WinCraft

Windows 11, Crafted for Power Users.

One tiny Rust binary. Eight essential desktop utilities. Zero background bloat.

Stop running half a dozen background utilities that fight over keyboard hooks, eat RAM, and clutter your system tray. WinCraft is a native, modular Windows 11 tray suite that brings an instant command palette, multi-monitor layout recovery, visual window switching, and hardware display controls into a single executable.

Download Latest wincraft.exe · Live Preview & Screenshots (wincraft.luminart.app)

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Why Power Users Choose WinCraft

• Zero-Friction Setup: No installer wizards, no MSI bloat, no admin rights required. Download wincraft.exe and run it portably, or run wincraft.exe --install once to register it cleanly in your Start Menu and startup tasks.
• Unified Host Architecture: One lightweight process owns the tray icon, the autostart entry, global hotkeys (including multi-key chords like Win+Alt+K, S), the command palette, and the settings UI.
• Eight Built-In Power Plugins: Ships with ScreenDimmer, ShortcutDetector, LayoutKeeper, WindowDeck, LanguageIndicator, WindowNamer, QuickJump, and QuickActions out of the box.
• 1-Trait Extensibility: Features are written as plugins that plug into a single Rust trait, so adding a new tool in an afternoon never means touching Win32 plumbing or writing UI code.
• 100% Local, One File per Plugin: No telemetry, no accounts, and a separate JSON config file per plugin, so a bad edit costs one plugin, never your whole setup.

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Quick Start & Installation

1. Run Immediately (Portable)

Download wincraft.exe from the latest release and launch it. There is no installer and nothing to unpack. It is a single file that writes its settings to %LOCALAPPDATA%\WinCraft.

Note: The release includes SHA256SUMS.txt so you can verify your download. WinCraft is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen will ask once before the first start (see Code signing policy and Privacy).

2. One-Command System Install (Optional)

Want WinCraft in your Start Menu and starting automatically with Windows? Run this once from a normal terminal (not one started inside a sandboxed app like Claude Desktop, whose file redirection would hide the copy):

wincraft.exe --install

• Copies the executable to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\WinCraft\wincraft.exe and cleanly closes any running instance.
• Adds WinCraft to the Start menu, points the "Start with Windows" logon task at the new copy, and starts it.
• Leaves your settings right where they are, prints each step, and logs them to %LOCALAPPDATA%\WinCraft\install.log (safe to run again anytime).
• Run wincraft.exe --uninstall anytime to remove the shortcut and logon task while keeping the program and your settings intact.

3. Build from Source

Need to build it yourself? You only need rustup and the Windows SDK (for rc.exe, which compiles the icon into the executable). The Rust version is pinned by rust-toolchain.toml, so Cargo fetches the right compiler on first use:

git clone https://github.com/OliverD25/wincraft; cd wincraft; cargo build --release

The result is target\release\wincraft.exe.

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What You Get at a Glance

• Command Palette (Win+Alt+P) — Opens a search box on the monitor your pointer is on. Type a few letters and press Enter. It finds WinCraft's commands, apps (Start menu, Store, and installed), open windows, files and folders across every disk (via Everything), and your bookmarks. It calculates sums as you type, and with a quick prefix it browses folders, runs terminal commands, asks an AI website, or searches the web. Beside the list, a live inspector shows what the selected row is and every action it can take. See Command palette.
• Settings Window — Clean navigation across General, Themes, Plugins, Hotkeys, Layout, Bookmarks, Plugin Store, and About, plus a dedicated page per plugin with its options, hotkeys, config file, and README.
• Single & Chord Hotkeys — Every command the palette lists can be bound to a single key press or two presses in a row (a chord, such as Win+Alt+K, then S). See Hotkeys.
• 5 Native Themes with Live Hover Preview — Classic (default), Fluent, Terminal, Paper, and High contrast, each in Dark, Light, or System mode. In Fluent, the palette uses Windows 11 glass (automatically turning solid on battery saver or when transparency effects are off). Point at any tile in Settings → Themes and every open WinCraft window previews that theme live; click to keep it. Automatically switches to High contrast when Windows high contrast is enabled.
• Plugin Store — Browse what exists, what your copy has, and what needs a newer WinCraft. Search tiles with Ctrl+F, filter by category, navigate with arrow keys, press Enter to open, and hit Space on the Plugins page to toggle a plugin on or off.
• Minimal Tray Icon — Open the palette, open settings, trigger one main action per enabled plugin, or quit. Everything else stays neatly inside the settings window.

