Auto Launch

Auto launch any application or executable at startup. Supports Windows, macOS (Launch Agent, AppleScript, or SMAppService), and Linux.

How does it work? See Teamwork/node-auto-launch for details.

If you find any bugs, welcome to PR or issue.

Usage

The parameters of AutoLaunch::new are different on each platform. See the function definition or the demo below for details.

AutoLaunchBuilder helps to eliminate the constructor difference on various platforms.

use auto_launch::*;

fn main() {
    let auto = AutoLaunchBuilder::new()
        .set_app_name("the-app")
        .set_app_path("/path/to/the-app")
        .set_macos_launch_mode(MacOSLaunchMode::LaunchAgent)
        .build()
        .unwrap();

    auto.enable().unwrap();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();

    auto.disable().unwrap();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();
}

Linux

Linux supports two ways to achieve auto launch:

• XDG Autostart: Uses .desktop files in ~/.config/autostart/ (default)
• systemd: Uses systemd user services in ~/.config/systemd/user/
  • Uses systemctl --user enable to enable the service.
  • Requires systemctl to be available in the environment.

use auto_launch::{AutoLaunch, LinuxLaunchMode};

fn main() {
    let app_name = "the-app";
    let app_path = "/path/to/the-app";
    
    // Use XDG Autostart (default method)
    let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, LinuxLaunchMode::XdgAutostart, &[] as &[&str]);
    
    // Or use systemd user service
    // let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, LinuxLaunchMode::Systemd, &[] as &[&str]);

    // enable the auto launch
    auto.enable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();

    // disable the auto launch
    auto.disable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();
}

macOS

macOS supports three ways to achieve auto launch:

• Launch Agent: Uses plist files in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ (default)
• AppleScript: Uses AppleScript to add login items
• SMAppService: Uses the SMAppService API (macOS 13+)

Note:

• The app_path should be an absolute path and exists. Otherwise, it will cause an error when enable.
• In case using AppleScript, the app_name should be same as the basename of app_path, or it will be corrected automatically.
• In case using AppleScript, only --hidden and --minimized in args are valid, which means that hide the app on launch.
• In case using SMAppService, app_name and app_path can be empty strings because it registers the running app.

use auto_launch::{AutoLaunch, MacOSLaunchMode};

fn main() {
    let app_name = "the-app";
    let app_path = "/path/to/the-app.app";
    
    // Use Launch Agent (default method)
    let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, MacOSLaunchMode::LaunchAgent, &[] as &[&str], &[] as &[&str], "");
    
    // Or use AppleScript
    // let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, MacOSLaunchMode::AppleScript, &[] as &[&str], &[] as &[&str], "");
    
    // Or use SMAppService (macOS 13+)
    // let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, MacOSLaunchMode::SMAppService, &[] as &[&str], &[] as &[&str], "");

    // enable the auto launch
    auto.enable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();

    // disable the auto launch
    auto.disable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();
}

Windows

On Windows, it will add registry entries under:

• \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (system)
• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (current user)
• \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run (Task Manager status)

It will also detect if startup is disabled inside Task Manager or the Windows settings UI, and can re-enable after being disabled in one of those.

Enable behavior is controlled by WindowsEnableMode:

• Dynamic (default): try system-wide, fall back to current user on access denied
• CurrentUser: write to current user only
• System: write to system only (admin required)

use auto_launch::{AutoLaunch, WindowsEnableMode};

fn main() {
    let app_name = "the-app";
    let app_path = "C:\\path\\to\\the-app.exe";
    let auto = AutoLaunch::new(app_name, app_path, WindowsEnableMode::Dynamic, &[] as &[&str]);

    // enable the auto launch
    auto.enable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();

    // disable the auto launch
    auto.disable().is_ok();
    auto.is_enabled().unwrap();
}

License

MIT License. See the License file for details.

Acknowledgement

The project is based on node-auto-launch.