exek

A fast TUI application launcher with fuzzy matching and frecency-based sorting.

Features

• Fuzzy matching - Find applications quickly by typing partial names
• Frecency sorting - Combines frequency and recency to prioritize often-used apps
• Path autocompletion - Browse and execute files by typing paths (/, ./, ~/)
• XDG Desktop file support - Automatically discovers applications from standard locations
• Terminal app support - Correctly launches terminal applications
• Fast and lightweight - Written in Rust for speed and efficiency

Installation

Quick Install (Interactive)

./install.sh

This will guide you through the installation process and let you choose where to install.

Using Make

# Default installation to /usr/local (requires sudo)
sudo make install

# Install to custom prefix
make PREFIX=/usr install          # System-wide to /usr
make PREFIX=~/.local install       # User installation (no sudo needed)
make PREFIX=/opt/exek install     # Custom location

# Uninstall
sudo make uninstall

Manual Installation

# Build the binary
cargo build --release

# Install to desired location
sudo cp target/release/exek /usr/local/bin/
# OR for user installation:
cp target/release/exek ~/.local/bin/

Installation Options

Method	Command	Requires sudo	Location
System-wide (default)	sudo make install	Yes	/usr/local/bin
System packages	sudo make PREFIX=/usr install	Yes	/usr/bin
User installation	make PREFIX=~/.local install	No	~/.local/bin
Interactive	./install.sh	Depends	You choose

Usage

Simply run exek from your terminal:

exek

Keybindings

• Type to search for applications
• /, ./, ~/ - Switch to path completion mode
• ↑/↓ or Ctrl+k/j - Navigate through results
• Tab - Apply directory completion (in path mode)
• Enter - Launch selected application or execute file
• Esc or Ctrl+c - Exit
• Backspace/Delete - Edit search query
• ←/→ - Move cursor in search box
• Home/End - Jump to start/end of search

How it works

exek scans standard XDG desktop file locations:

• /usr/share/applications
• /usr/local/share/applications
• ~/.local/share/applications
• Flatpak application directories

It maintains a usage database to track:

• Launch count for each application
• Last launch time
• Calculates frecency scores to prioritize frequently and recently used apps

Building from source

Requirements:

• Rust 1.70+
• Cargo

git clone <repo>
cd exek
cargo build --release

License

BSD