raycast.md from HariSekhon/Knowledge-Base repo: https://github.com/HariSekhon/Knowledge-Base

raycast.md

Raycast

https://www.Raycast.com/

• Summary
• Install
  • Start Raycast
  • Start at Login
• Configure
  • Raycast Hotkey
  • Spotlight Indexing
  • Disable Updates
• Raycast Extensions
• Raycast Script Commands
  • Ray-so - Dev Tools

Summary

Shortcut to everything.

Use as a drop in replacement for Spotlight which is full of garbage results like web pages in recent versions of Mac.

macOS power users often switch to Raycast or Alfred to use as app launchers as they are more predictable and respect local app priority rather than Spotlight which has been ruined trying to be a universal search usually resulting in poor results not giving you the local app you want to launch.

Install

brew install --cask Raycast

Start Raycast

This might request permissions:

open -a Raycast

Start at Login

Make Raycast auto-start every login:

osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to make login item at end with properties {path:"/Applications/Raycast.app", hidden:false}'

This can be done manually via the Settings UI too.

Configure

Raycast Hotkey

By default Raycast claims the Option + Space hotkey to bring it up to not clash with Spotlight.

Change this to replace Spotlight.

Go to Settings -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shorts -> Spotlight and untick Show Spotlight search and Show Finder search window.

Then go to Raycast's settings and change the Raycast hotkey to be Cmd + Space.

Spotlight Indexing

Raycast uses Spotlight file indexing, so don't disable Spotlight entirely or you will lose file search.

If you really want to disable file search in Raycast, you can disable indexing entirely to save resources:

sudo mdutil -a -i off

Disable Updates

Disable Raycast in-app upgrades to allow homebrew upgrade to run without conflict with /Applications/Raycast.app.

Use Mac settings which Raycast should respect:

defaults write com.raycast.macos updaterEnabled -bool false

Then restart Raycast to ensure the setting takes effect:

pkill -f Raycast
open -a Raycast

Raycast Extensions

https://www.Raycast.com/store

Raycast/extensions

Some extensions that might be of interest.

I personally find it easier to Cmd-Tab to my browser or Terminal and run a lot of things there.

• WhatsApp
• Spotify Player
• ChatGPT
• Google Gemini
• Google Translate
• Cursor
• Claude
• Raindrop.io
• Obsidian
• Remove Paywall
• Iconify
• Base64
• Color Picker
• Manage Homebrew Services

Raycast Script Commands

Raycast/script-commands

Create scripts to customize Raycast.

Documentation and samples repo.

Ray-so - Dev Tools

Raycast/ray-so

Dev tools to create code snippets, browse AI prompts, create extension icons and more.