diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 9eacd62..39bd3cb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -35,6 +35,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Dry-run bootstrap (headless, no security)
         run: |
           su tester -c 'cd ~/forge && ./bootstrap.sh --dry-run --yes --no-desktop --no-security'
-      - name: Validate stow packages link cleanly (zsh/git/tmux)
+      - name: Validate stow packages link cleanly (zsh/git/tmux/yazi)
         run: |
-          su tester -c 'cd ~/forge && stow --no --target=$HOME --dir dotfiles zsh git tmux 2>&1 | tee /tmp/stow.log; ! grep -i conflict /tmp/stow.log'
+          su tester -c 'cd ~/forge && stow --no --target=$HOME --dir dotfiles zsh git tmux yazi 2>&1 | tee /tmp/stow.log; ! grep -i conflict /tmp/stow.log'
diff --git a/dotfiles/tmux/.config/tmux/tmux.conf b/dotfiles/tmux/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
index 2d70987..9310834 100644
--- a/dotfiles/tmux/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
+++ b/dotfiles/tmux/.config/tmux/tmux.conf
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ set -g default-terminal "tmux-256color"
 set -ag terminal-overrides ",xterm-kitty:RGB,xterm-256color:RGB"
 set -sg escape-time 0             # pas de délai après Échap (crucial pour nvim)
 set -g focus-events on            # nvim sait quand le pane reprend le focus
+set -g allow-passthrough on       # laisse passer le protocole graphique kitty (previews d'images yazi)
 set -g history-limit 50000        # scrollback généreux
 set -g base-index 1               # fenêtres numérotées à partir de 1 (plus proche du clavier)
 setw -g pane-base-index 1
diff --git a/dotfiles/yazi/.config/yazi/yazi.toml b/dotfiles/yazi/.config/yazi/yazi.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3d854aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotfiles/yazi/.config/yazi/yazi.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Yazi 26.x — note the section is [mgr]; [manager] is the old deprecated name.
+# Shared between macOS and Ubuntu: openers are split with `for =` rather than
+# forked into two files, so there is only one config to keep in sync.
+
+[mgr]
+ratio          = [1, 3, 4]   # parent | current | preview
+sort_by        = "natural"   # file2 before file10
+sort_dir_first = true
+linemode       = "size"
+show_hidden    = false       # toggle at runtime with .
+show_symlink   = true
+scrolloff      = 5
+
+[preview]
+max_width  = 1200            # generous: kitty draws real pixels, not cells
+max_height = 1200
+image_filter = "lanczos3"
+tab_size   = 2
+
+[opener]
+edit = [
+  { run = '$EDITOR "$@"', desc = "$EDITOR", block = true },
+]
+open = [
+  { run = 'open "$@"',     desc = "Open in default app", for = "macos", orphan = true },
+  { run = 'xdg-open "$@"', desc = "Open in default app", for = "linux", orphan = true },
+]
+reveal = [
+  { run = 'open -R "$1"',                desc = "Reveal in Finder",       for = "macos", orphan = true },
+  { run = 'xdg-open "$(dirname "$1")"',  desc = "Reveal enclosing folder", for = "linux", orphan = true },
+]
+
+[open]
+prepend_rules = [
+  # Text-ish files go to $EDITOR instead of the desktop default app.
+  { url = "*.log",  use = "edit" },
+  { url = "*.toml", use = "edit" },
+  { url = "*.lock", use = "edit" },
+]
diff --git a/dotfiles/zsh/.zsh/functions/40-yazi.zsh b/dotfiles/zsh/.zsh/functions/40-yazi.zsh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..990981e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotfiles/zsh/.zsh/functions/40-yazi.zsh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# y: yazi wrapper that leaves you in the directory you quit from.
+# Yazi runs in its own process, so a plain `yazi` call can't change the shell's
+# cwd — it dumps the last directory into --cwd-file and we cd there ourselves.
+y() {
+  # Usage: y [path]
+  local tmp cwd
+  tmp="$(mktemp -t yazi-cwd.XXXXXX)" || return
+  yazi --cwd-file="$tmp" "$@"
+  cwd="$(<"$tmp")"
+  # `command rm`: bare rm is aliased to trash here, and zsh expands aliases when
+  # the function is *defined*, which would litter the trash with every cwd file.
+  command rm -f -- "$tmp"
+  # Quitting with Q (instead of q) writes nothing, which keeps you put on purpose.
+  [ -n "$cwd" ] && [ "$cwd" != "$PWD" ] && builtin cd -- "$cwd"
+}
diff --git a/install/10-packages.sh b/install/10-packages.sh
index 739c50f..edab9c7 100755
--- a/install/10-packages.sh
+++ b/install/10-packages.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ ARCH="$(dpkg --print-architecture)"   # amd64 / arm64
 log "Core CLI tools from apt"
 apt_install \
   zsh tmux neovim ripgrep fd-find bat jq tree htop btop \
-  fzf zoxide direnv trash-cli unrar p7zip-full \
+  fzf zoxide direnv trash-cli unrar p7zip-full unzip \
+  ffmpeg poppler-utils imagemagick \
   fonts-firacode
 
