Complete keyboard shortcut reference for Native Launcher.

• Global Shortcuts
• Navigation
• Search & Launch
• Plugin Shortcuts
• Custom Shortcuts

These are configured in your Wayland compositor, not in Native Launcher itself.

Note: You can configure any key combination in your compositor.

Keyboard shortcuts while Native Launcher is open:

Example workflow:

1. Type: "rust wayland"
2. Press Ctrl+Enter
3. Browser opens Google search for "rust wayland"

Different plugins respond to specific keyboard combinations and command prefixes.

Use @ commands to search specific plugins directly:

Without prefixes: When you search without a prefix, all plugins participate and results are sorted by relevance and priority.

Supported search engines:

• google <query> - Google Search
• ddg <query> - DuckDuckGo
• wiki <query> - Wikipedia
• github <query> - GitHub
• youtube <query> - YouTube

Examples:

google rust wayland      → Ctrl+Enter → Google search
ddg privacy tools        → Ctrl+Enter → DuckDuckGo search
wiki operating system    → Ctrl+Enter → Wikipedia search
firefox                  → Ctrl+Enter → Google search for "firefox"

Note: Calculator automatically detects math expressions, so the @cal prefix is optional.

Time Calculations:

• Past: 1 hour ago, 5 days ago, 350 days ago
• Future: in 2 hours, 5 weeks from now
• Timezone: now in UTC

Unit Conversions:

• Time: 150 days to years, 500 minutes to hours
• Distance: 5 km to miles, 100 feet to meters
• Weight: 100 pounds to kg, 500 grams to ounces
• Temperature: 32 fahrenheit to celsius

Currency: 100 USD to EUR, 50 GBP to JPY (10+ currencies supported)

See Advanced Calculator for complete guide.

The Launcher Plugin provides self-management commands for updating and maintaining Native Launcher itself.

Available Actions:

• Update - Runs the install.sh script from the repository to update/reinstall the launcher

  • Opens in external terminal for interactive updates
  • Preserves your configuration and themes
  • Shows installation progress

• Restore - Runs the restore.sh script to restore from previous backups

  • Lists all available backups with timestamps
  • Shows what's included in each backup
  • Lets you select which backup to restore
  • Restores binary, config, plugins, cache, and data

• Uninstall - Runs the uninstall.sh script to remove Native Launcher

  • Removes binary from ~/.local/bin
  • Removes system-wide symlink (if created)
  • Asks for confirmation before removing config/data
  • Can preserve backups for later reinstallation

Examples:

# Quick update
@launcher update → Enter → Terminal opens with install script

# Restore from backup
@launcher restore → Enter → Interactive backup selection

# View all launcher commands
@launcher → Shows: Update, Restore, Uninstall options

Note: All launcher commands require terminal access and will open in your default terminal emulator.

Note: Both @shell and $ work the same way - use whichever you prefer!

Detected editors: VS Code, VSCodium, Sublime Text, Zed

Note: Applications plugin participates in all searches by default with highest priority.

• Toggle pin with Ctrl+P on any application result.
• Pinned apps show a coral star overlay on their icon.
• On empty query, pinned apps are shown first, followed by most-used apps.
• Pins are persisted to ~/.local/share/native-launcher/pins.json.

You can create custom shortcuts in your plugins. See Plugin Development for details.

// Plugin can handle "=" key to evaluate expression
if event.key == Key::equal && !event.has_ctrl() {
    return KeyboardAction::Execute { /* copy result */ };
}

// Plugin can handle Alt+Enter for alternative action
if event.key == Key::Return && event.has_alt() {
    return KeyboardAction::OpenUrl(custom_url);
}

Some plugins support command chaining:

@shell cd ~/projects && ls     # Change directory and list
$ git status && git log -1     # Multiple git commands

Command Prefix Benefits:

• Faster results (only searches one plugin)
• More focused results (no mixing of different types)
• Better for automation and scripting

Native Launcher uses intelligent fuzzy matching:

fir     → Matches "Firefox"
vsc     → Matches "VS Code"
gim     → Matches "GIMP"

No need for exact matches!

1. Use command prefixes - @code only searches workspaces, @app only searches apps - much faster than global search
2. Use $ for shell - Quick shell commands: $ pwd, $ git status
3. Learn abbreviations - Common apps have short triggers: ff → Firefox, vsc → VS Code
4. Use Ctrl+Enter - Quick web search without waiting for results

Quick Calculator:

Super+Space → @cal 2+2*5 → Enter

Shell Command:

Super+Space → $ git status → Enter

SSH Connection:

Super+Space → @ssh myserver → Enter

Workspace Search:

Super+Space → @code launcher → ↓ → Enter

1. Super+Space          → Open launcher
2. Type query           → Search
3. ↓↓ (if needed)       → Navigate to result
4. Enter                → Launch

No mouse needed!

1. Super+Space          → Open launcher
2. Type "rust tutorial" → See results
3. Ctrl+Enter           → Search web immediately

Skip waiting for app results!

1. Super+Space          → Open launcher
2. Type "code"          → Find VS Code
3. ↓↓                   → Navigate to workspace
4. Enter                → Open workspace

Edit your compositor config:

Sway (~/.config/sway/config):

# Change from Super+Space to Alt+D
bindsym $mod+d exec native-launcher

Hyprland (~/.config/hypr/hyprland.conf):

# Change to Ctrl+Alt+Space
bind = CTRL ALT, SPACE, exec, native-launcher

See Compositor Integration for more examples.

Configure in ~/.config/native-launcher/config.toml:

[plugins.web_search]
default_engine = "ddg"  # Use DuckDuckGo by default

[plugins.ssh]
default_terminal = "kitty"  # Use kitty for Alt+Enter

See Configuration for all options.

Native Launcher uses a plugin-driven keyboard event system:

1. Key press is captured
2. Event is created with context (key, modifiers, query, selection state)
3. Event is dispatched to plugins in priority order
4. First plugin to handle the event wins

This means:

• ✅ Plugins own their shortcuts
• ✅ No conflicts (priority-based)
• ✅ Easy to add new shortcuts
• ✅ Context-aware (plugins see current state)

See Architecture for technical details.

• Quick Start - Learn basic usage
• Configuration - Customize behavior
• Plugin Development - Create custom shortcuts
• Compositor Integration - Set up global hotkey