sunbeam

README

Sunbeam

Sunbeam is a command-line launcher, inspired by fzf, raycast and gum.

It allows you to build interactives UIs from simple scripts.

Other examples:

• File Browser
• Bitwarden
• Github
• TLDR Pages
• Devdocs

Visit the documentation for more information (including installation instructions).

Why sunbeam?

I love TUIs, but I spent way to much time writing them.

I used a lot of application launchers, but all of them had some limitations.

Sunbeam try to address these limitations:

Sunbeam runs on all platforms

Sunbeam is written is distributed as a single binary, so you can run it on any platform. The sunbeam extension system is also designed to be cross-platform.

Sunbeam is language agnostic

Sunbeam communicates with your scripts using JSON, so you can use any language you want. The only requirement is that the script is executable and outputs a JSON object conforming to the Sunbeam JSON Schema on stdout.

Any github repository can be used as a command

Sunbeam is designed to be extended. Any github repository containing a sunbeam.json config can be installed using the sunbeam install command. You can also install commands from any url.

Sunbeam supports custom clients

Sunbeam comes with a built-in TUI to interact with your scripts, but you can also use any other client.

Currently the only alternative client is sunbeam-raycast.

Inspirations / Alternatives

Sunbeam wouldn't exist without the work of other people. Here are some projects that inspired sunbeam:

• raycast: Sunbeam shamelessly copy most of raycast UX. Even the project name is a reference to raycast.
• fzf: Sunbeam tries to take inspiration from fzf, but it's not a drop-in replacement. Sunbeam is designed to be used as a launcher, not as a fuzzy finder.
• kit: Kit is another script-focused launcher.
• gum: Sunbeam is powered by charm libraries, and can be seen as a alternative spin on gum. Gum is invoked by scripts, while sunbeam invokes scripts.
• slapdash: The sunbeam event loop was inspired by slapdash. Sadly, slapdash doesn't seem to be updated anymore.
• gh: The sunbeam extension mechanism is a copycat of the gh extension mechanism.