 # Ubuntu ships fd as `fdfind` and bat as `batcat`; expose the canonical names.
@@ -87,4 +88,37 @@ fi
 # --- 8. tldr (tealdeer) ------------------------------------------------------
 apt_install tealdeer || warn "tealdeer not in repos; skip (optional)"
 
+# --- 9. yazi (TUI file manager) — release binary -----------------------------
+# Not packaged for Ubuntu 24.04, so we take the upstream zip. It ships two
+# binaries (yazi + ya, the plugin/package manager) nested in a versioned dir.
+# The image previews need ffmpeg / poppler / imagemagick from section 1, plus
+# `allow-passthrough on` in tmux — see dotfiles/tmux.
+if ! have yazi; then
+  log "Installing yazi"
+  YAZI_VER="$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/sxyazi/yazi/releases/latest \
+    | grep -Po '"tag_name": *"v\K[^"]*' || echo '26.9.1')"
+  case "$ARCH" in
+    amd64) YAZI_ARCH="x86_64" ;;
+    arm64) YAZI_ARCH="aarch64" ;;
+    *) YAZI_ARCH="$ARCH" ;;
+  esac
+  tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
+  if run bash -c "curl -fsSL 'https://github.com/sxyazi/yazi/releases/download/v${YAZI_VER}/yazi-${YAZI_ARCH}-unknown-linux-gnu.zip' -o '$tmp/yazi.zip'"; then
+    run unzip -q "$tmp/yazi.zip" -d "$tmp"
+    for b in yazi ya; do
+      bin="$(find "$tmp" -type f -name "$b" | head -n1)"
+      if [[ -n "$bin" ]]; then
+        run install -m 0755 "$bin" "$HOME/.local/bin/$b"
+      elif [[ "${FORGE_DRY_RUN:-0}" != "1" ]]; then
+        # Under --dry-run nothing was downloaded or unzipped, so an empty find
+        # is expected and warning about it would be a false alarm.
+        warn "yazi archive did not contain '$b'; check the upstream layout."
+      fi
+    done
+  else
+    warn "yazi download failed; install manually later."
+  fi
+  rm -rf "$tmp"
+fi
+
 ok "packages installed"
diff --git a/install/50-stow.sh b/install/50-stow.sh
index a43d833..73d19bf 100755
--- a/install/50-stow.sh
+++ b/install/50-stow.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ DOTFILES="$FORGE_DIR/dotfiles"
 [[ -d "$DOTFILES" ]] || die "missing $DOTFILES"
 
 # Desktop packages only stow when a GUI is present.
-PACKAGES=(zsh starship git tmux kitty aerc jira)
+PACKAGES=(zsh starship git tmux kitty aerc jira yazi)
 if has_gui; then
   PACKAGES+=(sway waybar dunst)
 fi