File preview

Paseo's file panel shows "binary preview unavailable" for PDFs, videos, and other binary files. This plugin adds a Preview panel that lists the workspace's PDFs, images, videos, audio, and HTML files, newest first. Selecting one opens it in a Paseo browser tab.

PDFs open in a bundled pdf.js viewer with page navigation, zoom, fit to width, full-text search, and password prompts. Korean, Chinese, and Japanese PDFs render with the bundled character maps. Images, video, and audio open in a simple player page with seeking supported. HTML pages open as they are.

How it works

The daemon side scans the workspace directory, skipping hidden folders and build folders such as node_modules, dist, and build. It lists up to 5,000 most recently modified files. When you open a file, it starts a local HTTP server on 127.0.0.1 with a random port and a secret URL token. That server serves only files inside workspaces you opened from the panel. It rejects requests with another Host header and runs workspace HTML and SVG in a sandbox, so their scripts cannot read other files. The plugin never uploads your files. A previewed HTML or SVG file can still load images, styles, or scripts from HTTPS sites, as any web page can.

Requirements and limits

• Paseo 0.11.1 or newer with plugins enabled. npm must be available on the daemon host so installation can fetch pdf.js. Without it, PDFs cannot open but other files still preview.
• Works when Paseo Desktop and its daemon run on the same computer, which is the default setup. Previews open in the in-app browser.
• On the mobile app, or when you view a daemon on another computer (relay, LAN, or Tailscale), PDFs and images open inside the panel instead. The daemon sends image bytes and renders PDF pages to images through plugin messages. Video, audio, and HTML are not available there, because the preview server listens on 127.0.0.1 of the daemon host.
• Password-protected PDFs cannot open in the panel, including on the mobile app and remote clients. Open them in Paseo Desktop on the daemon's computer, where the browser viewer asks for the password.
• Rendering PDF pages for the panel runs the system node on the daemon host, which installation already requires through npm.
• Long-press a PDF or image to view it in the panel on any client.
• The panel follows your system language: Korean or English.
• Files cannot be shown inside the file tab itself. Plugin panels cannot embed web pages, so previews open in a separate tab.
• Office documents are not supported. HTML pages that load JavaScript modules may not work inside the sandbox.