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Self-Healing Updates

WinCraft checks GitHub once a day for a newer release (and About → Check for updates checks immediately). When a new version arrives, you get a single tray notification, an "Update to …" item in the tray menu, and full release notes in the Updates block at the top of the About page. Nothing changes until you click Update now or run the palette command Update WinCraft.

1. Verified Download: Downloads wincraft.exe and SHA256SUMS.txt from the release, verifies the checksum, swaps the executable in place, and restarts WinCraft. A 2-step progress bar in the Updates block shows how far it is. While it downloads, Cancel stops it, deletes the partial file, and keeps the version you have.
2. Automatic 30-Second Rollback: If the new version does not run for 30 seconds without crashing, WinCraft ends it, restores your previous executable, restarts the old version, and tells you: "Update to … failed, kept …".
3. Full Control: Only an --installed copy updates itself (portable copies ask you to run --install first). Toggle "Check for updates daily" on the About page anytime.

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The Eight Built-In Plugins

1. ScreenDimmer

Covers any monitor with a click-through black overlay (which turns partly see-through under your pointer) or powers it off over DDC/CI like its physical power button, without Windows moving your open windows. Monitors that ignore standby are dimmed to brightness 0 instead, and monitors without DDC/CI are covered. Configure what Shift does per monitor (Auto, Off, Dim, Cover) on the plugin's page. Your mouse pointer cannot get lost on a monitor that is off, and quitting WinCraft brings every monitor right back. Monitors are counted from the left. Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+F1 / F2 / F3	Cover / uncover the left / centre / right monitor
Win+Alt+Shift+F1 / F2 / F3	Turn off / bring back the left / centre / right monitor
Win+Alt+F12	Bring back every monitor

2. LayoutKeeper

Remembers which virtual desktop and which monitor each window belongs on, the exact order of thumbnails in its taskbar group, and which window is in front, and puts everything back after a reboot. Unplugged monitors are respected (their windows stay put). Works with any app (Chrome, Claude, Telegram, anything with a window), with a Never touch setting for exceptions. While restoring after a reboot, a small panel asks you to wait. The Layout page lists every saved window with its desktop (which you can edit) and recent activity, flagging same-app windows that share an identical title. Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+L	Restore the saved layout
Win+Alt+J	Save the layout now
Win+Alt+[	Move the front window one place left in its taskbar group
Win+Alt+]	Move the front window one place right in its taskbar group

Technical Note: Moving windows between desktops uses undocumented Windows interfaces ported from MScholtes' VirtualDesktop (MIT). Because they can change between Windows builds, LayoutKeeper safely disables desktop moves for the session if they do not respond as expected and notes this on its page. To reorder with the mouse, use WindowDeck (dragging inside Explorer's native thumbnail flyout is blocked from outside processes on Windows 11 24H2). The Windhawk mod "Taskbar Thumbnail Reorder" still works for hand reorders, but WinCraft cannot see its changes, and the next restore replaces them.

3. WindowDeck

Shows all windows of an app in a row above the taskbar with a live picture of each, laid out by monitor like your desk (press D or click the link to view other desktops). Pick, move, and close windows from the keyboard, or drag them into order, to another desktop, or to another monitor. When LayoutKeeper is enabled, the order you set is saved with your layout. (Formerly LayoutKeeper's "Arrange strip" before v0.20.25; existing settings and hotkeys migrate automatically.) Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+A	Wait 3 seconds for a taskbar number and open WindowDeck for that button; press Win+Alt+A again for the app in front. If no number comes within 0.7 s, numbers appear over each taskbar button.

