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scoot — a grumpy ginger cat about to swat a window sidewaysscoot

scootlaunch overview

A keyboard-first application launcher for scoot and any compositor with wlr-layer-shell-v1. What ships today is the desktop entry index, ranked search, the headless agent interface, the overlay panel with its entry and virtualized list, launching, and the dmenu and run modes.

Terminal window
scootlaunch --list --json                  # every visible entry, as JSON
scootlaunch --query "fire" --json          # ranked as the UI would rank it
scootlaunch                                # open the panel
printf 'a\nb\n' | scootlaunch --dmenu      # pick a line, print it
scootlaunch --run                          # the panel over $PATH executables
scootlaunch --windows                      # the panel over open windows

One binary, holding nothing when closed. It reads the same desktop files every launcher reads ($XDG_DATA_HOME then each $XDG_DATA_DIRS entry’s applications/, subdirectories walked, first file per id wins, Hidden=true masking across data dirs), expands each Exec to an argv per the Desktop Entry Specification, and caches the result under $XDG_CACHE_HOME/scootlaunch/index-v1.

What it does today

Section titled “What it does today”
  • Lists indexed entries, with NoDisplay and OnlyShowIn/NotShowIn/TryExec-hidden entries reachable through --all with their reason (--list --all --json).
  • Ranks entries for a query (--query TEXT): a case-folded fuzzy match over the name, generic name, keywords and Exec basename, plus a frecency bonus from $XDG_STATE_HOME/scootlaunch/history. The bonus never outranks a much better text match. An empty query orders by frecency, then name.
  • Prints the agent JSON schema: id, name, generic_name, comment, keywords, icon, exec (the expanded argv), terminal, dbus_activatable, actions, path and hidden. --query --json prints the same schema in ranked order.
  • Expands Exec strictly per the spec, or with --lenient the way GLib reads the real files that break the quoting rule.
  • Opens the panel (bare scootlaunch): the overlay exclusive-keyboard surface with the entry and the ranked, match-highlighted list. Details, keys and theming are in The panel. Picking launches the entry and exits 0 (a dmenu pick prints instead of launching; see the CLI reference).

Every flag is in the CLI reference. An app missing from the list is diagnosed there too.

Install

Section titled “Install”

The launcher rides the install script with --launch. Unified vX.Y.Z releases carry a scootlaunch-<version>-<arch> binary beside the rest.

Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://www.scoot.sh/install.sh | sh -s -- --launch

The panel needs two things beside the binary; the headless commands (--list, --query, --run-id) need neither:

Distro Keyboard library A font
Debian 12 / Ubuntu 24.04 and newer sudo apt install libxkbcommon0 sudo apt install fonts-dejavu-core
Fedora 43 and newer sudo dnf install libxkbcommon sudo dnf install dejavu-sans-fonts
openSUSE Tumbleweed sudo zypper install libxkbcommon0 sudo zypper install dejavu-fonts
Arch sudo pacman -S libxkbcommon sudo pacman -S ttf-dejavu

Any font file works with --font PATH instead of the packaged one. The install script’s missing-library report names both for your distro. Distro packages (deb, rpm, Arch) are recipes in packaging/ so far, not published repositories.

Nix

Section titled “Nix”

Two modules, one switch. programs.scootlaunch manages the launcher’s own file; the desktop profile already runs the launcher behind the keymap’s binds. The look reaches the panel as a runtime layer: a value you set still wins per key. Stylix reaches it only as the stylix look. There is no Stylix switch and no unit, since nothing runs when the panel is closed.

Option Type / default Example Reload
programs.scootlaunch.enable bool, false (true with the profile) true rebuild or switch
programs.scootlaunch.package package or null, the flake’s build inputs.scoot.packages.${pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system}.scootlaunch rebuild or switch
programs.scootlaunch.features list of strings or null, null (default features: SVG icons on) [ ] builds without SVG icons rebuild or switch
programs.scootlaunch.settings TOML table, { } { width_em = 50; rows = 12; } next open (the file is read whole at every open)

The file lands at scoot/launch.toml under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (home-manager) or /etc/scootlaunch/launch.toml (NixOS) and holds only these settings, verbatim. The keys are the launcher’s own (font, width_em, rows); anything else is refused by name — --check says which. An empty file is the built-in defaults.

The profile runs scootlaunch behind Super+d (drun) and Ctrl+Alt+Space (run), and the clipboard picker, the WiFi/Bluetooth pickers and the screencast chooser through its --dmenu:

configuration.nix and home.nix
programs.scoot.desktop.launcher.daemon = "scootlaunch";  # the default; drop the line

With it, scoot-launcher execs scootlaunch with no color flags, and the clipboard picker, the WiFi/Bluetooth pickers and the screencast chooser run it through --dmenu the same way. To manage the file beside the switch, also import the module (scoot.homeModules.scootlaunch, scoot.nixosModules.scootlaunch on the system side): the profile runs the flake’s build with no file. The keys, the panel and the look layer are in The panel.

An explicit menuPackage beside a mismatched daemon is allowed but loses theming one way: daemon scootlaunch with a fuzzel menu runs that menu unthemed (no color flags travel with it), while daemon fuzzel with a scootlaunch menu stays themed (it accepts the same flags as overrides).

To go back, set daemon = "fuzzel" and switch again — see Migrating from fuzzel.

Symptom: the menu ignores your fuzzel.ini font settings.

scootlaunch never reads fuzzel.ini: set the face in programs.scootlaunch.settings.font, or switch the daemon back to "fuzzel".

Symptom: Super+d opens nothing after the switch.

The bind renders only with the launcher slot on (it is, with the profile). A daemon typo fails the evaluation naming the value — rebuild says which.