Synapse is a semantic graphical launcher written in Vala that you can use to start applications as well as find and access relevant documents and files by making use of the Zeitgeist engine, a service that logs activity.
With a quick keyboard shortcut, users can launch an application or take action on a certain file, depending on the plugins installed.
The software is released under an open source license.
Key Features
- Light and fast.
- Browse recent items.
- Actions.
- Audio – allows you to play/enqueue music files.
- Applications – searches your desktop files.
- Audio – allows you to play/enqueue music files in Banshee.
- Places.
- Documents.
- Images.
- Video.
- Contacts.
- Internet – search with DuckDuckGo.
- Gnome session – log out, shut down, restart.
- Hybrid search – complete Zeitgeist results by searching for similar files.
- Rhythmbox – play/enqueue music files in Rhythmbox.
- UPower – suspend & hibernate your computer.
- Zeitgeist – search anything logged by Zeitgeist.
- Plugin support. Examples include Banshee, Rhythmbox, Devhelp, Dictionary, Log out/Shut Down/Suspend, and quick Terminal commands.
Website: launchpad.net/synapse-project
Support:
Developer: Michal Hruby, Alberto Aldegheri, Tom Beckmann, Rico Tzschichholz
License: GNU GPL v2, GNU GPL v3, GNU LGPL v2.1

Synapse is written in Vala. Learn Vala with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| GUI Application Launchers | |
|---|---|
| Ulauncher | Fast application launcher written in Python |
| Vicinae | Native launcher for your desktop — built with C++ and Qt |
| Albert | Desktop agnostic launcher, inspired by OSX’ Alfred launcher |
| Walker | Customizable application launcher built with GTK4 and Rust |
| Kupfer | Fast and lightweight desktop summoner/launcher |
| Cerebro | A launcher to improve your productivity and efficiency |
| Hamr | Fast, extensible desktop launcher |
| dmenu | Fast and lightweight dynamic menu |
| fuzzel | Application launcher for wlroots based Wayland compositors |
| Anyrun | Wayland-native runner with a fast, flexible plugin system |
| lxqt-runner | LXQt application launcher |
| Kickoff | Heavily inspired by rofi |
| Kando | Pie menu to launch applications, simulate hotkeys, open URLs |
| gravel | Basic FLTK UI |
| zlaunch | Application launcher / window switcher for Wayland |
| Catapult | Launch apps, open files and do basic calculation |
| rofi | Window switcher, application launcher and dmenu replacement |
| Onagre | General purpose application launcher for X and Wayland |
| Raffi | Designed to sit on top of Fuzze |
| bashrun2 | Launch applications from interactive bash sessions |
| Sherlock | Sleek, extensible search tool with widgets and rich previews |
| nwg-drawer | Full-screen GTK grid for browsing and starting your software |
| Worf | Rapid keyboard-driven access to commands, files and the web |
| rlaunch | Fast, lightweight and modern application launcher for X11 |
| rough | GTK based application launcher |
| Marvin | Uses different modules to provide different functionalities |
| Launchy | Utility designed to help users forget about the application menu |
| Vanta | Scriptable application launcher and command palette for Wayland |
| Synapse | Semantic graphical launcher written in Vala |
| Proslenkey | Lightweight GTK4 application launcher for Wayland |
| MRunner | Keyboard-first application runner |
| Gnome-Pie | Circular application launcher made of several pies |
| Avant Window Navigator | OS X like panel for the GNOME Desktop |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |


Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.