
Show HN: Zazu App – An OSS app launcher, similar to Alfred - blainesch
http://zazuapp.org/
======
Splendor
I love that this is cross platform.

When I tried to install the debian package through the Ubuntu Software Center
I received this warning:

    
    
        The package is of bad quality
        The installation of a package which violates the quality standards isn't allowed. This could cause serious problems on your computer. Please contact the person or organisation who provided this package file and include the details beneath.
        Lintian check results for /home/<user>/Downloads/zazu-v0.2.1-linux-x64.deb:
        E: zazu: maintainer-address-missing Blaine Schmeisser

~~~
blainesch
I added the maintainer email address for the v0.2.2 deploy, can you confirm
this is working for you now?

~~~
Splendor
I was able to install without warning now. However, the alt+space command
doesn't seem to work. That instead opens the context menu in the app that has
focus. I can use Zazu by clicking the menu bar icon and choosing 'Toggle Zazu'
though.

I'm running Ubuntu 14.04 in case that's helpful.

------
liquidise
So Zazu is based on Alfred which was based on Quicksilver[1]. As someone who
never left Quicksilver in the first place, what are some of the improvements
that either alternative brings to the table?

1\. [https://qsapp.com/](https://qsapp.com/)

~~~
blainesch
I haven't installed Quick Silver in many years, so my understanding may be
dated, but at the time it didn't offer many intuitive actions, such as copying
the calculator result to your clipboard.

Alfred doesn't treat plugins as first class citizens, only alfred can have the
top level search space, all plugins have prefixes. Plugins in Zazu are first
class citizens, there is no built in behavior so you have more flexibility
with what you want.

Zazu is also cross platform, so switching between Mac and Ubuntu for instance
wouldn't hurt your workflow. Alfred and QuickSilver are Mac specific.

------
blainesch
I'm the author of Zazu, I'm happy to answer any questions. Ask away!

~~~
MatthewRayfield
I bought the original Alfred v1 Powerpack.

But, they recently made that unavailable for download and want me to buy v3...
Which I don't need.

So I've been awaiting an alternative.

So thanks for this ! I'm excited to try it out.

~~~
2citizen
You can still try to download v2 here, based on wildcard naming convention.

[https://cachefly.alfredapp.com/Alfred_2.8.7_442.dmg](https://cachefly.alfredapp.com/Alfred_2.8.7_442.dmg)

P.S.: not sure about license compatibility of v1 -> v2.

------
teknologist
I've recently been enjoying using Hain, another spotlight-esque launcher like
this one with more features:

\- A built-in package manager based on NPM

\- A visual settings editor - there's no need to edit configuration files

\- Very fast fuzzy matching of file and program names

\- Toast notifications and buttons

\- An HTML-based preview pane

Sadly it's Windows-only for now, but there are contributors working on porting
it to Linux and macOS.

If you're running macOS I've had success with building the feature/macos
branch.

[https://github.com/appetizermonster/hain](https://github.com/appetizermonster/hain)

~~~
blainesch
Hain is a great project, they launched a few months after I started working on
Zazu!

For comparison:

\- Zazu has a github based package manager

\- A dotfile for configuration (for backup!)

\- Very fast fuzzy matching of file and program names

\- Cross platform notifications (toast on windows!)

\- An HTML-based preview pane

\- Cross platform!

------
NicoSantangelo
Seems really similar to Lacona (
[https://www.lacona.io/](https://www.lacona.io/) ), which also has add-ons and
it's built on React.

Any idea if it's based on it?

~~~
blainesch
I haven't heard of lacona until you just mentioned it, but it does look nice.
They also have plugins written in node, but offer a more "natural language"
search, which Zazu doesn't. Zazu is also completely open source, but they have
a paid version. Zazu is all cross platform, but Lacona only offers mac builds.

------
ArlenBales
I'm a big power user of Alfred. I've created a lot of custom workflows in
Alfred to automate things in macOS, such as setting up dev environments
(window management) or using the Dash workflow integration. The power of
Alfred is in its workflows and workflow creator. Alfred + Hammerspoon is
particularly nice. (You can execute hotkeys in Alfred that trigger Hammerspoon
init.lua bindings)

I can't tell if Zazu is just a replacement for simple app launching, or if it
has the ability to do everything Alfred's workflows can do.

