🐾 Simba Launcher

A minimal, elegant, and intelligent desktop launcher for Linux — built with Python (PyQt5).
Fast search. Offline dictionary. Beautiful design.

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✨ Overview

Simba Launcher is a lightweight, privacy-first desktop launcher designed for Debian/Linux systems.
It combines fast local file search, keyboard-centric navigation, and an offline WordNet-based dictionary — all wrapped in a clean, futuristic PyQt5 interface.

Originally built as a personal productivity tool and learning project, Simba is engineered to be:

• Intelligent – unified search + dictionary mode (w:word)
• Minimal – clean UI, centered window, smooth fade-in
• Fast & Offline – instant search, no network or telemetry
• Extensible – modular core (indexing, search, dictionary)

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🧭 Features (v1.0 beta)

✅ Instant file search

• Recursive indexing from configurable directories in (config.json)
• Case-insensitive substring matching
• Keyboard-only operations : Up/Down arrows, Enter to open, Esc to hide

✅ Dictionary mode

• Dictionary mode: Type w:word or w>word to search offline WordNet definitions (shipped as data/wordnet.json)
• Displays multiple meanings with parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb)
• Full definition available via tooltip

✅ Elegant UI

• Frameless, translucent window with drop shadow
• Smooth fade-in animation on launch
• Dark minimal aesthetic — distraction-free design

✅ Privacy-First

• 100% offline — no internet or background telemetry
• Configurable file paths, no external dependencies

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Screenshots / Previews

• Live Demo (Hotkey : ctrl + space)

• Search Results

🧠 Dictionary Integration (WordNet)

Simba uses a local snapshot of Princeton WordNet

• The JSON dataset (data/wordnet.json) is pre-parsed and loaded once at startup for instant offline lookups.

  • To regenerate your own:

python3 -m nltk.downloader wordnet

then convert using tools/export_wordnet.py (to be added)

💡 Design Philosophy

“Build tools that disappear — until you need them.”

• Simba embodies minimalism and responsiveness.
• Every decision — from color palette to keybindings — is shaped by speed, clarity, and quiet intelligence.
• In its simplicity, its an exploration into human-computer harmony.

📦 Tech Stack

• Language: Python 3.10+

• Framework: PyQt5 (UI)

• Core Modules: os, subprocess, json

• Dataset: WordNet (offline JSON)

• Platform: Linux (GNOME tested on Debian)

⚙️ Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/simba-launcher.git
cd simba-launcher

2. Create virtual environment (Optional)

python3 -m venv simba
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Edit config.json

Example:

{
  "search_paths": ["~/Downloads","~/Documents"],
  "max_results": 20
}

4. Run

python3 main.py

Usage

• Just start typing to search files.

• Use arrow keys Up/Down to navigate, Enter to open.

• Press Esc to hide the launcher.

• Type w:[word here] to search the dictionary offline.

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🪶 GNOME Integration

• Create a launcher shortcut:

  ~/.local/share/applications/simba-launcher.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Simba Launcher
Exec=/usr/bin/python3 /home/[user]/simba-launcher/main.py
Icon=system-search
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;

• Then to auto-start on login:

mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
cp ~/.local/share/applications/simba-launcher.desktop  ~/.config/autostart/

You can also bind it to a global hotkey (Ctrl + Space) via GNOME Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts.

Future & Vision

Version	Features Planned
v1.1	Plugin framework, better daemon integration, cross-platform build
v1.2	Usage-based ML ranking, smart command mode (calc:, def:, etc.)
v1.3	Fuzzy search (Levenshtein / TF-IDF ranking), incremental index, dictionary popup

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