> [!WARNING]
> **This project is no longer actively maintained.**
>
> I started Flare in high school as a proof of concept to show that a Raycast-compatible launcher *could* exist on Linux. It was a fun experiment, but between school, burnout, and honestly just moving on to other things, I no longer have the time or energy to keep it going.
>
> To everyone who starred, shared, or contributed: thank you. The response to this project genuinely blew me away.
>
> Looking back, I consider Flare a success, not for what it became, but for what it taught me. The biggest lesson is probably to **always dogfood your projects**. I never used Flare as my daily driver, and that disconnect showed. I also went in with a lot of naïvete and made some architectural decisions I'd do very differently today.
>
> If you're looking for an actively maintained alternative, check out [Vicinae](https://github.com/vicinaehq/vicinae).

# 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:

```bash
chmod +x <downloaded-file-name>.AppImage
./<downloaded-file-name>.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:

   ```bash
   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:
   ```bash
   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:**

    ```bash
    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.

    ```bash
    pnpm install
    ```

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

    ```bash
    pnpm --filter sidecar build
    ```

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

    ```bash
    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.

    ```bash
    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](LICENSE).