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Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

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41–50 of 81 posts

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#41
post #40

Love the concept & the idea! But why did go for MacOS / Swift instead of something cross-platform, such as Electron or Qt? Many devs outside of SV aren't using Macs.

We wanted to build a lightweight and performant client that integrates deeply with the OS. We're planning to implement another native client for Windows later.

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#42

If this was accessible for Voice Over (the MacOS screen reader), blind developers would literally bless you for this. Half of those non-coding, web-based tools have huge accessibility problems, and an efficient and ergonomic interface would be a godsend. I can't test the accessibility aspect myself, now, as I don't own a Mac and I don't work in a team environment, but I can get you in touch with some people if you're…

Great idea and as you mentioned, this should be possible with our native implementation. I'm not too familiar with the accessibility features provided by Apple. Feel free to send me an email (thomas@raycast.app). We're curious to explore this and help other developers as much as we can.

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GitHub would be cool. I also use Slack and Clubhouse.

We have a lightweight extension for GitHub and more will come. What would you like to do with an extension for GitHub? Plan projects? Search code? Manage packages?

1. Open repos. I have a lot of them. 2. Search code. 3. Open PRs that I need to review. 4. Create issues / Open issues that are assigned to me. 5. Search repos / starred repos

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#45
post #17

I want something like this, which is why I more or less have the skeleton and something that at least approaches this idea, built organically through time using various utilities. Rofi, some shell scripts, etc. This is a great idea in theory but much harder to do properly in practice. The idea is only really worthwhile as long as you can really extend it to a lot of things(no one cares about adding an Nth tool that c…

> I want something like this

It's existed for almost 40 years, and it's called emacs. If anyone questions emacs's ability to display incredibly useful UIs, try using magit[0]. Emacs sucks though, so I hope this comes out better!

[0] https://magit.vc/

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#46
So like https://getcommande.com/ but focused on devs?

I expect to see more trends of the spotlight/alred/vscode command+p UX being used for different verticals.

Pretty meh on this use case, however, as devs are very difficult to sell to. I guess that's why you're focused on Jira and selling to enterprise.

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#48

So like https://getcommande.com/ but focused on devs? I expect to see more trends of the spotlight/alred/vscode command+p UX being used for different verticals. Pretty meh on this use case, however, as devs are very difficult to sell to. I guess that's why you're focused on Jira and selling to enterprise.

Yes, Command E has a similar UX. Actually, we started with Jira because many devs that we interviewed mentioned it as a big pain point. It's slow and confusing but you still have to use it to keep your team up-to-date. As to enterprises, we focus on individuals first but see value for such a tool in a team setup.

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#49

I like the idea. My feedback: the name seems like it's going to confuse people. I almost skipped by this post when I saw the name at a glance because I'm not particularly interested in 3D graphics.

> the name seems like it's going to confuse people.

Agreed! This name is poorly chosen. Most people have a general familiarity with what raycasting is about and will likely be confused by this usage.

Re: Launch HN: Raycast (YC W20) – CLI-inspired desktop app for non-coding tasks

#50
post #36

Did you consider writing this as a CLI tool and using amazing auto-completion to give you discoverability and an advanced UI? I love the idea of having a tool that brings these systems together but would rather keep my focus on the command line since that's where I'm spending the majority of my time. raycast ticket create "Run database migration in production" raycast ticket create claim set_owner close raycast ticke…

Good idea! That is definitely something we want to explore in the future (giving a CLI for Raycast integrations on top of main app functionality), especially if people will be asking for this.

that will be cool. please do!
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