Marvin - A Spotlight Alternative

Marvin is a lightweight Spotlight alternative built with Go and Fyne.io. It provides quick search functionality for files, folders, and applications on your system using macOS Spotlight index.

Features

• Fast searching using macOS Spotlight index
• Global hotkey activation (Cmd+Space)
• File/application launching
• Lightweight and responsive

Requirements

• Go 1.18 or higher
• macOS (due to dependency on macOS Spotlight and current window management)
• Fyne.io dependencies (automatically installed via Go modules)

Installation

Quick Build

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MordFustang21/marvin.git

# Build and install
cd marvin
go build -o marvin ./cmd/marvin

Build macOS App Bundle

For a proper macOS application bundle with app icon and proper integration:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MordFustang21/marvin.git
cd marvin

# Run the build script
./build/build_macos.sh

This will create a Marvin.app bundle in the build/ directory that you can copy to your Applications folder. The build script:

• Creates a proper macOS app bundle structure
• Includes the application icon (if available)
• Sets up the Info.plist with proper metadata
• Configures the app to run as a background utility (LSUIElement)
• Makes the app ready for distribution

Note: After installation, if you receive a security warning when first launching, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and click "Open Anyway".

Usage

Run the application:

./marvin

Press Cmd+Space (or Alt+Space) to activate the search interface. Type your search query to find files, folders, and applications.

Configuration

Currently, Marvin has minimal configuration options. Future versions will include:

• Customizable themes
• Configurable keyboard shortcuts
• Plugin system for extended functionality

Architecture

Marvin is built using the following components:

• UI Layer: Uses Fyne.io for cross-platform GUI however only macOS is supported at the moment.
• Search Layer: Is a registry of various providers that can provide various search/autocomplete results. Detailed documentation.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Creating New Search Providers

Marvin's search functionality is extensible through search providers. See the search architecture documentation for details on implementing custom providers.

TODO

• [] Improve performance and responsiveness.
  • Optimize search algorithms.
  • Implement caching for frequently accessed files.
  • Track search history to improve results.
• [] Implement themeing
  • Allow users to customize the appearance of the application.
  • Provide a set of pre-defined themes.
• [] Implement settings
  • Allow users to configure keyboard shortcuts.
  • Provide options for enabling/disabling specific search providers.
  • Allow users to set custom ordering of providers?

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.