macOS Desktop App — Open Source
AI Quick
Launcher
From thought to question in three seconds.
One hotkey and you're asking — nothing to open.
Origin: A Question from the Workshop
While driving AI adoption inside the company, I noticed a recurring pattern: everyone agreed AI was useful, but very few had actually built a daily habit of using it.
The problem wasn't that AI wasn't smart enough. The problem was that opening AI was too much hassle: open a browser, find the bookmark, wait for the page to load, log back in, and the idea is gone before you get there.
The book Scarcity (Mullainathan & Shafir) calls this cognitive bandwidth: attention and decision-making capacity are finite resources, and every extra step drains them. To make AI a real part of someone's workflow, there is only one way: reduce access friction to zero.
That's the design origin of AI Quick Launcher -- a desktop tool that summons AI with a single press of Option + Space, anywhere, anytime.
The Three-Second Rule
In workshops, I summarize the design philosophy in one sentence:
"From the moment a thought flashes
to asking AI -- under three seconds."
0s
Thought flashes
1s
Press hotkey
3s
Start asking
Features
Every design decision removes one step.
Global Hotkey
Option+Space summons the AI window instantly, from any app
Multi-Model Switching
Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, NotebookLM -- one-click sidebar switch
Screenshot to Question
Capture your screen and send it directly to AI for analysis
Persistent Sessions
Log in once, stay logged in. No repeated authentication
Multi-Monitor Support
Detects which screen your cursor is on -- the window follows you
Always on Top
Pin the AI window above everything for easy reference
Battle-Tested in Workshops
AI Quick Launcher is the teaching tool I use in company AI training workshops.
During live demos, I open any application, press Option+Space, and the AI window appears instantly -- no window switching, no browser, no waiting.
The demo lets colleagues see for themselves:
When the cost of using AI approaches zero, you naturally use it more.
Tech Stack
Framework
Electron 29
Vue 3 + Vite
Tailwind CSS
Desktop
Global Hotkey
Multi-monitor
System Tray
Storage
electron-store
Session persistence
Auto-save preferences
Platform
macOS (primary)
Windows support
electron-builder
Download or view the source