~~~
neurocroc
Is there any information on how you can run hammer spoon lua bindings from
Alfred? I always wanted to call specific functions from hammer spoon from
applescript or something but have no idea how you could do that.

~~~
ArlenBales
In the workflow creator, under "Outputs" is "Dispatch Key Combo Output". Give
it the same hotkeys as the binding uses in init.lua.
[https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/outputs/dispatch-
ke...](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/outputs/dispatch-key-combo/)

Edit - If you're looking to do it through AppleScript, see:
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3690167/how-can-one-
invok...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3690167/how-can-one-invoke-a-
keyboard-shortcut-from-within-an-applescript)

------
scruffy_
I have installed the latest version 0.3.2 for Ubuntu 16.04 via the Software
Center, and also via Gdebi (which reported that it was already installed, but
reinstalled) and I am unable to find the installation anywhere. No config
files in my home directory. A search in Nautilus only finds the .deb. What am
I missing? I am running Budgie desktop, if that makes a difference.

------
hprotagonist
Note that on win10, you have to manually unblock the installer to allow it to
run at all -- otherwise double-clicking just hangs explorer.exe.

------
ctvo
Can you talk about the impact of this app on battery life / performance? Slack
has made me leery of everything electron.

~~~
blainesch
I've been running it on my Mac, along with other electron apps like Slack and
VSCode, and I've not noticed a drain on my battery.

It's never come up in my "Apps using significant energy" in the battery
dropdown.

------
cpt1138
Seems similar to [http://getzazu.tumblr.com/post/664279182/our-
story](http://getzazu.tumblr.com/post/664279182/our-story) ?

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hartator
+1 for clipboard history easily searchable. I think in my workflow it's adding
so much to my personal productivy. Maybe the best productivy hack in Alfred.

------
notheguyouthink
This is really great! I'll have to try it out sometime.

I've been wanting a "replacement" for Alfred for years. Not because i dislike
Alfred, i love it; But because it's a tool locking me to OSX.

These days i want me tools to be cross platform and a good core UX, even if
that means i have to drop features. It's why i like CLI tools so much.

------
wideem
Tested using Linux mint: calculator, google and other things didn't work, the
only thing that was working was application launcher

~~~
blainesch
Uh oh! Can you file an issue on github with the log file stored in
`~/.zazu/log`?

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eMerzh
got it running on osx, first it didn't worked (nothing suggested), then i've
restarted it and it seems to work.

pretty basic, but it more or less match my needs. the only thing that i miss
is the file icons or app icons: it show you multiple match but the icons are
all the same, dark, so you can't quickly disambiguate them

~~~
blainesch
In v0.2.2 it tells you when it's still loading the plugins. Feel free to try
deleting your ~/.zazu folder and using this newer version!

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binaryblitz
I love this thing so far. I recently switched to using Mint instead of OSX
because I refuse to pay $2300 for a 15" MBP. I was really missing the
clipboard ability of Alfred, and this is REALLY helpful.

Would it be possible to auto paste the clipboard result when you select it?

~~~
blainesch
I would LOVE auto paste, but I've not found a good way to do this in Electron
yet. ]:

If you know how, let me know :D

~~~
mthoms
I've not used electron but can't you simply invoke Applescript or use a shell
command? Checkout pbcopy + pbpaste utilities or use applescript:

    
    
        $ osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to keystroke "v" using command down'
    

I realize this isn't cross platform but there should be similar methods in
other OS'es.

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splitbrain
Building it on Arch Linux failed because npm run release expects dpkg-deb to
be available.

~~~
nikkisnow
I can confirm the same on Fedora Linux. More specifically, the command exits
on `fakeroot`.

------
pech0rin
Seems interesting. Installed on Ubuntu 16.04 and keeps asking to update to
0.2.2 and hotkeys don't seem to work. Also crashed during a file search.

~~~
blainesch
The v0.2.2 I pushed the tag for, but didn't update the website. Sorry about
that.

Can you report the crash in the repo and attach the ~/.zazu/log file?

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scruffy_
Disregard. A reboot has it showing up now.

