A native macOS application launcher. Open it normally, search for an application, and press Return to open it or bring its existing instance forward. Global shortcuts are deliberately deferred.

Build and run

Requires macOS 14 or later and a Swift 6 toolchain (Xcode 16 or later).

make run

This builds a release executable, assembles an ad-hoc-signed application at .build/Conjure.app, and opens it through Launch Services. You can also open that app directly in Finder. The local signature is for development, not notarized distribution.

make build   # Build the application without opening it.
make test    # Run the discovery and search behavior tests.

Open Package.swift in Xcode to edit the project. Use the bundled app above to run it with its application identity and metadata.

Controls

Type to filter applications; the first match is selected automatically.
Up/Down changes the selection without leaving search.
Return, keypad Enter, the Open Application button, or a double-click opens the selection.
Escape, closing the window, or switching focus away dismisses the launcher.
Reopen from Finder or the Dock to show it again with an empty search. Dismissal leaves the process running; Command-Q quits it.
Standard macOS text-editing shortcuts work in the search field.

Discovery and search

Applications are discovered in /Applications, /System/Applications, /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications, and ~/Applications, including nested folders. Discovery runs off the UI thread and refreshes whenever the launcher is presented. Hidden items, invalid bundles, and helpers inside application packages are excluded; symlinked applications are deduplicated by their canonical paths.

Search is case- and accent-insensitive. Ranking is exact name, prefix, substring, then ordered-subsequence fuzzy matches. Fuzzy matches favor smaller gaps and earlier starts. Ties and empty searches are alphabetical. Hover over a result to see its path. Launch failures appear in a native alert without dismissing the launcher.

Native UI

AppKit owns the window chrome, search field, inset table selection, application icons, buttons, menus, fonts, and semantic colors. Appearance follows macOS light/dark settings; no custom-painted Raycast skin or third-party UI dependencies.

Sources/Conjure: application lifecycle, native window, and application launching.
Sources/ConjureKit: filesystem discovery and search ranking.
Tests/ConjureKitTests: deterministic discovery and ranking checks.

The launcher uses Apple's inset table style, application launching, and reopen lifecycle.