Walker - Application launcher

Walker is a highly extendable application launcher that doesn't hold back on features and usability. Fast. Unclutters your brain. Improves your workflow.

(default style)

(horizontal example)

Features

• plugin support: simple stdin/stdout (external or via configuration, see wiki)
• icons/images
• start as service for faster startup (see benchmarks below)
• run entries via labels (F<1-8> or jkl;asdf)
• non-blocking async handling of results
• typeahead
• start with explicit modules, style or config
• arrow-up history
• drag&drop support
• dmenu-mode
• run as password input

Builtin Modules

• runner
  • parses your shell config for aliases
  • exlusive list or all binaries
  • ignore-list
  • generic runner
  • semi-smart: shu now => shutdown now
• desktop applications
  • history-aware
  • desktop actions (f.e. Open a new private window [Firefox])
  • puts newly installed applications on top
  • context-aware (context = open windows)
• websearch ()
  • simple websearch
  • google, duckduckgo, ecosia, yandex
  • can open websites directly
• clipboard
  • simple clipboard history
  • with images
• module switcher
  • lets you switch to specific modules
• commands (for Walker, f.e. clear cache)
• ssh
  • parses your known_hosts and config files
• finder
  • simple fuzzy finder
  • drag&drop support
• emojis
• custom commands (for running simple commands)
  • lets you define and run simple one-off commands
  • f.e. toggle window floating
  • no need to create keybinds for commands you don't run often

Requirements

• gtk4-layer-shell

Installation

arch:
yay -S walker-bin

// or to build from source
yay -S walker

Building from source

Building can take quite a while, be patient

Make sure you have the following dependencies installed:

• go
• gtk4
• gtk4-layer-shell
• gobject-introspection

Without these you won't be able to build.

Install using Nix

You have two options of installing walker using Nix.

1. Using the package exposed by this flake

   1. Add to your flake inputs.walker.url = "github:abenz1267/walker";
   2. Add inputs.walker.packages.<system>.default to environment.systemPackages or home.packages

2. Using the home-manager module exposed by this flake:

   1. Add to your flake inputs.walker.url = "github:abenz1267/walker";
   2. Add imports = [inputs.walker.homeManagerModules.walker]; into your home-manager config
   3. Configure walker using:

programs.walker = {
  enable = true;
  runAsService = true;

  # All options from the config.json can be used here.
  config = {
    search.placeholder = "Example";
    ui.fullscreen = true;
    list = {
      height = 200;
    };
    websearch.prefix = "?";
    switcher.prefix = "/";
  };

  # If this is not set the default styling is used.
  style = ''
    * {
      color: #dcd7ba;
    }
  '';
};

Additionally, there is a binary cache at https://walker.cachix.org which you can use with the following:

nix.settings = {
  substituters = ["https://walker.cachix.org"];
  trusted-public-keys = ["walker.cachix.org-1:fG8q+uAaMqhsMxWjwvk0IMb4mFPFLqHjuvfwQxE4oJM="];
};

Config & Style

Check the wiki

The config can be written json, toml or yaml. Default values will be used, so you only have to overwrite.

Default config will be put into $HOME/.config/walker/.

See config/config.default.json and ui/style.default.css. Styling is done via GTK CSS.

Start Walker with explicit modules

You can start walker with explicit modules by using the --modules flag. F.e:

walker --modules applications,ssh

Will tell Walker to only use the applications and ssh module.

Special Labels

Modules can define a special_label which is used for AM. It only really makes sense, if a module returns one entry. This could be used to f.e. always have the websearch result have the same label, so you can activate it with the same label every time, even if you don't see it.

Custom Special Labels

Format for custom special labels is: "<entry label>;<entry sub>": "<special label>".

Example:

{
  "special_labels": {
    "discord;internet messenger": "1"
  }
}

Styling with typeahead enabled

If you have typeahead enabled, make sure that your #search has no background, so the typeahead is readable.

Providing your own modules

If you want to extend walker with your own modules, you can do that in the config.

{
  "plugins": [
    {
      "prefix": "!",
      "name": "mymodule",
      "src": "node /path/to/myscript.js"
    }
  ]
}

See the wiki for more information.

Dynamic Styling

The window and items will have a class based on the source. Selecting an item will change the windows class to the current selections source. Using a prefix will apply that sources classes to the window.

F.e. search = !somecommand => #window.runner

class	condition
#window.activation	AM enabled
#spinner.visible	Processing in progress
#item.<entryclass>	Always

Starting as service

Start with walker --gapplication-service to start in service-mode. Calling walker normally afterwards should be rather fast.

Additional flags

Flag	Description
--modules, -m	Run with explicit modules
--new, -n	Start new instance ignoring service
--config, -c	Config file to use
--style, -s	Style file to use
--dmenu, -d	Start in dmenu mode
--keepsort, -k	Don't sort alphabetically
--placeholder, -p	Placeholder text
--labelcolumn, -l	Column to use for the label
--password, -y	Launch in password mode
--forceprint, -f	Forces printing input if no item is selected
--query, -q	To set initial query

Keybinds

AM = Activation Mode

Key	Description
Enter	activate selection
Alt+Enter	activate selection with alternative command. By default: run in terminal
Shift+Enter	activate selection without closing
Ctrl+j (if ActivationMode is disabled), Down, Tab	next entry
Ctrl+k (if ActivationMode is disabled), Up, LEFT_TAB (shift+tab?)	previous entry
Escape	close
Ctrl	start AM
in AM: <label>	activate item
in AM: Hold Shift+<label>	activate item (don't close)
in AM: Escape	stop AM

Activation Mode

Activation-Mode can be triggered by holding LCtrl. The window will get an additional class activation you can use for styling. While activated, you can run items by pressing their respective label. This only works for the top 8 items.

Startup "Benchmarks"

System: Arch Linux, Hyprland, Amd 7950x, 32gb DDR5-6000, SSD

Measured time is until telling GTK to show the window.

Mode	Startup time
normal	23ms - 33ms
with service	~1.8ms

FAQ

Newly installed or removed applications aren't shown / are still shown

Make sure to clean the applications cache by either running the "Clear Applications Cache" command from within Walker (using the commands module) or by deleting the applications.json file in $HOME/.cache/walker/.

Additionally you can diasble the cache completely by setting

  "applications": {
    "cache": false
  },

in your config.