• Inside WindowDeck: Press 1–9 (0 for 10) to open that window card, or Ctrl+Number to switch WindowDeck to another taskbar button. Ctrl+W closes the picked window, Ctrl+N opens a new window of the app, F2 renames it (with WindowNamer on), and Ctrl+H hides or shows the key hints.
• Optional Win+1…9 Override: Enable in WindowDeck settings to open WindowDeck with Win+Number for any running taskbar slot (pressing the number again while holding Win cycles windows). Pinned apps that aren't running launch normally, and Win+Shift/Ctrl/Alt+Number stay with Windows.
• Optional Taskbar Preview Replacement: Enable in settings, the tray menu, or the palette to show WindowDeck instead of Windows' native thumbnail preview after hovering for 0.15 s (configurable from 0.05 to 1.5 s) on any app with 2+ windows.

4. QuickJump

Pins up to ten windows to digits 0–9, like Harpoon in Neovim, so you can jump back to any of them from anywhere, across any virtual desktop. While waiting for a digit, a strip at the bottom of the screen displays all ten slots. Jumping switches virtual desktops automatically and restores minimized windows without moving them. Pins find their window again by app and title even after a restart (and launch the app if closed). Every change shows a notice with Undo, and the pin list lets you view live thumbnails, reorder, rename, and tune pins. Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+Q, then a digit	Jump to the window in that slot
Win+Alt+Shift+Q, then a digit	Pin the window in front to that slot
Win+Alt+Q twice	Open the pin list

5. WindowNamer

Give any window a persistent custom name: turn three identical browser windows into "Mail", "Research", and "Bank" instead of three page titles. The taskbar thumbnail, Alt+Tab, and the title bar all show your custom name, and it stays put when the app changes its title or restarts. Rename via hotkey or from a card in WindowDeck (Clear all names in the palette resets everything). Works seamlessly alongside LayoutKeeper. Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+E	Rename the active window (opens the palette with the current name selected; Enter saves, Enter on an empty box clears)

6. ShortcutDetector

Shows which global key combinations are already taken on your PC and lets you test any combination by pressing it before you assign it. Full README

Hotkey	What it does
Win+Alt+S	Open the shortcut detector

(Note: No outside program can see programs that read keys through low-level keyboard hooks, like AutoHotkey scripts, short of injecting code into every running process, and the window clearly states this.)

7. LanguageIndicator

Shows which input language you switched to right in the center of the screen, macOS-style: switch from Ukrainian to English and a translucent panel displays UK → EN with "English (United States) · US" underneath, then fades out smoothly. It never steals focus and lets clicks straight through. Trigger it on demand via the palette command Show current input language. Full README

8. QuickActions

The Windows 11 switches that Settings hides several clicks deep, one search away in the palette, VS Code style. Type dark, center or awake and press Enter. Every action is named Area: Verb and is also found by everyday words: night finds dark mode, caffeine finds keep awake, pin finds always on top. Window actions change the window you were in before the palette opened (never WinCraft's own), restore a maximized window first, and use real screen pixels of the visible window, so 1280 × 720 records as 1280 × 720 at any scale. Every change shows a notice from WinCraft with Undo, which puts back exactly what was there before; running a switch again also switches it back. No default hotkeys: select an action in the palette and press Ctrl+K to give it one. Full README

Palette command	What it does
Window: Toggle Always on Top	Keeps the window above all others, or stops it
Window: Center	Moves the window to the middle of its screen
Window: Resize to 1280 × 720 / 1920 × 1080 / 80 % of the Monitor	Resizes the window and centers it, shrinking to fit the screen if needed
Display: Toggle Keep Awake	Keeps the PC and the screen awake until run again (also a tick in the tray menu)
Theme: Toggle Dark Mode	Switches apps and Windows between dark and light together
Desktop: Toggle Desktop Icons	Hides or shows the desktop icons, for a clean screen share
Taskbar: Toggle Auto-Hide	Hides the taskbar until the mouse reaches it
File Explorer: Toggle Hidden Files / Toggle File Extensions	Shows or hides hidden files, or the .txt end of file names
Network: Copy Local IP	Copies the PC's own address (Wi-Fi first, then Ethernet and WSL); no outside service is asked
Network: Flush DNS Cache	Clears the web addresses Windows remembers, like ipconfig /flushdns
Clipboard: Convert to Plain Text / Copy New UUID	Strips the formatting from the clipboard, or copies a new random UUID
Audio: Toggle Microphone Mute	Mutes or unmutes the default microphone
System: Empty Recycle Bin	Empties the Recycle Bin after a second Enter within 5 s
Settings: Open Environment Variables	Opens the window for editing PATH and other variables
Developer: Kill Process on Port	Lists the programs listening on TCP ports (type a port number to filter); ends the one you pick after a second Enter
Audio: Switch Output Device	Lists the sound devices with the current one marked; switches to the one you pick, with Undo
Window: Resize…	The built-in sizes plus your own from the plugin's page, such as 1600x900, 1366x768
System: Eject USB Drive	Ejects a USB drive or memory card safely, or says it is still in use
Display: Keep Awake for…	30 min, 1 h, 2 h or until off; the tray shows the end time

