NimbleRun

Launch Windows apps in a keystroke — without the noise of files, web results, or AI.

Hit Alt+Space, type two or three letters, hit Enter. That's the whole tool. NimbleRun is a lightweight, local-first app drawer for Windows 10 and 11 — no accounts, no cloud sync, no background chatter, just your installed apps, indexed and one keystroke away.

The live capture shows the light-blue four-row launcher layout. The native vertical scrollbar appears only when the catalog has more items than the visible grid/list area.

Download

Grab the latest portable build from the Releases page — unzip, run NimbleRun.exe, done. No installer, no admin rights, nothing written outside %LOCALAPPDATA%\NimbleRun.

Why NimbleRun?

• Apps only — results stay focused on launchable desktop and Microsoft Store apps.
• Fast by design — native C++20, Win32, Direct2D, and DirectWrite; no Electron or separate runtime.
• Keyboard or mouse — instant search, arrow-key navigation, quick-launch shortcuts, and a frequently used app grid.
• Private and offline — no network access, telemetry, accounts, or cloud sync.
• Quiet in the background — event-driven refresh instead of constant disk scanning or high-frequency timers.
• Made for your setup — pin and reorder apps, add local app folders, and follow the Windows light/dark theme.
• Comfortable at a glance — a mist-blue body, softly tinted footer, rounded app cards, and a roomy four-row grid keep the launcher easy to scan.

How it works

1. Press Alt+Space to show NimbleRun.
2. Click a favorite app, or start typing to search the app catalog.
3. Use the arrow keys and Enter to launch, or press Esc to close.

NimbleRun discovers apps from the Start Menu, Windows AppsFolder, and local folders you choose. It launches them through Windows Shell APIs and keeps settings and usage data under %LOCALAPPDATA%\NimbleRun.

Project status

NimbleRun is in the Phase 5 release gate. The launcher already includes app discovery, live catalog refresh, icons, search and usage ranking, pinning, settings, tray controls, and native tooltips.

Idle CPU, memory, startup latency, and thread-count budgets are all measured and passing (see release evidence). Windows 10 22H2 passes the manual smoke test (see testing). Still open, tracked on the roadmap: a full 72-hour soak and a clean leak-check run.

Build from source

Requirements

• Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 x64
• LLVM-MinGW x64 toolchain
• CMake 3.25 or newer
• Ninja

From a shell with the required tools on PATH:

cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=cmake/llvm-mingw.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

The executable is produced at build/NimbleRun.exe. No administrator privileges or additional runtime are required.

Contributing

Read AGENTS.md before changing the project and use the design specification as the product source of truth. Development and validation guidance lives in docs/development.md and docs/testing.md.