Launchbox

Launchbox is a modern, lightweight Windows desktop application launcher built with WinUI 3 and .NET 8. It integrates seamlessly with your system tray, providing instant access to your favorite shortcuts with a global hotkey.

Features

• ⚡ Fast Access: Instantly toggle the launcher with a configurable global hotkey (default Alt+S).
• 🖥️ System Tray Integration: Runs quietly in the background, accessible via a tray icon.
• 📂 Shortcut Management: Automatically reads shortcuts from a configurable folder (default Desktop\Shortcuts).
• 🎨 Modern UI: Built with WinUI 3 with an acrylic backdrop for a native Windows 11 look and feel.
• 🔗 Support for Various Shortcuts: Handles standard Application shortcuts (.lnk) and Internet shortcuts (.url).
• 🖼️ Custom Icons: Override any shortcut's icon by placing a .png or .ico file in the .icons directory alongside your shortcuts.
• ⚙️ Settings: Dedicated settings window for hotkey, shortcuts folder, startup behavior, and window position.
• 🚀 Run at Startup: Optionally launch Launchbox on Windows startup via MSIX StartupTask.
• 📌 Draggable Window: Reposition the launcher window by dragging; position persists across sessions.

Installation

Launchbox is distributed as a packaged MSIX installer.

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page.
2. Double-click the .msix file to install.
3. Once installed, Launchbox will start automatically.

Development Setup

To build and run Launchbox locally, follow these steps:

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11
• Visual Studio 2022 (17.8 or later) with the following workloads:
  • .NET Desktop Development
  • Universal Windows Platform development (optional, but recommended for WinUI templates)
• .NET 8.0 SDK

Building from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/mikekthx/Launchbox.git
   cd Launchbox

2. Restore dependencies:

   dotnet restore Launchbox.sln

3. Build the project: Note: You must specify the platform (e.g., x64) as WinUI 3 does not support AnyCPU.

   dotnet build Launchbox.csproj -p:Platform=x64

4. Run the application:

   dotnet run --project Launchbox.csproj

Testing

The project uses xUnit for unit testing. Run tests with:

dotnet test Launchbox.Tests/Launchbox.Tests.csproj

Contributing

I welcome any contributions! Please follow these guidelines:

1. Fork the repository and create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
2. Ensure your code adheres to the project's coding standards. We enforce dotnet format in our CI pipeline.
   • Run dotnet format locally before committing to catch style issues.
3. Submit a Pull Request with a clear description of your changes.