I use nnn[0], a C tui file manager, and from the makefiles, you mostly need

  readline
  pcre
  ncurses
  pthread
  and POSIX (and some unix thingies)

Which is why I love C projects, even with all the footguns. You have libraries with nice API that lets you write software without being on a treadmill to update the code every few months.

[0] https://github.com/jarun/nnn/