# Verve: a Rust and Svelte launcher for macOS that wants to replace Spotlight, Raycast and Alfred > Verve is a macOS application launcher built with Tauri, Rust and Svelte, opened with CMD + Shift + G and themed by editing a JSON file. It is early stage work under an AGPL licence, with its own roadmap still listed as open issues. **ParthJadhav/Verve** — Verve is a lightweight and blazingly fast launcher for accessing and opening applications, files and documents. ⚡ - Repository: https://github.com/ParthJadhav/Verve - Website: https://www.parthjadhav.com/products/verve - Stars: 859 · Forks: 31 - Language: Rust - License: AGPL-3.0 - Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/parthjadhav-verve ## A launcher built as a desktop app, not a browser extension Verve is a launcher for finding and opening applications, files and documents on macOS. The README positions it as a replacement for popular tools such as Spotlight, Raycast and Alfred, and the repository topics name those same products alongside cmd-k, cmd-space and spotlight, which tells you the category it is competing in. The stack is specific. The primary language is Rust, with the Tauri framework holding the native side, and the interface built with Svelte. The repository layout shows both halves clearly: src-tauri/ for the Rust application, src/ for the front end, svelte.config.js, vite.config.ts, tsconfig.json and tsconfig.node.json for the JavaScript side, and index.html at the root as the page Vite serves. hotkeys-js appears in the dependencies alongside @tauri-apps/api, which is how the global shortcut is bound. Two consequences follow from the Tauri choice that are worth stating plainly. First, the app is a native binary, not a page in a browser, so it can watch the file system and launch applications the way a launcher is supposed to. Second, the front end is a normal web front end served by Vite, which means the build and packaging pipeline is the standard JavaScript toolchain with Rust compiled in behind it. The homepage is a product page rather than a documentation site, and the author is Parth Jadhav, who is credited as the creator. ## CMD + Shift + G opens it, and preferences change it The default shortcut is CMD + Shift + G, and the README points out that this can be changed from the preferences section inside the app. That is the whole interaction model described in the documentation: a global hotkey summons a small window, and you type to search. The features section of the README is an image rather than text, so the documented surface is thin. What the text does say is that Verve is a launcher for accessing and opening applications, files and documents, and the roadmap adds a calculator feature that takes natural language input for calculations and conversions, a scroll feature to display all search results, an algorithm to search within Preferences, and the ability to change the full search path. Each of those is tracked as a linked issue in the repository. The last two of those are the interesting ones for anyone judging the tool. A search path you cannot change is a launcher locked to a default set of directories, and a Preferences search is what makes a launcher usable once your configuration grows. Both are still open work. The README describes the project as being in the early stages of development and says the author is actively seeking contributors, which is consistent with a repository whose issues carry most of the roadmap. ## Themes live in Application Support and need a restart Theming is done by editing a file rather than through a settings screen, and the path is fixed: ```bash /Users//Library/Application Support/com.parth-jadhav.verve/theme.json ``` Editing the theme file changes the theme of the app, and the README says to restart the app to see the changes. The reverse identifier in the path, com.parth-jadhav.verve, is the application's bundle identifier, so the file lives in the standard macOS Application Support directory for that bundle. A gallery of downloadable themes is kept in the repository under docs/themes.md, and the README invites contributions to it. That is a nice pattern for a project like this: the theme format is a documented file, the collection is a markdown document in the repository, and anyone can add to it. The trade-off is the restart. A launcher that you summon with a hotkey cannot have a tab open behind it, so there is no live reload of the theme, and a theme edit takes effect only on the next launch. For a light theme this is a non-issue. For someone who iterates on a theme, it is a step in the loop. The README also contains promotional banners and a discount code link for an unrelated product, which is worth ignoring when you read it. ## Running it from source takes Rust, Yarn and a Tauri dev loop The contributing section gives the setup path, and it assumes two toolchains on the machine. The README says you need Rust and Yarn installed, then walks through four steps. ```bash git clone https://github.com/ParthJadhav/verve.git ``` ```bash cd verve ``` ```bash yarn ``` ```bash yarn tauri dev ``` The last command runs the development server for the app. The README adds a fallback: if you hit problems, try running yarn tauri build after installing dependencies. For a production build, the targets have to be installed first, because the app ships for both Apple architectures: ```bash rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin rustup target add x86_64-apple-darwin ``` Then the packaging script: ```bash yarn package-and-build ``` The README says this creates a production build for both aarch64 and x86_64 systems in the src-tauri/target directory. The packaging script itself opens that directory when it finishes, which is a small convenience that tells you the build is expected to be run locally on a Mac rather than in a generic Linux container. End users never run any of this. The download section points to the releases section of the repository, where the app is published as a DMG file that you click and install. ## The package.json scripts are the packaging documentation The manifest is small and readable, which makes it the best single view of the project's shape. The name is verve, marked private, version 0.3.1, with module type set. The runtime dependencies are just two: @tauri-apps/api and hotkeys-js. The scripts tell