Lapi Launcher

A fast, keyboard-first Linux application launcher for the terminal.
A Yazi-inspired TUI with fuzzy search, native terminal images, and no background service.

Built for a focused workflow

• Start quickly — one native Rust binary; no daemon, server, or runtime to manage.
• Find anything — fuzzy-search installed applications, desktop entries, files, and folders.
• Stay in the terminal — use keyboard, mouse, scroll wheel, and terminal-native icon rendering.
• Keep your desktop curated — pin or remove .desktop entries directly from the application menu.
• Know your system — inspect operating-system, session, hardware, GPU, RAM, and persistent-storage details.
• Speak your language — English and Spanish follow your session locale, with a configuration override.

See it in action

Home view

The home screen keeps your Desktop and recently opened entries visible in compact, single-row sections. Expand system rows when you need more detail, then scroll the complete view naturally.

Search without leaving the flow

Start typing to replace the home sections with one focused result list. Every result presents a readable alias and its icon—never an implementation filename.

Pin and unpin desktop entries

Right-click an application from search or Recent to open its action window. Pinning copies its .desktop entry into your XDG desktop directory; removing it deletes only that desktop copy.

System information, when you need it

Select Operating system, Desktop environment, or PC to expand passive startup details, including graphics hardware and persistent-storage capacity and usage.

Quick start

Run a release binary

Download the lapi-launcher asset for your architecture, then run it in an interactive terminal:

chmod +x lapi-launcher
./lapi-launcher

Install the Arch Linux package

Download lapi-launcher.pkg.tar.zst from the matching release:

sudo pacman -U lapi-launcher.pkg.tar.zst

Build from source

cargo run --release

Lapi Launcher needs an interactive terminal with a viewport of at least 40 × 20 cells. Image support is optional: when your terminal cannot render graphics, the interface remains fully usable.

Everyday controls

Action	Control
Search	Type or paste text
Move selection	Arrow keys or mouse wheel
Open selection	Enter, click, or double-click
Pin or remove from Desktop	Right-click an application, then press Enter or click
Expand system information	Click a row or press F2 / F3 / F4
Move through sections	Tab / Shift+Tab or click a heading
Refresh applications	F5
Clear search / go back	Esc, Ctrl+L, or Ctrl+U
Open help	F1
Quit	Esc on the home view or Ctrl+C

Configure it your way

Lapi Launcher reads configuration with user-first priority:

1. ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/lapi-launcher/config.toml
2. /etc/lapi-launcher/config.toml

On first run, it creates a user configuration and places the official logo.png beside it. The default relative logo path always resolves to the logo closest to the configuration file. A custom logo can be any supported raster image; PNG is recommended.

Use config.example.toml to configure the logo, terminal-image protocol, language, recent-item limit, close-on-launch behavior, application directories, and the complete interface theme.

Right-click anywhere outside an application icon to open the in-terminal theme editor. It previews changes immediately, offers a curated palette with Left / Right, accepts exact #RRGGBB values (or terminal for native terminal foreground and background), and writes only saved changes to the user configuration. border_style also supports plain, rounded, double, and thick.

Lapi ecosystem

Lapi Launcher is useful on its own. When installed, its companion controls create a smooth terminal workflow:

• LAUNCHER — identifies the current application.
• INSTALLER — replaces Lapi Launcher with lapi-installer in the same terminal.
• MANAGER — replaces Lapi Launcher with lapi-manager in the same terminal.

If either companion executable is unavailable in PATH, Lapi Launcher stays open and shows a clear status message.

Packaging and development

• Arch Linux binary package guide — package contents, GitHub Release assets, local builds, and AUR publishing.
• cargo run -- --list — inspect the discovered application catalog without opening the TUI.
• cargo run -- --no-images — start without terminal image rendering.
• cargo run -- --print-default-config — print the built-in configuration template.

Lapi Launcher discovers desktop entries from standard XDG paths and supported Flatpak and Snap exports. Its local Recent history records only entries opened through Lapi.

License

Distributed under the MIT License.