Actions that end in …, and Kill Process on Port, Switch Output Device and Eject USB Drive, show a list in the palette: type to filter, Enter picks, Esc goes back.

While an action is selected, the palette's inspector shows its live state and what Enter will do: Now: Dark · Enter switches to Light, the window's current and new size, how long keep awake has been on, the addresses Copy Local IP would copy, the UUID it will copy, or what the Recycle Bin holds.

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Command Palette (Win+Alt+P)

The palette combines a fast search list with a live inspector beside it. As you move the cursor, the inspector shows a live picture of the selected window, full metadata, where the row comes from, and every available action with its shortcut (→ moves into the actions, ↑/↓ picks one, Enter runs it, ← or Esc goes back; on monitors narrower than 1100 px, → opens the inspector as an overlay).

• Zero-Query Suggestions: With nothing typed, you immediately see Recent and suggested: up to five open windows and frequently used apps. Use Ctrl+, (or the footer gear icon) for Settings and Ctrl+P for Plugins.
• 5-Way Blended Search: Without a prefix, the palette searches WinCraft commands, apps (Start menu shortcuts, Store apps, and installed programs, listed once each and skipping uninstallers and updaters), open windows across all virtual desktops, bookmarks, and files and folders via Everything.
• Prefix Filtering: Type a symbol at the start (or w for windows, a for all apps A–Z) to turn it into a filter chip (Backspace in the empty box removes it):

Prefix	What it searches	Enter	Shift+Enter	Tab
(none)	Commands, apps, open windows, bookmarks, files	Run, open, or switch to	—	Put the title in the box; on a File Explorer window, browse its folder under /
<	Open windows only (the Alt+Tab list) by title, app, or custom WindowNamer name	Switch to it (restoring if minimized)	—	Put the title in the box; on a File Explorer window, browse its folder under /
/	Drives, then folder by folder (/C:\Users\). Typing after the folder also searches the folders below it (nearest first)	Open the file or folder	Show in Explorer, selected	Go into the folder
.	Files and folders on every disk via Everything (or the Windows index as a fallback): .pswds	Open it	Show in Explorer, selected (Ctrl+Enter copies the path)	Go into the folder under /
'	Your bookmarks (all of them when nothing is typed)	Open it	Show in Explorer, selected (Ctrl+Enter copies the target)	Go into the folder under /
=	Calculator (+ - * / ^ %, brackets, ×, ÷, , as the decimal mark). Finished sums like 12*3 are also answered without =	Copy the answer (Ctrl+C copies the sum with it; Ctrl+Enter pastes the answer into the window you were in)	—	Put the answer in the box
>	A command for your chosen shell (WSL bash by default), then your earlier commands	Run it with no window and stream the output into the palette	—	Put the earlier command in the box
!	WinCraft's own commands, plugin actions, and on/off switches	Run it	—	Put the command's name in the box
?	Alone: the list of prefixes. With words: Ask AI, then web search (or click the Ask AI pill)	Pick the prefix, or open the chosen AI site with your question (Ctrl+Enter searches the web)	—	Pick the prefix

In the calculator, % after a number is a percentage (200 * 15% is 30) and between two numbers is the remainder (10 % 3 is 1).

