nex-cli 1.0.1

A keyboard-first launcher for Windows
Documentation

A keyboard-first launcher for Windows. Press a global hotkey to summon a floating search bar and quickly find and launch applications, files, folders, and custom actions.

crates.io Platform License GitHub

Installation

Binary Release (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.

After downloading, run the installer and follow the setup instructions.

Install with Cargo

Requires Rust and Cargo installed.

cargo install nex-cli; nex

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/haxllo/nex.git

cd nex

cargo build --release

Binary location:

target/release/nex

Overview

Nex is a lightweight, fast launcher that puts your workflow at your fingertips. Built in Rust for minimal memory footprint and near-instant responsiveness.

Key Features

  • Global Hotkey - Summon the launcher from anywhere with a customizable keyboard shortcut
  • Fuzzy Search - Find apps, files, and folders with intelligent matching
  • Actions - Execute custom commands, web searches, and system operations
  • Clipboard History - Access recently copied items (optional)
  • Plugins - Extend functionality with custom plugins
  • Game Mode - Suppress the launcher while gaming

Quick Start

Run

cargo run --release

Or run the built binary directly:

./target/release/nex.exe

Configuration

On first launch, Nex creates a default config at:

%APPDATA%\Nex\config.toml

Key settings:

Setting Default Description
hotkey Alt+Space Global hotkey to summon launcher
max_results 8 Maximum results to display
show_files false Include files in search
show_folders false Include folders in search
launch_at_startup false Start with Windows

CLI Commands

nex --status          # Check if running

nex --quit            # Stop the launcher

nex --restart         # Restart the launcher

nex --status-json     # JSON status output

Search Syntax

  • Type normally - Fuzzy search across all indexed items
  • Prefix commands - > for actions, @ for apps, : for files/folders
  • Web search - Prefix with ? to search the web

Project Structure

nex/
├── apps/core/          # Main Rust application
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── runtime.rs  # Main entry point & event loop
│   │   ├── search.rs   # Search indexing & querying
│   │   ├── discovery.rs # File/app discovery
│   │   └── ...
│   └── Cargo.toml
├── apps/assets/        # Icons & branding
├── scripts/           # Build & packaging scripts
├── tests/             # Integration tests
└── docs/              # Documentation

Requirements

  • Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
  • Rust 1.75+ (for building from source)

Building

# Development build

cargo build


# Release build

cargo build --release


# Run tests

cargo test

Documentation

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.