NexLauncher

A native app for macOS (SwiftUI, with Liquid Glass on macOS 26) and Linux (GTK 4 and libadwaita) that finds the projects in your projects folder and runs their frontend, backend, Flutter, Docker or other targets from one place. It comes with a GitHub-Desktop-style git panel, an embedded terminal and an AI assistant that hands tasks to Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity or Gemini. On the Mac it also has a menu bar panel and desktop widgets.

Website and download: https://niyonshutidavid.github.io/NexLauncher/

Features

• Finds your projects from their manifests (package.json, manage.py, pyproject.toml, pubspec.yaml, go.mod, Cargo.toml, docker-compose.yml, and more), not folder names. Frontend and backend side by side get a Full-stack tag; folders that hold several apps show as collections.
• One-click run for Frontend, Backend, Both, Flutter (on a chosen simulator or emulator), Docker or the app itself, with live logs, ports and a setup step when dependencies are missing.
• Git panel: identity, stage, commit, pull, push, branches and history. Uses your existing credentials.
• Embedded terminal in any project or folder.
• AI assistant: give a task to Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity (agy) or Gemini CLI from the app, or from a side panel on a project page. Runs stream their progress, can be stopped and continued. NexLauncher never stores keys.
• Tasks per project, shown in a desktop widget.
• Filters and breadcrumbs: filter by type, framework, git state, running or pinned, and choose how collections show.
• Menu bar panel (⌃⌥⌘L, Mac) with running and pinned projects and open tasks; desktop widgets for running services, quick launch and tasks.
• Themes from nexventures.net in light and dark: Nexventures Ember, Ocean, Forest, Violet, Graphite.

Install

Mac

Runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. On macOS 26 it uses the Liquid Glass look; on macOS 14 and 15 it uses the standard system materials and controls.

Download the latest release from the website, unzip it and move NexLauncher.app to Applications.

The app isn't notarised yet, so the first time macOS says it can't check it for malicious software. Click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to NexLauncher, then confirm. (Or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/NexLauncher.app in Terminal.)

Linux

A Flatpak for x86_64 and ARM (aarch64), on the GNOME 50 runtime from Flathub. Download the bundle for your processor from the website, then:

flatpak install --user NexLauncher-4.0.0-linux-x86_64.flatpak
flatpak run net.nexventures.NexLauncher

Dev servers, git, terminals and AI agents run on your system through flatpak-spawn --host, with your login shell and its PATH. Settings live in ~/.config/nexlauncher, tasks in ~/.local/share/nexlauncher. Not on Linux yet: desktop widgets, the menu bar panel, the Dock menu and iOS simulators.

Build from source

Mac

Building needs Xcode 26 (Swift 6.2); the app it produces runs on macOS 14 and later.

./build.sh            # builds a universal NexLauncher.app (Apple silicon + Intel) next to this file
ARCHS=arm64 ./build.sh  # quicker: one architecture
./build.sh --install  # also copies it to /Applications and launches it
swift test            # unit tests

Signing uses your first "Apple Development" identity (override with SIGN_IDENTITY), falling back to ad-hoc. Widgets need a real signature to load. --install refuses to replace a running NexLauncher that still has services, agents or terminals open (FORCE=1 overrides).

Linux

The Linux app needs Swift 6.3, GTK 4.20 and libadwaita 1.8, so it's easiest to build as a Flatpak with the GNOME 50 SDK:

flatpak install --user flathub org.gnome.Sdk//50 org.freedesktop.Sdk.Extension.swift6//25.08
flatpak-builder --user --install --force-clean build linux/net.nexventures.NexLauncher.yml

With older GTK you can still build and test the shared core: NEX_CORE_ONLY=1 swift test.

Project layout

Path	What's there
Sources/NexCore	Models, stack detection, scanning, settings, agents, platform paths (no UI)
Sources/NexProcess	Spawning and stopping services in their own process groups
Sources/NexGit	Git commands and parsing
Sources/NexTerminal	Embedded terminal (SwiftTerm)
Sources/NexApp	The app model shared by both interfaces
Sources/NexUI	Mac: SwiftUI views
Sources/NexLauncher	Mac: app entry point, menu bar, Dock menu
Sources/NexLinux, Sources/CVte	Linux: libadwaita interface, VTE terminal
linux	Flatpak manifest, desktop entry, AppStream metadata, icons
Widgets	WidgetKit extension
Tests	Swift Testing suites
site	The landing page (GitHub Pages)
docs	Design specs and implementation plans

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT © 2026 NiyonshutiDavid

Notes

• Widgets read ~/Library/Application Support/NexLauncher/widget-snapshot.json through a read-only sandbox exception (no App Group needed), so the app isn't App Store eligible.
• Git uses your existing credentials (Keychain / SSH). The app never stores tokens and never force-pushes.