Spotlight v1.0

A compact macOS Spotlight inspired launcher for GNOME Shell 50.

Repo: https://github.com/ninxdev/spotlight

Default shortcut: Ctrl + Space

What it does (in priority order)

1. Apps — the main feature. Type an app name, press Enter to launch.
2. Calculator — type 12 * 8 + 3, press Enter to copy the result.
3. Settings — type wifi, bluetooth, display, etc. to open GNOME Settings.
4. Web search — only appears when no apps or settings match (last resort).

Features

• App search using GNOME's AppSystem — same backend as GNOME's own search
• Search icon on the left side of the entry (macOS Spotlight style)
• Very rounded — 32px corner radius on popup, 16px on result rows
• Apple dark gray background (#1C1C1E) — not pure black, not blue
• Blackish selection — subtle white overlay, not blue
• No overlay, no backdrop, no blur — just the popup floating
• No border line — clean edges, only a subtle drop shadow
• Always centered on the primary monitor
• Compact — 600px wide, minimal padding

What was removed (by design)

• Terminal commands feature
• Filter buttons (All/Apps/Settings/Web)
• Recent searches in main menu
• Blur effect
• Sudo/run-as-root feature
• Border line around popup

Install

# Option 1: Using gnome-extensions tool
gnome-extensions install ~/Downloads/spotlight@ninx.zip

# Option 2: Manual install
cd ~/Downloads
unzip spotlight@ninx.zip -d spotlight@ninx
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/
mv spotlight@ninx ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/

# Then:
# 1. Log out and log back in (Wayland restart)
# 2. gnome-extensions enable spotlight@ninx
# 3. Press Ctrl+Space

How to use

Action	How
Open Spotlight	Ctrl+Space
Search apps	Type the app name → press Enter
Calculate	Type 12 * 8 + 3 → press Enter (result copied to clipboard)
Open settings	Type wifi / bluetooth / display → press Enter
Web search	Type something that doesn't match any app → press Enter
Navigate	↑ ↓ arrows
Close	Esc

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
Ctrl+Space	Open / close Spotlight
↑ ↓	Move selection
Enter	Open selected
Esc	Close

Preferences

Open with gnome-extensions prefs spotlight@ninx:

• Shortcut — click row, press key combo to set
• Popup width — 400 to 1200px (default 600)
• Max results per category — 1 to 20 (default 6)
• Web search engine — Google / DuckDuckGo / Brave / Bing / Startpage
• Show web search fallback — on/off

Verification

Check	Tool	Result
Shexli (official e.g.o review tool)	0 errors, 0 warnings	PASS
GJS SpiderMonkey runtime	9/9 checks (enable → open → close → disable)	PASS
Extended search priority tests	10/10 (apps first, web last)	PASS
Calculator unit tests	12 cases	12/12 PASS

License

GPL-3.0-or-later — see LICENSE