Basics

Create, open, and configure a library

On first launch choose Create library, pick a location, and enter a display name. A library contains managed assets, its database, and a .serpent/ working directory. The display name does not move the library directory.

Use the upper-left Main menu → Library to create, open, import, or export libraries. Library settings lets you rename the current library, see its location, and edit its ignore configuration. A description field is not implemented yet.

The ignore editor uses one rule per line, similar to .gitignore; the UI calls it an “ignore configuration file”. Saving immediately affects browsing, search, and scanning:

*.tmp                 # ignore every .tmp file
references/drafts/    # ignore this folder
!references/drafts/keep.png  # un-ignore one file

The ? help explains *, ?, **, a trailing / for directories, a leading / for library-root rules, and ! negation.

Import assets

Drop one or more files or folders into Serpent, or use Import files / Import folder. Folder imports are recursive. The browser extension can save web images and videos from the context menu or by drag-and-drop.

The current product registry includes:

• Images: PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF/TIF, WebP, SVG, BMP, ICO, PSD, EXR, TGA
• Camera RAW: DNG, CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2
• Video: MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, WebM, MKV, M4V
• Audio: WAV, MP3, OGG/OGA, M4A, AAC, FLAC, Opus (waveform cover plus playback)
• 3D: FBX, OBJ, GLTF, GLB, STL (FBX is converted to a viewable GLB)
• Text: TXT, Markdown, JSON, CSV, XML, YAML, and common source/config formats

Serpent copies managed files into the library and assigns a stable asset ID. Name or content duplicates open a conflict dialog. Thumbnails, technical metadata, and eligible AI analysis are generated in the background, so you can keep browsing immediately.

Browse and organize

• Sidebar: All assets, Trash, folders, collections, and smart collections. Folders and collections can include descendants; a collection is a many-to-many relationship, so an asset may belong to several collections.
• Canvas: tile, masonry, and folder/collection cards. Resizing sidebars or card size reflows the layout while preserving the approximate scroll position.
• Toolbar: search, filters, sorting, view, and card fields. In non-grid pages, irrelevant view controls are hidden.
• Inspector: file information, tags, rating, favorite, description, source URL, author, technical metadata, color space, and AI content.

Click to select and double-click to open the viewer. Drag on empty canvas space to marquee-select; use ⌘ on macOS or Ctrl on Windows while clicking to add to a selection. Tab moves focus between assets; Shift enables range selection where supported. Folders, collections, and smart collections support context-menu actions, inline F2 rename, and Delete; deleting a non-empty container confirms first, and deleting a collection never deletes its assets.

Viewer

Double-click an asset to open the viewer. Images, SVG, RAW, PSD, TIFF, TGA, and EXR use their decoder or a generated derivative; SVG is rendered from its vector source in the viewer, not treated as the thumbnail. Videos loop by default and may use a Serpent-generated compatible proxy. Audio shows a waveform and playback controls. 3D models use the dedicated model viewer.

The viewer supports pan, wheel zoom, fit-to-view (numpad .), fullscreen, and rotate/horizontal/vertical mirror transforms for images and video. For formats other than PNG/JPEG, Serpent uses a detected color space when available and lets you choose among supported spaces. EXR can expose multiple planes/parts when present; this is not a professional channel-grading tool.

Tags, collections, and smart collections

• Add tags from the Inspector or an asset context menu. The tag picker supports search, recent tags, and batch operations.
• Collections are manually maintained relationships. Drag assets into a collection or use the Add to collection submenu; removing an asset from a collection only removes the relationship.
• Smart collections save a search, filter, and sort definition and calculate results live.

Trash and deletion

Normal Delete / macOS ⌘⌫ moves an asset or folder to Trash. Windows Shift+Delete and macOS ⌥⌘Delete delete from disk after a confirmation. The undo icon in the notification can reverse the most recent undoable file operation and refreshes the current view.

Shortcuts

Action	macOS	Windows
Open viewer	Enter	Enter
Open in external app	⌘O	Ctrl+O
Reveal in file manager	⌘⇧S	Ctrl+Shift+S
Focus search	⌘F	Ctrl+F
Rename	F2	F2
Move to Trash	⌘⌫	Delete
Delete from disk	⌥⌘Delete	Shift+Delete
Copy / Paste	⌘C / ⌘V	Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V
Fit viewer	Numpad .	Numpad .

See Search and filters for query examples and AI analysis for AI setup and jobs.