exactly as the + button would. Anything that can't be attached is still added as a path, so nothing you drag is lost.
The project explorer works the same way: drag a file from the tree into the input.
Opening a file in Mel's editor
To open a project file in Mel's own editor instead of another app, type /open-file in the input, or use global search (Ctrl+Shift+F, ⌘⇧F on a Mac) and click a result.
FAQ
Why isn't a path clickable? Mel only links paths that exist. Check that the file is still there and that the path is relative to the folder the command ran in. A bare name is linked only after listing commands such as ls.
Can I open file.rs:42 at line 42? Not yet. A path followed by a line number isn't turned into a link.
How do I turn off clickable links in the terminal? Links only open while you hold Ctrl or ⌘, so a plain click never opens anything.