Smart Ranking & Intent Memory

• Frequency Decay: Every time you run an app, command, window, file, or folder with Enter, it gains a point that halves every 14 days, promoting your favorites when matches are otherwise equal. A clearly better match stays ahead, and a result named exactly what you typed stays first.
• Typed-Text Memory: WinCraft remembers what you typed before picking a result. Type the same text again and that result jumps to the top under Best match ("often picked"). The inspector shows how many times you picked it this month; press Ctrl+Delete (Forget this pick) to reset a specific association, or toggle Learn from my picks in Settings → General. The counts live in palette_usage.json.

Batch Window Management in the Palette

On any window row: Enter switches to it, Shift+→ moves it to the next monitor, Ctrl+Enter opens it in WindowDeck, and Ctrl+W asks it to close, the way its own close button does. The inspector displays the program and process ID, monitor, virtual desktop, RAM usage, and a Show on all desktops toggle. Mark multiple windows with Ctrl+Space, Shift+Click, or Ctrl+A to batch-arrange in WindowDeck, move monitors, minimize (Ctrl+M), or close all marked windows at once. Esc clears the marks before it closes the palette.

Private "Ask AI" Integration

Ask AI opens your chosen website (Settings → General → Ask AI site: Claude by default, or ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, or a custom URL) in your default browser with your prompt pre-filled. WinCraft sends nothing over the network itself and requires no API keys or accounts. When a palette search matches nothing, press Enter to ask AI or Ctrl+Enter to search the web.

Instant File Search with Everything

WinCraft queries Everything (voidtools, free, v1.4+) on a background thread 120 ms after you stop typing, returning results in milliseconds without ever freezing the UI. Everything's own search words work too, like ext:pdf invoice or *.log. If Everything isn't running, WinCraft falls back to the Windows Search index: slower (the palette waits up to 0.8 s), limited to what Windows has indexed (your user folders by default), and without Everything's search words. Rows from the index say "Windows index". Both can be switched off in Settings → General.

Quick Bookmarks (')

Press Ctrl+B on any file, folder, or ? web address in the palette (or run Add bookmark…) to assign a short keyword phrase. Typing that phrase puts your bookmark at the very top of the palette. Manage all entries in bookmarks.json or the Bookmarks settings page, and remove any bookmark by pressing Ctrl+Delete twice within 5 seconds.

Headless Terminal (>)

Run commands in WSL bash, PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, or a custom shell without opening a console window. Typing never runs anything; Enter does. Output streams live into the palette with execution timing (Running… 1.2 s → Exit 0 · 3.4 s).

• Press Esc once to stop a running command and everything it started, or close the palette and type > later to see the output of a command that kept running.
• Enter copies a single output line; Ctrl+Shift+C copies the full output; Ctrl+Enter opens the command in a new Windows Terminal tab that stays open (or a console window when Windows Terminal is not installed).
• Directory-Aware: If you just browsed into a folder with /, the command runs right inside that folder.
• Destructive Command Guard: Dangerous commands (rm -rf, mkfs, dd of=, shutdown, git push --force, git reset --hard, format, diskpart, Remove-Item -Recurse, del /s, etc.) require a second Enter within 5 seconds to run.
• The last 100 commands are kept in terminal_history.json, on this PC only, unless you switch that off.

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Global Hotkeys & Chords

Settings → Hotkeys lists every palette command grouped by plugin, with live status indicators:

• 🟢 Green dot: Working normally.
• ⚠️ Warning triangle: Held by another app or another WinCraft command.
• ⚪ Grey dot: Plugin is currently disabled.

Click any row (or press Ctrl+K on a command in the palette) to record a shortcut:

• Single Press or 2-Step Chords: Use Win, Ctrl, or Alt (optionally with Shift) with any key, or F13–F24 alone. Press a second key within 3 seconds to create a chord like Win+Alt+K, S; while WinCraft waits for the second key, a small line at the bottom of your screen says so.
• Conflict Protection: Keys Windows keeps (Win+L, Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Alt+Tab, etc.) and shortcuts owned by other apps are refused before saving, while a key another WinCraft command has offers a one-click Move here reassignment. Enter saves, Esc cancels, Backspace clears; Backspace again removes the hotkey.

