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@haxllo haxllo released this 24 May 11:32
· 1153 commits to master since this release
v1.1.0
380834b

Release date: 2026-05-24
Channel: stable

Summary

Nex v1.1.0 is a feature release focused on closing the competitive gap with major Windows launchers. It delivers Everything SDK integration for instant file search, a window management system, inline calculator, emoji picker, and plugin SDK foundations — while fixing long-standing packaging and documentation issues.

This release bumps the version from 1.0.1 to 1.1.0 and is the first to bundle Everything64.dll directly in the installer.

What's New

Everything SDK Integration

Nex now bundles Everything64.dll directly in the installer. When Everything is running on the system, Nex queries it for instant file search results — zero indexing overhead, real-time updates, sub-millisecond queries. Falls back transparently to Nex's built-in SQLite index when Everything is not available.

No manual DLL downloads. No configuration required. Just works.

Window Management

Eight preset tile layouts are now available from the command palette:

  • Left/Right half, Top/Bottom half
  • Four quadrants, Center, Maximize, Restore
  • Select a layout and the active window is resized and positioned instantly

Keyboard shortcuts with configurable bindings coming in v1.2.

Calculator (Basic)

Type arithmetic expressions directly into the search bar. Supported operations: +, -, *, /, %, and parentheses. Result appears as a top hit — press Tab to copy, Enter to insert.

((42 + 7) * 3) / 2 → 73.5

Emoji Picker

Type : followed by a keyword to search emoji inline. Glyphs render directly in result rows for visual preview. Keyboard-navigable, one-click insert.

:rocket → 🚀 | :fire → 🔥 | :wave → 👋

Plugin SDK Foundations

The plugin system has been expanded beyond its skeletal trait. New scaffolding includes:

  • Manifest parsing for plugin metadata
  • Store protocol preparation for future extension discovery
  • WASM distribution path architecture (runtime pending)

Packaging Improvements

Everything SDK Auto-Bundling

The package-windows-artifact.ps1 script now downloads, extracts from the official Everything-SDK.zip, and bundles Everything64.dll alongside nex.exe. The extraction handles all PowerShell versions via three fallback methods:

  1. .NET ZipFile (PS 5.0+) — primary
  2. Expand-Archive (PS 5.0+) — fallback
  3. Shell.Application COM (legacy PS) — last resort

TLS 1.2 Enforcement

Added explicit [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol configuration to ensure downloads work on older Windows systems where TLS 1.2+ is not the default.

SHA256 Fallback

Get-FileHash is used when available (PS 4.0+); falls back to [System.Security.Cryptography.SHA256] for older runtimes.

Documentation Updates

Stale documentation across the repository has been corrected to match the current v6.4.0/v1.1.0 reality:

Document What was fixed
docs/architecture/system-architecture.md Config format: JSON → TOML
docs/product/project-charter.md Default hotkey: Alt+Space → Ctrl+Space; web search no longer a non-goal
docs/product/requirements.md Default hotkey: Alt+Space → Ctrl+Space
docs/engineering/windows-runtime-behavior.md Config format: JSON/JSON5 → TOML
docs/engineering/windows-packaging-readiness.md Version placeholders: 0.5.0 → 1.1.0
docs/README.md Full rewrite reflecting Nex branding and current feature set

Artifacts

File Size SHA256
nex-1.1.0-windows-x64.zip 3.0 MB 29ab005a2f581fa940b7aee663a7b4a3fbcb1e74926a5328d409c3321bda4bff
nex-1.1.0-windows-x64-setup.exe 4.4 MB (in manifest)

Included in payload:

  • bin/nex.exe — Nex runtime (4.2 MB)
  • bin/Everything64.dll — Everything SDK (88 KB)
  • assets/nex.svg — Application icon
  • assets/fonts/Geist/ — Geist font family (18 OTF variants)
  • docs/windows-runtime-validation-checklist.md
  • docs/release-notes-template.md
  • scripts/install-nex.ps1, uninstall-nex.ps1, update-nex.ps1

Upgrade Notes

From v1.0.x

Run the new setup.exe over your existing installation. Config and index database in %APPDATA%\Nex are preserved automatically.

Fresh Install

Download and run nex-1.1.0-windows-x64-setup.exe. No prerequisites — everything is self-contained.

Via Cargo

cargo install nex-cli --version 1.1.0

Known Issues

  • Calculator supports basic arithmetic only. Unit conversion, scientific functions, and trigonometric operations are deferred to v1.2.
  • Window Management is command-palette-only. Configurable hotkey bindings are planned for v1.2.
  • Plugin SDK remains in preview. No public extension store or WASM runtime is available yet. Target: v1.2.
  • Installer is unsigned. SmartScreen may show a warning on first download — this is expected for the current phase.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the Everything team at voidtools for providing the best file indexing engine on Windows, and to the open-source community whose tools (Rust, SQLite, Inno Setup) make Nex possible.

Full commit history: git log v1.0.1..v1.1.0

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