the story of the build: ```json "dev": "vite", "build": "vite build", "preview": "vite preview", "check": "svelte-check --tsconfig ./tsconfig.json", "tauri": "tauri", ``` The front end is a plain Vite project with a Svelte type check in the check script, and the tauri script exposes the Tauri CLI under a short name. Formatting is handled by prettier with a separate check and write pair, format:check and format:write, matching the .prettierrc and .prettierignore files at the root. The two long scripts are the interesting ones. package-and-build-arm and package-and-build-x86_64 each run a Tauri build for one architecture, delete the previously produced DMG, run create-dmg with the volume name Verve, the application icon and a background image, set the window position and size, position the application icon and add an app drop link, and finally move the finished file into src-tauri/target. The umbrella script package-and-build runs the arm build, then the x86_64 build, then opens the target directory. It is not a minimal script set, and it is entirely DMG and macOS specific. There is no Linux or Windows path in the manifest, which matches the README, which only ever talks about the DMG file and the macOS Application Support directory. ## The roadmap is a list of open issues, and the last release is old Two facts should shape any decision about this project. The last tagged releases are v0.3.2 on 2023-05-19, v0.3.1 on 2023-01-05 and v0.3.0 on 2023-01-03, and the last push to the repository was on 2026-09-05 with the repository not archived. The version in package.json is still 0.3.1, which is even older than the latest tag. The second fact is the open issue list, which the README reproduces as the upcoming features. Extension support is issue 13, the natural language calculator is issue 2, the scroll feature for all results is issue 3, replacing icons with generic extension based icons is issue 4, a Homebrew package is issue 5, searching within Preferences is issue 8, and a configurable full search path is issue 9. The numbering gaps are the giveaway: this is a curated selection from a larger tracker. The README also says Verve is free to use, relies on community support, and accepts donations, while making the point that a donation is entirely voluntary and never required to keep using the application. The support paths are a GitHub issues section and a contributing guide in docs/CONTRIBUTING.md, with a code of conduct in CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md. For a project with a public product page and a download flow, an issue list this open means the released binary is well behind the described intent. ## Where Verve is the wrong tool The first wrong fit is a Windows or Linux machine. The manifest ships only macOS targets, the packaging scripts are create-dmg commands, the theme path is a macOS Application Support path, and the download is a DMG. There is no cross platform story here. The second is a daily driver requirement. The README says the project is in the early stages of development, the newest tag is from 2023, and the features section is a screenshot rather than a list. If your launcher is on your critical path every day, an app whose own roadmap is a set of open issues is a poor dependency, and the names it competes with, Spotlight, Raycast and Alfred, are the tools that ship with a support line or a company behind them. The third is the licence, and this one deserves care. Verve is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, with the text in the LICENCE file at the root of the repository. AGPL is a copyleft licence with a network use clause, which for a desktop application is less about servers and more about distribution: if you modify Verve and ship the result, the obligations of the licence attach to what you distribute. That is a different arrangement from permissive licences for anyone embedding or rebranding the code, and it is a reason to read the LICENCE file rather than assume. This is not legal advice. The fourth is expectations. The README carries banners for unrelated products and a discount code, which is a sign of a solo project with a marketing page attached. The engineering content is small and readable, which is a virtue if you want to read it, and a warning if you want it finished. ## Conclusion Verve fits a macOS user who wants a launcher they can build from source, theme by editing a file, and extend, and who is comfortable tracking an early project. It does not fit anyone who needs a stable daily driver, since the last tagged release is v0.3.2 from 2023-05-19 and the README still lists the calculator and extension support as upcoming. Before adopting it, read the AGPL terms in the LICENCE file and check the open issues list, because the feature set you would actually use is still described there. ## FAQ ### What is Verve and what is it built with? Verve is a lightweight launcher for accessing and opening applications, files and documents on macOS, written in Rust with the Tauri framework and a Svelte front end. The README positions it as a replacement for tools such as Spotlight, Raycast and Alfred. ### How do I build and run Verve from source? You need Rust and Yarn installed. Clone the repository, run yarn to install dependencies, then yarn tauri dev to start the development server. The README suggests running yarn tauri build if you run into problems. ### How do I change the theme in Verve? The theme is a JSON file stored at /Users//Library/Application Support/com.parth-jadhav.verve/theme.json. You edit that file and restart the app for the change to show. Downloadable themes are collected in docs/themes.md in the repository. ### What licence is Verve released under? Verve is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, with the terms in the LICENCE file at the root of the repository. Read that file for the obligations that apply to modified and redistributed versions. ## Sources - [License: AGPL-3.0](https://github.com/ParthJadhav/Verve/blob/master/LICENSE) - [ParthJadhav/Verve on GitHub](https://github.com/ParthJadhav/Verve) - [Project website](https://www.parthjadhav.com/products/verve) - [README](https://github.com/ParthJadhav/Verve/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/ParthJadhav/Verve/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/parthjadhav-verve