Instant App Switcher for Raycast

A blazingly fast macOS application switcher extension for Raycast with customizable hotkeys and intelligent sorting.

Features

• 🚀 Lightning Fast - Optimized for speed with 5ms app detection
• ⌨️ Custom Hotkeys - Assign single or multi-character hotkeys to your favorite apps
• 🎯 Smart Sorting - Recently used apps appear first, then running apps
• 🔍 Fuzzy Search - Find apps quickly with space + search term
• 📱 Real App Icons - Displays actual macOS application icons
• 💾 Persistent Storage - Hotkeys and history survive between sessions
• ⚡ Instant Switching - Type a hotkey to switch immediately

Installation

From Source

1. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/stasmarkin/raycast-instant-app-switcher-extension.git
cd raycast-instant-app-switcher-extension

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the extension:

npm run build

4. Import into Raycast:
   • Open Raycast
   • Go to Extensions
   • Click "+" → "Add Local Extension"
   • Select the project directory

Usage

Basic Usage

1. Open Raycast (default: Cmd + Space)
2. Type "Select Appliction" or your custom alias
3. Browse through your applications:
   • Recent apps appear first
   • Running apps are marked with "Running"
   • All installed apps are shown below

Hotkey Switching

1. Assign a Hotkey:

   • Select an app from the list
   • Press Cmd + H
   • Enter a hotkey (e.g., ff for Firefox, fi for Figma)
   • Press Enter

2. Use Hotkeys:

   • Open the extension
   • Type your hotkey (e.g., ff)
   • App switches instantly!

3. Remove Hotkeys:

   • Select an app with a hotkey
   • Press Cmd + R

Search Mode

• Type Space followed by search term
• Example: ␣fire → Firefox
• Example: ␣vsc → Visual Studio Code
• Supports abbreviations and partial matches

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Enter	Switch to selected app
Cmd + H	Assign hotkey to app
Cmd + R	Remove hotkey from app
Single character	Switch via hotkey (if assigned)
Space + text	Search apps by text term

How It Works

Performance Optimizations

• Uses lsappinfo for ultra-fast running app detection (~5ms)
• Caches installed apps for 3 minutes
• 50ms timeout for app scanning to prevent UI blocking

Intelligent Sorting

Apps are sorted by:

1. Recently used - Last 25 apps you switched to
2. Running status - Currently running applications
3. Alphabetically - All other apps

Hotkey Conflict Prevention

The extension automatically prevents conflicts:

• E.g. can't assign ff if f exists
• Bidirectional conflict detection

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Raycast installed on macOS
• npm or yarn

Commands

# Development mode with hot reload
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Lint code
npm run lint

Project Structure

raycast-instant-app-switcher-extension/
├── src/
│   └── switch-apps.tsx    # Main extension code
├── assets/
│   └── command-icon.png   # Extension icon
├── package.json           # Project metadata
├── tsconfig.json         # TypeScript config
└── README.md            # This file

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Development Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Make your changes
4. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
5. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
6. Open a Pull Request

Code Style

• Follow existing code conventions
• Use TypeScript for type safety
• Keep functions small and focused
• Add comments for complex logic

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

• Built with Raycast Extensions API
• Inspired by the need for faster app switching on macOS

Support

If you encounter any issues or have suggestions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Check existing issues for solutions
• Provide detailed reproduction steps

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Made with ❤️ for the Raycast community