Flare Launcher

An open-source, Raycast-compatible launcher for Linux.

For more background on this project, I have a post here (https://byteatatime.dev/posts/recreating-raycast).

!GIF of Flare, showing off its main features (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ByteAtATime/flare/main/images/flare.gif)

Disclaimer: This is a hobby project and is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, the official Raycast team.

✨ Features

This launcher aims to recreate most of Raycast's core features on Linux:

• Extensible Command Palette: The core of the application. Search for and launch applications, run commands, execute quicklinks, and more.
• Extension Support: Run extensions built Raycast's API. Features a built-in store to browse and install extensions from the official Raycast Store.
• Powerful Calculator: A smart calculator integrated directly into the search bar, powered by SoulverCore. It handles unit conversions, currency, and complex math expressions.
• Clipboard History: A searchable history of everything you've copied, with support for text, images, links, and colors.
• Snippets: Create and manage text snippets that can be expanded anywhere on your system. Supports dynamic placeholders for dates, clipboard content, and more.
• AI Integration: Connects to OpenRouter to bring the power of various AI models directly into the launcher.
• And more to come!

🧩 Extension Compatibility

While the goal is to support a wide range of Raycast extensions, there are some inherent limitations due to the differences between macOS and Linux. Common reasons an extension might not work include:

1. macOS-specific APIs: Many extensions rely on native macOS features like AppleScript (runAppleScript), hardcoded paths (/Applications/), or specific system libraries that do not exist on Linux.
2. Native Binaries: Extensions that bundle pre-compiled binaries for macOS will not work. Similarly, extensions that use Swift to interact with the operating system won't work either.
3. Assumed Permissions: Extensions may assume they have access to macOS-specific permissioned data (like Contacts or Calendars) which have no direct equivalent.

🚀 Installation

You can download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page (https://github.com/ByteAtATime/flare/releases).

Currently, only an .AppImage is provided. After downloading, make it executable:

chmod +x .AppImage
./.AppImage

This will open a long-running process in the background. To toggle the visibility of the window, simply run it again.

Depending on your environment, you may be able to bind the script to a hotkey. For example, on Hyprland:

bind = ALT, Space, exec, /path/to/flare.AppImage

System Requirements

The application requires glibc version 2.38, which is installed by default on Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 40, and recent versions of Arch Linux.

Wayland users: For the global snippet expansion feature to work, the application needs permission to read keyboard events. The recommended and most secure method is to add a udev rule.

1. Create the udev rule file:

   sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-flare.rules
   

2. Add the following line to the file: This rule grants the user at the physical console access to keyboard devices.

   KERNEL=="event*", ENV{ID_INPUT_KEYBOARD}=="1", TAG+="uaccess"
   

3. Reload the udev rules to apply the changes:

   sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger
   

🛠️ Building from Source

If you prefer to build the project from its source code, you'll need to set up the development environment.

Prerequisites

• Rust: Install via rustup.
• Node.js: Use a recent LTS version. pnpm is the package manager for this project (npm i -g pnpm).
• Tauri Prerequisites: Follow the official Tauri guide (https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/) to install system dependencies.
• Swift Toolchain: The calculator feature uses a Swift wrapper around SoulverCore.

Installation & Running

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ByteAtATime/flare.git
   cd flare
   

2. Install dependencies: This project uses a pnpm workspace. Install all dependencies from the root directory.

   pnpm install
   

3. Build the Node.js sidecar binary: This step compiles the JavaScript plugin host into a binary that Tauri can execute.

   pnpm --filter sidecar build
   

4. Compile SoulverCore Wrapper: This step compiles the wrapper around SoulverCore into a shared object file.

   swift build -c release --package-path src-tauri/SoulverWrapper
   

5. Run in development mode: This command will launch the Tauri application with hot-reloading for the frontend. Note that you may need to tweak LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to the SoulverWrapper.

   export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$(pwd)/src-tauri/SoulverWrapper/Vendor/SoulverCore-linux:$(pwd)/src-tauri/SoulverWrapper/.build/release"
   pnpm tauri dev
   

🙏 Acknowledgements

This project stands on the shoulders of giants:

• A huge thank you to the team behind the original Raycast (https://raycast.com).
• The powerful calculator is powered by SoulverCore (https://github.com/soulverteam/SoulverCore) by Acqualia. Special thanks to Zac for getting me a Linux build -- on his vacation, no less!

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.