ueli

This is an alt+space launcher for Windows and macOS.

Installation

Installer / Zip

Note: because the executables are not signed Windows will probably prevent you from executing the installer or the program itself. You can click "Run anyway" to install/run the program.

• Download the latest version here
• Run the installer or unzip
• Run the application

Quick tutorial

• Press alt+space to show/hide the window
• Start typing a program name
• Press Enter to launch the program

Features

Search

• You can search for programs, files or folders in your home folder and system settings
• Use the arrow keys to scroll up and down
• Presss Enter to open the selected program/file/setting

Open URLs with your default web browser

• Type in a URL
• Press enter to open the URL with your default web browser

Use web search engines

• Type in g?{your search term} to search something on Google
• Default web search engines:
  • g: Google
  • gi: Google Images
  • d: DuckDuckGo
  • yt: YouTube
  • l: Linguee

Execute commandline tools

• Start a commandline tool with the > prefix
  • Example: >ipconfig /all
• Stop an executing commandline tool with Ctrl+c

Note: you can not interact with the commandline tool. You only see the output.

Browse local files

• You can browse local files by typing in a filepath
  • Example: C:\Users or /Applications
• Press Enter to open the file or folder
• Press Tab for autocompletion

Calculator

• Calculate simple math, matrix, symbolic function, convert unit and a lot more.
  • Example:
    • 23 * 24 / 2 + (6 * 7) ^ 2
    • 1 km/h to mile/h
    • a = [1, 2, 3]; a * 2

Keyboard shortcuts

• Ctrl+o to open the selected program or file at it's location
• ArrowUp to scroll up
• ArrowDownto scroll down
• F6 or Ctrl+l to set focus on user input
• F1 to get help

Updater

To check if a new version is available right click on the tray icon. The first item in the context menu shows you if there is an update available or if you are running the latest version. If there is an update available click on "Download and install update".

Customization

All settings are stored in ~/ueli.config.json. You can modify this file to change the default values.

Options

• applicationFolders Array of string - Represents the folders which are scanned for applications
• autoStartApp Boolean - If the app should be started automatically when you log in
• colorTheme String - Defines the color theme. Available color themes: dark, light, atom-one-dark
• maxSearchResultCount Number - Maximum number of search results to be displayed
• rescanInterval Number - Interval in seconds to rescan the application folders
• searchOperatingSystemSettings Boolean - If operting system settings and commands should appear in the search results
• searchResultExecutionArgumentFontSize Number - Represents the font size of the search result execution argument in pixels
• searchResultHeight Number - Represents the height of a search result box in pixels
• searchResultNameFontSize Number - Represents the font size of the search result name in pixels
• userInputFontSize Number - Represents the font size of the user input in pixels
• userInputHeight Number - Represents the height of the user input box in pixels
• webSearches Array of webSearch Objects - A list of web search engines
  • webSearch Object - Defines a web search engine
    • icon String - Represents the svg icon for the specific web search engine
    • name String - Represents the name of the web search engine
    • prefix String - Represents the prefix for your web search engine. For example if the prefix is g you can type in g?{your search term} to search
    • url String - Represents the url for the search engine to which the search term is appended to. For example https://google.com/search?q=
• windowWith: Number - Represents the width of the main window in pixels

Build status

Platform	Build status
Windows
macOS

Code coverage

Roadmap

• List frequently executed programs/files/settings higher
• Add option to add custom shortcuts
• Add input history browsing
• Add nice GUI to modifiy configuration
• Notify user when update is available
• Use vue components

Development

Requirements

• Git
• Node.js
• Yarn

Setup

$ git clone https://github.com/oliverschwendener/ueli
$ cd ueli
$ yarn

Run

$ yarn build
$ yarn start

Note: there is also a watch task $ yarn build:watch which watches the stylesheets and typescript files and transpiles them automatically if there are any changes.

Debug

Note: for debugging you need Visual Studio Code

Choose one of these debug configurations:

Run tests

$ yarn test:unit
$ yarn test:integration

Code coverage

$ yarn test:unit --coverage

Package

$ yarn package

Alternatives

• Launchy
• Wox
• Alfred
• Hain
• Zazu App
• Cerebro

License

Copyright (c) Oliver Schwendener. All rights reserved.

Licensed under the MIT License.