Hotkey format

In the config files, modifiers are joined to one key with +, in any case:

• Modifiers: Ctrl (or Control), Alt, Shift, Win
• Keys: A–Z, 0–9, F1–F24, Space, Esc, Tab, Enter, Backspace, Insert, Delete, Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, Left, Right, Up, Down, PrintScreen, Pause, ScrollLock, NumLock, Numpad0–Numpad9, NumpadPlus, NumpadMinus, NumpadMultiply, NumpadDivide, NumpadDecimal, and the punctuation keys ; = , - . / ` [ \ ] '

Two presses joined by , make a chord: Win+Alt+K, S or Win+Alt+K, Win+Alt+S.

A bare key without modifiers is accepted in the file too, such as F13 or Pause. Keep it to keys you never type with, because WinCraft takes that key from every other program while it runs. If another program already owns a combination, WinCraft keeps running, shows a tray notification and marks the hotkey "taken by another app" on the plugin's page and on the Hotkeys page.

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Clean, Safe Configuration

Everything lives in human-readable JSON under %LOCALAPPDATA%\WinCraft (C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\WinCraft):

config.json                         the host's own settings
palette_usage.json                  how often each palette result was picked
bookmarks.json                      your palette bookmarks
plugins\
  screen_dimmer.json                one file per plugin
  shortcut_detector.json
  layout_keeper.json
  window_deck.json
  language_indicator.json
  window_namer.json
  quick_jump.json
  layout_keeper.state.json          the saved window layout, written by LayoutKeeper
  window_namer.names.json           the saved window names, written by WindowNamer
  quick_jump.state.json             the pinned windows, written by QuickJump
  layout_keeper.state.prev.json     the layout from before a browser crash or restart
  layout_keeper.state.shutdown.json the layout at the last shutdown or quit
cache\                              the last plugin index fetched from GitHub
wincraft.log                        what the program did in this run; an update adds to it
wincraft.prev.log                   the log of the run before, kept at each new start
install.log                         what the last --install or --uninstall did

Splitting the files this way means resetting one plugin deletes one file, and a broken manual edit costs one plugin rather than your whole configuration. If WinCraft cannot read a file, it leaves your file untouched, runs on defaults, logs the reason, and never overwrites your work until you fix it.

config.json

{
  "start_with_windows": false,
  "theme": "classic",
  "mode": "system",
  "palette_hotkey": "Win+Alt+P",
  "search": {
    "prefixes": { "bookmarks": "'", "calc": "=", "commands": "!", "files": ".", "paths": "/", "terminal": ">", "web": "?", "windows": "<" },
    "web_url": "https://www.google.com/search?q={query}",
    "terminal_shell": "WSL bash",
    "terminal_custom": "",
    "terminal_history": true,
    "rank_by_use": true,
    "everything": true,
    "file_search_fallback": true
  },
  "updates": {
    "check_daily": true,
    "last_check": 1792260953,
    "latest": "v0.16.0"
  },
  "tips": {
    "show": true,
    "state": { "bookmark-ctrl-b": { "shown": 2, "done": false } }
  }
}

Key	Meaning
start_with_windows	Mirrors the "Start with Windows" switch. Creates a user-level logon task in Task Scheduler (5 s delay, no admin rights needed; falls back to HKCU\...\Run if Task Scheduler refuses). Remove it by hand anytime with schtasks /Delete /TN WinCraft /F.
theme	classic, fluent, terminal, paper, or high-contrast.
mode	system, light, or dark.
palette_hotkey	Shortcut that opens the command palette.
shortcuts	Shortcuts assigned to palette commands that have no plugin hotkey of their own, by command ID (e.g. "wincraft.open-settings": "Win+Alt+K, O").
search.prefixes	Symbol prefix for each palette search source ("" disables a prefix; restart WinCraft after changing).
search.web_url	Web search URL with a {query} placeholder (https:// or http://).
search.terminal_shell	Shell for >: WSL bash, PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt, or Custom.
search.terminal_custom	Custom command line with {cmd} and optional {cwd} (e.g. C:\msys64\usr\bin\bash.exe -lc {cmd}).
search.terminal_history	Whether commands run from the palette are remembered in terminal_history.json (last 100).
search.rank_by_use	Learn from my picks: whether frequently picked results and typed queries move up.
search.ask_ai_site	Website Ask AI opens: Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, or Custom URL.
search.ask_ai_custom	Custom URL with a {query} placeholder.
search.everything	Whether files and folders are searched in the blended list and after ..
search.file_search_fallback	Whether the Windows Search index answers file searches when Everything is not running.
updates.check_daily	Whether GitHub is asked once a day for a newer release.
updates.last_check / latest	Time and tag of the last update check (written by WinCraft).
tips.show / tips.state	Controls the in-app tips ("Show all tips again" on General resets the state).

