srun

A tiny rofi/dmenu-like application launcher for Wayland compositors (written for swm, but works with any xdg-shell compositor).

It's a normal Wayland client: a floating window with a text entry and a filterable list of applications read from your .desktop files. Type to filter, move the selection with the arrow keys (or Tab), press Enter to launch, Escape (or the window's close button) to quit.

Build & install

make              # builds build/srun (also generates the xdg-shell protocol)
make run          # build and launch srun
make install    # installs to ~/.local/bin/srun (PREFIX overridable; no root needed)

Dependencies (auto-detected via pkg-config): wayland-client, xkbcommon, cairo, plus wayland-protocols / wayland-scanner (to generate the xdg-shell client protocol at build time).

Usage

Run srun (e.g. from a terminal, or bound to a key in your compositor).

Keyboard

Key	Action
Type	Filter the application list (name or command)
Up / Down	Move selection
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle selection forward / backward
Enter	Launch the selected application, then quit
Escape	Quit without launching
Backspace	Delete a character

Type a query prefixed with # to switch to run-in-terminal mode: the prompt changes from > to # and the list shows executables found in your $PATH instead of desktop apps. Type to filter them, or just # to list everything; pick one (or type a command with arguments, e.g. #htop -d 5) and press Enter to open a terminal and run it. The command runs in your $SHELL (default /bin/sh), and the terminal is chosen automatically ($TERMINAL, else st, alacritty, kitty, foot, urxvt, xterm, konsole, …).

Type ! to switch to config-command mode: the prompt changes to ! and the list shows built-in settings actions. Currently supported:

Command	Action
!swm	Open a 3rd-level config sub-menu with all swm settings
!theme	Edit colour theme (~/.config/swm/theme.conf)
!wallpaper	Browse the wallpaper directory with bud

Type ! then filter by name (e.g. !swm), press Enter to run the action.

Mouse

Action	Result
Move pointer over the window	Highlights the entry under the cursor
Scroll wheel	Move through the list
Left-click an entry	Launch that application, then quit

Focus note: srun is a plain xdg-shell window, so under a focus-follows-cursor compositor (like swm) it receives keyboard input only while the pointer is over it. Move the mouse onto the launcher (or click it) and typing works. If it ever prints srun: failed to parse keyboard keymap, keyboard input can't work and that message indicates a keymap problem rather than a focus one.

How the application list is built

srun scans for *.desktop files in:

• $XDG_DATA_HOME/applications (default ~/.local/share/applications)
• /usr/share/applications
• /usr/local/share/applications

Entries that aren't real launchable applications are skipped automatically: anything with NoDisplay=true or Hidden=true, anything that isn't Type=Application, anything without an Exec=, and bare URL scheme handlers (MimeType=…x-scheme-handler… with no Categories — real browsers/apps that also register a handler are kept). If no .desktop files are found, a small built-in fallback list is used so the launcher is never empty.

Curating the list (srun.conf)

To hide or show specific apps, create a config file at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/srun/srun.conf (default ~/.config/srun/srun.conf). A default, fully-commented file is written there on first run. The file is organized into sections:

[filter]

# exclude = hides a matching app
exclude = nm-applet
exclude = gcr-prompter

# include = if any include lines exist, ONLY matching apps are shown
#include = firefox
#include = terminal

Patterns match case-insensitively against the app's Name, its .desktop filename, or its executable. exclude wins over include. This is useful for trimming applets, control centers, and other entries your distro ships but you don't want in the menu.

Launching parses the desktop entry's Exec= line (quote-aware, with % field codes stripped) and runs it directly; if the command isn't found it falls back to sh -c "Exec".

Theme (shared with ssettings)

srun and ssettings share one global colour theme file, ~/.config/swm/theme.conf. The file is organized into sections:

[colors]

bg = #1a1a24
border = #88b6fc
title = #ebf0fa
hint = #9a9eb3
sep = #595e73
sel = #88b6fc38
label = #fbfdff
text = #d2d6e1
value = #8c92a6
caret = #d9e5ff
term = #ffa95c
radius = 14

With no file present, srun uses its built-in palette (shown above). Any key you set there also changes ssettings, and vice versa — see the ssettings README for the full key list (bg, border, title, hint, sep, sel, label, text, value, caret, term, radius, …).

Integrating with swm

swm's default config already binds the launcher:

[bindings]

SUPER+d = exec srun

For that to work, srun must be on your PATH (e.g. after sudo make install here, or run it from this directory). To use a different launcher, edit ~/.config/swm/swm.conf.

Files

src/srun.h                  Shared types, globals, and prototypes
src/main.c                 Wayland/shell setup, shared client state, event loop
src/apps.c                 Desktop file parsing, application list, filtering
src/config.c               User curation config (srun.conf parser)
src/launch.c               Application launching and terminal detection
src/icon.c                 GTK icon theme resolution and PNG loading
src/theme.c                Global colour theme (shared with ssettings)
src/render.c               Cairo rendering of the launcher window
src/input.c                Keyboard and pointer handling, auto-repeat
Makefile                   Build (into build/) + protocol generation + install
build/                     Build output (binary, objects, and the generated
                          xdg-shell protocol) — gitignored
xdg-shell-client-protocol.h/.c   Generated at build time (gitignored/cleaned)