Applications

Every installed app, with its icon, a keystroke from launch

palupdated 2026-10-27ProductivityComes with pal

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Comes with pal, so a new install already has it; the button finds it in pal again if you removed it. This page can't see what your pal has installed.

Applications: The applications by name, the running ones tagged
The applications by name, the running ones tagged
Applications: Typing at the root finds an app by its bundle id as well as its name: ical is Calendar (com.apple.iCal)
Typing at the root finds an app by its bundle id as well as its name: ical is Calendar (com.apple.iCal)
Applications: A running app: Open, Quit, Hide, Reveal in Finder, Copy path, Copy bundle id
A running app: Open, Quit, Hide, Reveal in Finder, Copy path, Copy bundle id
Applications: The System Settings panes are rows too, found by what they hold: network finds Network and Wi-Fi
The System Settings panes are rows too, found by what they hold: network finds Network and Wi-Fi
Applications: An app's details (cmd+i): its folder, running and its version, the bundle id and processes
An app's details (cmd+i): its folder, running and its version, the bundle id and processes
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What it does

Launch any installed app by name, with its own icon. On macOS, running apps can be quit or hidden and the System Settings panes are rows too; on Linux, an app's own actions are one key away.

  • Every app in your Applications folders on macOS, every .desktop entry and flatpak on Linux
  • Found by name or bundle id, so Chrome or com.apple. both work
  • Running apps are tagged, with Quit (cmd+q) and Hide (cmd+h)
  • System Settings panes as rows on macOS, found by words like dark mode or dns
  • On Linux, an app's own actions (New Private Window) as secondary actions
  • cmd+i shows where it lives, its version, bundle id and processes

Palettes 1

  • Applicationsappslist

    Everything that launches.

    • ↵Open the app
    • ⌘QQuit a running app
    • ⌘HHide a running app
    • ⌘⇧RReveal in Finder
    • ⌘CCopy the path (a pane: its URL)
    • ⌘⇧CCopy the bundle id

Actions

  • Open↵
  • QuitAsks the app through AppleScript, so it may ask you to save; a toast when it is not running.⌘Q
  • HideThrough System Events.⌘H
  • Reveal in Finder⌘⇧R
  • Copy path⌘C
  • Copy bundle id⌘⇧C
  • Copy URLOn a System Settings pane: its x-apple.systempreferences: link.⌘C

Settings

Extension, [extensions.apps]

folders
none list

Scanned in addition to the system's application folders.

Defaults shown. Change them in pal's settings window or in the config file.

The README

Everything Applications does, key by key, from the extension's own README.md

Applications

Installed applications with their own icons, one indexed palette. The row is the app's name (with the folder as its subtitle only when it is not /Applications or /System/Applications), and Enter launches it. The bundle id and the display name are keywords, so com.apple. or anthropic finds the app and Chrome finds Google Chrome. Rows are sorted by name; the palette is indexed, so every app is a root result and ⌘R rescans.

A running app carries a green Running tag as of the last listing (the tag is refreshed by ⌘R, a settings change, and after a Quit or Hide from the panel) and gains Quit and Hide at the top of its actions; an app that is not running has them last, and both answer "is not running" as a toast rather than launching it.

Where the apps come from

  • macOS: .app bundles in /Applications, /System/Applications and ~/Applications, one level deep so the Utilities folders come along. The same app (bundle id) in two roots is one row, the first root's; apps that only share a name stay apart, a subfolder one subtitled with its folder. CFBundleIdentifier, CFBundleDisplayName and CFBundleName are read from the XML Info.plist; localised names are not. Enter opens the bundle path with the system opener.
  • macOS, System Settings panes: 35 common panes (Keyboard, Displays, Privacy & Security, Wi-Fi, Battery, ...) are rows with the System Settings icon and System Settings as subtitle; settings, preferences and a few words per pane (dark mode, dns, airdrop) are keywords. Enter opens the pane through its x-apple.systempreferences: url. A curated table of macOS 13+ ids, not a scan.
  • Linux: .desktop entries from every XDG data dir (~/.local/share, $XDG_DATA_DIRS, the flatpak exports), the first directory winning a desktop id. Entries with NoDisplay, Hidden, a TryExec that is not installed, or an OnlyShowIn/NotShowIn that excludes $XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP are skipped. Comment (else GenericName) is the subtitle; GenericName, Keywords, the binary and the desktop id are keywords. Enter launches through gio launch, else gtk-launch, else the parsed Exec; Terminal=true entries run in $TERMINAL, else the first of kitty, foot, xterm on PATH. A [Desktop Action ...] group ("New Window", "New Private Window") is a secondary action run from its own Exec.

Keyboard

keys action
enter Open (a pane: open it in System Settings)
cmd+q Quit: asks the app through AppleScript, so it may ask you to save; SIGTERM for a bundle Launch Services does not know
cmd+h Hide, through System Events
cmd+shift+r Reveal in Finder
cmd+c Copy path (a pane: Copy URL)
cmd+shift+c Copy bundle id
cmd+r Rescan the application folders
cmd+i Details: the folder over the name, running and the version as chips, the bundle id and processes (on Linux the desktop file's folder, its command and its actions)

On Linux the actions are Open, the entry's own desktop actions, and Copy path.

Setup

Nothing to install. The first Quit or Hide on macOS shows the Automation prompt once: pal asks the app (or System Events) through Apple events, and macOS wants your say before it lets a process control another.

Settings, [extensions.apps]:

key type default what
folders list of paths [] Extra folders scanned in addition to the system's application folders. ~ is expanded. A change rescans.

What it does not do

  • Localised app names (InfoPlist.strings): they are binary plists in most system apps and would cost a spawn per app, so only the bundle's own names are keywords.
  • Panes beyond the curated 35: /System/Library/ExtensionKit mixes panes with intents and widgets and carries no display names, so it is not scanned.
  • Quit does not force: an app that puts up a save dialog keeps it, and the dialog is yours to finish.
  • Force quit, uninstall, or a per-app "open new window": use the Windows palette for what is open, the Processes palette to kill.

Platforms

macOS and Linux. The System Settings panes, Quit, Hide and Reveal in Finder are macOS; the desktop actions are Linux.