plugins/<id>.json

{
  "enabled": true,
  "hotkeys": { "toggle_monitor_1": "Win+Alt+F1" },
  "settings": { "idle_opacity": 1.0, "hover_opacity": 0.7 }
}

WinCraft fills in every missing key on startup: start it once, then open the file and edit values without ever guessing key names.

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Command-Line Interface

Option	What it does
--open-palette	Opens the command palette at startup.
--open-arrange	Opens WindowDeck at startup.
--open-settings	Opens the settings window at startup.
--open-detector	Opens the ShortcutDetector window at startup.
--quit	Asks the running WinCraft to shut down cleanly and waits up to 10 s (exit codes: 0 closed, 1 none running, 2 still running).
--install	Copies this exe to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\WinCraft, adds the Start menu shortcut, points the logon task at it, and starts it (0 done, 1 failed, 2 refused inside another app's package).
--uninstall	Closes WinCraft and removes the shortcut and logon task while keeping the program and settings.
--restarted / --updated-from <v> / --update-failed <v>	Used by Windows and WinCraft's self-updater across restarts and rollbacks.
--write-plugin-index	Regenerates plugins.json (for contributors).

(Tip: Set WINCRAFT_DEBUG=1 for a more detailed log, or WINCRAFT_INSTANCE=<suffix> to run a separate test instance with its own WinCraft.<suffix> logon task.)

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Contributing

WinCraft is open source, and contributions are welcome. Its goal and guiding principles live in CONSTITUTION.md; the second principle is that anyone should be able to add a useful feature in an afternoon.

• New here? Pick an issue labelled good first issue.
• Have an idea or found a bug? Open an issue; the form asks only what is needed.
• Writing a plugin? See CONTRIBUTING.md. A plugin is one folder, one trait implementation, a README, and one line in the plugin list. You describe your settings; WinCraft draws and saves them.

Everyone follows the Code of Conduct.

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Privacy & Security

Privacy

WinCraft sends nothing about you anywhere: no telemetry, no account, no analytics. It touches the network only in these four cases:

1. Daily update check: Asks api.github.com/repos/OliverD25/wincraft for the latest release (can be switched off in Settings → About).
2. Update now: Downloads wincraft.exe and SHA256SUMS.txt from this repository's releases only when you start an update.
3. Plugin Store: Reads the plugin list from this repository when you open the Plugin Store page.
4. Search & Ask AI: Opens your default browser at the search or AI site you chose, only when you press Enter.

Your settings, layouts and palette history stay in %LOCALAPPDATA%\WinCraft on your PC.

Code Signing Policy

Releases are not code-signed yet. WinCraft applied to the SignPath Foundation for free code signing in October 2026; it was not accepted this time, because the project is still new, and it will apply again later. Until a release is signed, each release's SHA256SUMS.txt is the way to verify a download. The rules below are the ones signed releases will follow.

• Every release is built from a git tag by GitHub Actions (release workflow); nobody builds a release by hand.
• Only WinCraft's own code is signed. It contains no third-party binaries; all Rust crates are compiled from source in the same build.
• Committers, reviewers, and approvers: OliverD25.
• Changes from contributors are reviewed in a pull request before merging, and all team members use multi-factor authentication on GitHub and SignPath.

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Licence

MIT. See LICENSE.

The interface uses Segoe UI and Cascadia Mono (or Consolas) from your own Windows installation; nothing of them is shipped. WinCraft bundles four fonts under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 (with licence files in assets/fonts): Selawik by Microsoft (fallback when Segoe UI is missing), JetBrains Mono for paths and code, and Lora and Cormorant for the Paper theme.