Launch

A sleek, pill-shaped application launcher for Linux, built with Rust and GTK4. Designed with strict adherence to "Tree Architecture" for stability and maintainability.

Features

• Sleek Design: Transparent, pill-shaped UI (border-radius: 30px).
• Fast Search: Fuzzy search through your installed applications (.desktop files).
• Visual Feedback: Displays application icons.
• Keyboard Navigation:
  • Up / Down: Navigate results.
  • Enter: Launch selected application (or Enter directory).
  • Right Arrow: Enter highlighted directory (File Browser).
  • Left Arrow: Go up one directory level (File Browser).
  • Ctrl + 1-9: Quick launch the Nth result.
  • Escape: Close the launcher.
• Overview Grid: Press Down to reveal a sectioned, horizontally scrollable grid of your apps, folders, shortcuts, and more.
• Favorites System: Pin your most used apps and folders to the top of the list by pressing Space.
• Status Indicators: Highlights running applications with a blue notification dot.

Usage

🚀 Prefixes

Launch uses strict prefixes to route your queries to different providers:

Prefix	Name	Description	Example
?	AI	Local LLM search & assistant (supports RAG/File Awareness).	? where is my project?
x	Execute	Run a shell command in a terminal wrapper.	x top (runs gnome-terminal -- top)
f	Files	Browse the filesystem. Use Left/Right keys to navigate.	f /home/user/
ss	Shortcuts	Run a saved shortcut.	ss term
m	Macros	Execute a sequence of commands (Macro).	m dev-setup
c	Calc	Solve math expressions (supports complex LaTeX: \sin, \log, 2\pi e, \frac{1}{2}, infinite/NaN handling).	c \sqrt{16} * 2
d	Dict	Smart Dictionary. Offline lookup (Webster) + Online Fallback (Google).	d rust
w	Window	Switch to open windows. Shows [Workspace] and [Screen] indicators.	w term
!	System	Power operations (suspend, reboot, poweroff).	! reboot
l	Launch	Internal commands (Settings, About, Quit).	l settings

🧠 AI Assistant (?)

Launch features a built-in AI assistant powered by Ollama. It is private, local, and aware of your files.

• File Awareness (RAG): The assistant automatically indexes your home directory (up to 4 levels) to answer context-specific questions about your files and projects.
• Local & Private: No data leaves your machine. Everything runs via your local Ollama instance.
• Streaming Progress: Integrated download progress bar when switching models.

🛠️ AI Setup

To use the AI features, you need to have Ollama installed on your Linux system.

1. Install Ollama:

   curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh

2. Pull a Default Model: Launch defaults to llama3. You can pull it manually or use the Settings UI:

   ollama pull llama3

3. Automatic Start: Launch will attempt to start the Ollama server (ollama serve) automatically if it's not running when you send a query.

4. Configure Models:

   • Type l settings and go to the AI tab.
   • Select your preferred model (e.g., llama3, mistral, or tinyllama for speed).
   • Launch will handle the download and setup for you!

⚙️ Configuration

Launch is fully configurable via an interactive UI.

1. Type l settings (or l set) and hit Enter.
2. Use the Tabs to switch between Shortcuts, Macros, and AI.
3. Add: Click "Add" to define a new item.
4. Delete: Select an item and click "Delete" to remove it.

Changes are persisted to ~/.config/launch/settings.json.

Example settings.json

{
  "shortcuts": {
    "term": "gnome-terminal",
    "web": "firefox"
  },
  "macros": [
    {
      "name": "morning",
      "actions": [
        "notify-send 'Good Morning'",
        "firefox https://news.ycombinator.com"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

👻 Daemon Mode

Launch runs as a background daemon.

• Run launch toggle to show/hide the window.
• Bind launch toggle to a global shortcut in your Desktop Environment (e.g., Super+Space).
• The window automatically hides when it loses focus or when an app is launched.

📱 Overview Grid

When the search bar is empty, press Down to open the Overview Grid. This view gives you quick access to all your content categorized into horizontal sections:

• Applications: All installed apps. Scroll horizontally to see more.
• Folders: Your home directory folders.
• Shortcuts / Macros: Quick access to your defined actions.
• AI: Ask the assistant.
• Settings / System: Quick toggles and configuration.

Navigation:

• Up / Down: Jump between sections.
• Left / Right: Scroll through items within a section.

Favoriting:

• Navigate to any item (App or Folder).
• Press Space to toggle Favorite status.
• Favorites are marked with ★ and always appear at the start of the list.

Tech Stack

• Language: Rust (2024 Edition)
• GUI: GTK4
• Architecture: Tree Architecture (Domain -> Application -> Interface -> Infrastructure)

Installation

Prerequisites

• Rust & Cargo
• GTK4 development libraries (e.g., libgtk-4-dev on Debian/Ubuntu, gtk4-devel on Fedora)

Building from Source

git clone https://github.com/leechristophermurray/launch.git
cd launch
cargo run --release

Building Packages (.deb / .rpm)

The project includes a helper script to generate Linux packages.

./build_packages.sh

Artifacts will be output to:

• target/debian/*.deb
• target/generate-rpm/*.rpm

Architecture

This project follows the Tree Architecture pattern:

• 🔴 Domain: Pure business entities (App, Shortcut).
• 🟡 Application: Use cases (SearchApps, ExecuteCommand).
• 🟢 Interface: abstract Ports (IAppRepository).
• 🔵 Infrastructure: Concrete Adapters (LinuxAppRepoAdapter, AppWindow).

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.