Walker - Application Runner

(default style)

(horizontal example)

Features

• Icons
• extend with... anything?
• start as service for faster startup (see benchmarks below)
• activation-mode: run entries via labels
• display images
• non-blocking async handling of results
• typeahead
• history-aware
• labels: F<1-8> or jkl;asdf
• toggle force-running in terminal
• start with explicit modules, style or config
• arrow-up history
• drag&drop support
• dmenu-mode
• run as password input

Builtin Modules

• runner
• desktop applications
• websearch (google, duckduckgo, ecosia, yandex)
• hyprland windows, context-aware history (based on open windows)
• clipboard with fuzzy find and images (currently "wl-clipboard" only)
• module switcher
• commands (for Walker, f.e. clear cache)
• ssh
• finder
• emojis

Requirements

• gtk4-layer-shell

Installation

If you have problems installing gtk4-layer-shell, try switching your GTK4 theme to a default one. You can switch back after installing.

Building can take quite a while, be patient

arch:
yay -S walker

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 = {
    placeholder = "Example";
    fullscreen = true;
    list = {
      height = 200;
    };
    modules = [
      {
        name = "websearch";
        prefix = "?";
      }
      {
        name = "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

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.

Definition for modules:

type Module struct {
	Prefix            string `json:"prefix,omitempty"`
	Name              string `json:"name,omitempty"`
	SrcOnce           string `json:"src_once,omitempty"`
	SrcOnceRefresh    bool   `json:"src_once_refresh,omitempty"`
	Src               string `json:"src,omitempty"`
	Cmd               string `json:"cmd,omitempty"`
	CmdAlt            string `json:"cmd_alt,omitempty"`
	SpecialLabel      string `json:"special_label,omitempty"`
	History           bool   `json:"history,omitempty"`
	SwitcherExclusive bool   `json:"switcher_exclusive,omitempty"`
	Terminal          bool   `json:"terminal,omitempty"`
}

Usage SSH Module

In the searchbar type in: <host> <username>. Select the host you want. Enter.

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.

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

Your plugin simply needs to return a json-array with objects of the following type (not all fields mandatory...relax):

type Entry struct {
	Label            string       `json:"label,omitempty"`
	Sub              string       `json:"sub,omitempty"`
	Exec             string       `json:"exec,omitempty"`
	ExecAlt          string       `json:"exec_alt,omitempty"`
	Terminal         bool         `json:"terminal,omitempty"`
	Icon             string       `json:"icon,omitempty"`
	IconIsImage      bool         `json:"icon_is_image,omitempty"`
	Image            string       `json:"image,omitempty"`
	HideText         bool         `json:"hide_text,omitempty"`
	Categories       []string     `json:"categories,omitempty"`
	Searchable       string       `json:"searchable,omitempty"`
	MatchFields      int          `json:"match_fields,omitempty"`
	Class            string       `json:"class,omitempty"`
	History          bool         `json:"history,omitempty"`
	Matching         MatchingType `json:"matching,omitempty"`
	RecalculateScore bool         `json:"recalculate_score,omitempty"`
	ScoreFinal       float64      `json:"score_final,omitempty"`
	ScoreFuzzy       float64      `json:"score_fuzzy,omitempty"`
	SpecialLabel     string       `json:"special_label,omitempty"`
	InitialClass     string       `json:"initial_class,omitempty"`
}

F.e.:

[
  {
    "label": "First Item",
    "exec": "remindme in 1s test",
    "searchable": "first item"
  }
]

You can also do:

{
  "name": "filesystem",
  "prefix": "/",
  "src": "fd --base-directory /home/andrej/ %TERM%",
  "cmd": "xdg-open file:///home/andrej/%RESULT%"
}

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
#window.forceterminal	Force-Terminal toggle 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

Keybinds

AM = Activation Mode

Key	Description
Enter	activate selection
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
Super	toggle force-open in terminal
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 the focus is in the search-bar and you can type.

Mode	Startup time
normal	23ms - 33ms
with service	< 500µs / (~1.5ms when input needs to be cleared)

FAQ

"lockfile exists" - i can't run Walker.

This happens if Walker get's closed unexpectedly, f.e. via SIGKILL. Remove /tmp/walker.lock manually and try again.

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": {
    "disable_cache": true
  },

in your config.