Astal

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Apps ​

Library and CLI tool for querying and launching applications that have a corresponding .desktop file.

Installation ​

  1. install dependencies
sh
sudo pacman -Syu meson vala json-glib gobject-introspection
sh
sudo dnf install meson gcc valac json-glib-devel gobject-introspection-devel
sh
sudo apt install meson valac libjson-glib-dev gobject-introspection
  1. clone repo
sh
git clone https://github.com/aylur/astal.git
cd astal/lib/apps
  1. install
sh
meson setup build
meson install -C build

TIP

Most distros recommend manual installs in /usr/local, which is what meson defaults to. If you want to install to /usr instead which most package managers do, set the prefix option:

sh
meson setup --prefix /usr build

Usage ​

You can browse the Apps reference.

CLI ​

sh
astal-apps --help

Library ​

js
import Apps from "gi://AstalApps"

const apps = new Apps.Apps({
    includeEntry: true,
    includeExecutable: true,
})

for (const app of apps.fuzzy_query("spotify")) {
    print(app.name)
}
py
from gi.repository import AstalApps as Apps

apps = Apps.Apps(
    include_entry=True,
    include_executable=True,
)

for app in apps.fuzzy_query("obsidian"):
    print(app.get_name())
lua
local Apps = require("lgi").require("AstalApps")

local apps = Apps.Apps({
    include_entry = true,
    include_executable = true,
})

for _, app in ipairs(apps:fuzzy_query("lutris")) do
    print(app.name)
end
vala
// Not yet documented, contributions are appreciated

INFO

The fuzzy query uses Levenshtein distance. I am not a mathematician, but if you know how to reimplement the logic of fzf to make it better feel free to open PRs.