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Once connected, Loom’s browser layout provides a powerful interface for exploring your LDAP directory.

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Browser Layout Overview

The browser layout consists of four main areas: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Tab Bar] - Connection tabs                            │
├──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Tree Panel       │ Detail Panel                         │
│                  │                                      │
│ Directory        │ Attributes of                        │
│ hierarchy        │ selected entry                       │
│                  │                                      │
├──────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Command Panel - Search input                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Status Bar - Connection info and hints                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Press Tab to move focus between panels. The focused panel is highlighted with a brighter border.

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Tab Bar

The tab bar displays all open connection tabs:
  • Each tab represents an independent LDAP connection
  • The active tab is highlighted
  • Tab names show the connection profile name or hostname

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Tab Navigation

KeyAction
Ctrl+Right / gtNext tab
Ctrl+Left / gTPrevious tab
Ctrl+WClose current tab
You can have multiple connections open simultaneously, making it easy to compare entries across different servers.

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Tree Panel

The tree panel shows the LDAP directory hierarchy starting from your configured base DN.
KeyAction
jMove down one entry
kMove up one entry
l / EnterExpand node or enter
hCollapse node
gJump to top
GJump to bottom

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Lazy Loading

The tree loads children lazily - entries are only fetched when you expand a node:
  • Collapsed nodes show [+] if they have children
  • Expanded nodes show [-] and display their children
  • Each expansion triggers an LDAP search for immediate children
This lazy loading approach keeps the interface responsive even with large directories containing thousands of entries.

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Tree Operations

KeyAction
aCreate child entry under selected node
d / DeleteDelete selected entry (with confirmation)
SpaceOpen context menu
rRefresh node children
Deletion requires confirmation. The entry must have no children (LDAP servers reject deletion of non-leaf entries).

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Detail Panel

The detail panel displays all attributes and values of the currently selected entry.

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Panel Layout

dn: cn=Alice,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com

objectClass:
  • inetOrgPerson
  • posixAccount
  • top

cn: Alice

sn: Smith

mail:
  • [email protected]
  • [email protected]

uid: alice

uidNumber: 1001

gidNumber: 1001

homeDirectory: /home/alice
KeyAction
j / k / ↓ / ↑Navigate attributes
PageDown / PageUpJump 10 attributes
g / HomeJump to top
G / EndJump to bottom

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Attribute Operations

KeyAction
e / EnterEdit selected attribute value
aAdd new attribute to entry
+Add value to multi-valued attribute
d / DeleteDelete attribute value (with confirmation)
SpaceOpen context menu

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Entry Operations

KeyAction
nCreate new child entry
xDelete this entry
rRefresh entry from server
Multi-valued attributes (like objectClass or mail) show all values as a bulleted list. Each value can be edited or deleted independently.

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Command Panel

The command panel at the bottom provides a search input field:
  • Press F9 or / to focus the search input
  • Type an LDAP filter and press Enter to search
  • Results appear in a popup overlay
See Searching for detailed information about LDAP filters.

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Status Bar

The status bar displays:
  • Connection info: Profile name or hostname
  • Server type: Detected vendor (OpenLDAP, Active Directory, etc.)
  • Key hints: Quick reference for common operations
  • Messages: Status messages and operation results
Server type is auto-detected from the root DSE attributes. Detection may show “Unknown” for some servers without affecting functionality.

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Working with Entries

1

Select an Entry

Navigate to an entry in the tree panel using j/k or arrow keys.The detail panel automatically updates to show the selected entry’s attributes.
2

View Attributes

Move focus to the detail panel by pressing Tab.Scroll through attributes using j/k to see all properties of the entry.
3

Expand the Tree

Press l or Enter on a collapsed node to load its children.Children are fetched from the server with a single LDAP search operation.
The first expansion may take a moment for large containers with hundreds of children.
4

Collapse the Tree

Press h or ← to collapse an expanded node.This hides children without removing them from memory - re-expanding is instant.

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Context Menus

Press Space on any tree node or detail attribute to open a context menu with available actions:

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Tree Context Menu

  • Connect (on profile) - Open connection
  • Edit - View/edit connection details
  • Create child - Add new entry under this node
  • Delete - Remove entry
  • Refresh - Reload children from server
  • Copy DN - Copy distinguished name to clipboard

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Detail Context Menu

  • Edit value - Modify attribute value
  • Add value - Add to multi-valued attribute
  • Delete value - Remove attribute value
  • Copy value - Copy to clipboard
  • Copy attribute name - Copy attribute name to clipboard
Context menus also work with mouse right-click if you prefer using a mouse.

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Panel Focus

The focused panel is indicated by a highlighted border:
  • Press Tab to move focus forward (Tree → Detail → Command)
  • Press Shift+Tab to move focus backward
  • Many keybindings are context-sensitive based on focus
Some global keybindings (like F1-F10) work regardless of which panel has focus.

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Display Features

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Entry Icons

The tree panel shows visual indicators:
  • [+] - Collapsed node with children
  • [-] - Expanded node
  • 📁 - Organizational unit
  • 👤 - Person entry
  • 🔧 - Configuration entry
Icons are determined by the entry’s objectClass attribute.

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Syntax Highlighting

The detail panel applies syntax highlighting:
  • Attribute names - Bold
  • String values - Normal text
  • DN values - Blue (clickable in DN search mode)
  • Numbers - Cyan
  • Multi-values - Bulleted list

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Entry Count

Expanded nodes show the number of children in parentheses: 
[-] ou=users (42)
    [+] cn=Alice
    [+] cn=Bob
    ...

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Performance Tips

For directories with thousands of entries:
  • Use search filters instead of expanding large containers
  • Increase page_size in your connection profile (default: 500)
  • Consider setting a more specific base_dn to limit scope
If entries load slowly:
  • Check network latency to the LDAP server
  • Increase timeout_secs if searches time out
  • Use more specific base DNs to reduce search scope
  • Consider if server-side indexing can be improved
Loom keeps expanded nodes in memory:
  • Collapse unused branches to free memory
  • Close tabs for connections you’re not using
  • Restart the application if memory usage becomes excessive

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Keyboard Reference

KeyAction
F1Switch to profiles layout
F2Open connection dialog
F4Export dialog
F5 / ?Show help overlay
F6Schema viewer
F7Toggle log panel
F8Bulk update dialog
F9 / /Focus search input
F10Save current connection
TabFocus next panel
Shift+TabFocus previous panel
Ctrl+QQuit application

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Tree Panel

KeyAction
j / k / ↓ / ↑Navigate
l / → / EnterExpand/select
h / ←Collapse
g / GJump top/bottom
aCreate child
d / DeleteDelete entry
SpaceContext menu

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Detail Panel

KeyAction
j / k / ↓ / ↑Navigate
e / EnterEdit value
aAdd attribute
+Add value
d / DeleteDelete value
nCreate child entry
xDelete entry
rRefresh
SpaceContext menu
Press F5 or ? at any time to view the built-in help overlay with all keybindings.

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Next Steps

Searching

Search the directory with LDAP filters

Editing Entries

Modify attributes and create new entries

Connection Profiles

Manage saved connections and folders

Connecting

Learn about connection methods

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