ConsoleLauncher

A fast, keyboard-driven command launcher for macOS. Think Spotlight, but as a terminal.

Press Option+Space to summon a floating terminal that lets you launch apps, control system settings, browse the web, do quick math, and more — all without touching the mouse.

Features

• Instant access — Option+Space to show/hide (customizable hotkey)
• Launch apps — open Safari with fuzzy matching
• Web shortcuts — web youtube or just type youtube.com
• System controls — Volume, brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sleep, lock, screenshot
• Smart input — Type 15*3 for instant math, type a URL to open it
• File search — Spotlight-powered search from the terminal
• Process management — kill apps, ps to list running apps
• Timers — timer 5m with native macOS notifications
• Clipboard — copy and paste commands
• Snippets — Save text with snippet add and copy with snip <name>
• Unit converter — convert 10 km mi, convert 72 f c, convert 2 kg lb
• Window control — window left|right|top|bottom|center|max|resize|move
• 6 themes — Cyberpunk, Dracula, Nord, Monokai, Matrix, Solarized Dark
• Fully customizable — Font size, window size, opacity, hotkey, and more
• Bookmarks — Save your favorite sites with web add
• Aliases — Create command shortcuts with alias
• Persistent — All settings, history, aliases, and bookmarks saved across sessions
• Tab completion — Smart suggestions as you type
• Shell passthrough — !ls -la runs any shell command
• Launch at Login — Optional, via right-click menu
• Lightweight — Native Swift/SwiftUI, no Electron, minimal resources

Installation

Quick Install (Terminal)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nickymitnick/ConsoleLauncher/main/install.sh | bash

Download

Download the latest .dmg from Releases and drag ConsoleLauncher to your Applications folder.

Build from source

Requirements: Xcode 16+, macOS 14+, XcodeGen

git clone https://github.com/nickymitnick/ConsoleLauncher.git
cd ConsoleLauncher
xcodegen generate
./build.sh

The app will be installed to /Applications and launched automatically.

Commands

Apps & Files

Command	Description
open <app>	Launch an application (fuzzy matching)
search <query>	Search files via Spotlight
kill <app>	Force quit an application
ps	List running applications

Web

Command	Description
web <site>	Open a bookmark or URL
web search <query>	Google search
web list	Show all bookmarks
web add <name> <url>	Save a bookmark
web remove <name>	Remove a bookmark

You can also just type a URL directly (e.g. youtube.com) and it will open in your browser.

Built-in bookmarks: youtube, google, github, gmail, maps, drive, twitter, reddit, netflix, spotify, chatgpt, claude

System

Command	Description
sysinfo	Show system info (CPU, RAM, disk, battery, uptime)
volume <0-100>	Set system volume
brightness <0-100>	Set display brightness
wifi [on/off]	Toggle Wi-Fi
bluetooth [on/off]	Toggle Bluetooth (requires brew install blueutil)
sleep	Put Mac to sleep
lock	Lock the screen
screenshot	Take an interactive screenshot
emptytrash	Empty the trash

Tools

Command	Description
calc <expression>	Calculator (e.g. calc 15*3.5)
convert <value> <from> <to>	Unit converter (e.g. convert 10 km mi, convert 72 f c)
convert list	List supported units
timer <duration>	Countdown timer (e.g. timer 5m, timer 1h30m)
timer stop	Cancel all timers
copy <text>	Copy text to clipboard
paste	Show clipboard contents

Math expressions are auto-detected — just type 100/3 and get the result.

Snippets

Command	Description
snippet	List all snippets
snippet add <name> <text>	Save a text snippet
snippet remove <name>	Remove a snippet
snippet clear	Remove all snippets
snip <name>	Copy a snippet to clipboard

Window

Command	Description
window left / right / top / bottom	Snap the launcher window to a half
window center	Center on screen
window max	Maximize
window resize <width> <height>	Set pixel size
window move <x> <y>	Move to position

Settings

Command	Description
settings	Show all settings
settings hotkey <keys>	Change hotkey (e.g. cmd+shift+space)
settings fontsize <8-24>	Change font size
settings opacity <10-100>	Change window opacity
settings width <400-1200>	Change window width
settings height <200-800>	Change window height
settings hideonfocusloss <on/off>	Auto-hide when clicking outside
settings showonlaunch <on/off>	Show on app launch
settings reset	Reset all to defaults
theme <name>	Change theme
theme list	Show available themes
username <name>	Change prompt username
alias name=command	Create a command alias
unalias <name>	Remove an alias

Shell

Command	Description
!<command>	Run any shell command (e.g. !ls -la)

Themes

• Cyberpunk — Neon green/pink on deep purple (default)
• Dracula — Classic Dracula palette
• Nord — Cool blue/grey tones
• Monokai — Warm syntax colors
• Matrix — Green on black
• Solarized Dark — Balanced blue/green

Switch with theme <name> — your choice is saved automatically.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Option+Space	Show/hide ConsoleLauncher (customizable)
Tab	Accept first suggestion
Up/Down arrows	Navigate command history
Escape	Dismiss suggestions
Return	Execute command

Tips

• Right-click the menubar icon for Launch at Login toggle
• Use alias to create shortcuts: alias yt=web youtube
• go is a shortcut for web: go github
• Commands are case-insensitive
• History is searchable with arrow keys (up to 100 entries)

Distribution

Creating a DMG

# Build the release
./build.sh

# Create a DMG
hdiutil create -volname "ConsoleLauncher" \
  -srcfolder /Applications/ConsoleLauncher.app \
  -ov -format UDZO \
  ConsoleLauncher.dmg

Notarization (for public distribution)

To distribute outside the App Store, you'll need an Apple Developer account ($99/year) to sign and notarize the app:

# Sign with Developer ID
codesign --deep --force --options runtime \
  --sign "Developer ID Application: Your Name" \
  /Applications/ConsoleLauncher.app

# Notarize
xcrun notarytool submit ConsoleLauncher.dmg \
  --apple-id your@email.com \
  --team-id YOURTEAMID \
  --password "app-specific-password" \
  --wait

Without notarization, users will need to right-click > Open the first time to bypass Gatekeeper.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Credits

Built with Swift and SwiftUI for macOS.