Wisp

A dock and a launcher for Windows.
Replaces the taskbar. One ~1.5 MB executable.

Wisp hides the taskbar and puts a dock in its place. Press Alt+Space and the dock grows into a launcher.

It is written in Rust with Win32 and Direct2D. It needs no .NET, web view or PowerToys.

Install

1. Download the zip from the latest release.
2. Extract it to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Wisp.
3. Run wisp.exe. The settings app opens and sets your shortcut and Start with Windows.

To update, open the settings app and select Update on the About page.

Note

PowerToys Run also uses Alt+Space. Turn it off, or change Wisp's shortcut.

Note

Wisp is not code-signed. If SmartScreen warns you, select More info → Run anyway.

Dock

The dock appears when the pointer touches the bottom edge of a screen, and hides when you move away. To keep it on screen, turn on Keep the dock visible in Settings. Maximized windows then stop above it.

Do this	To
Click an app	Switch to it
Click the app in front	Minimize it
Middle-click an app	Open a new window of it
Right-click an app	Close its windows
Click a tray icon	Use it as you would on the taskbar
Click ⌄	Show the hidden tray icons
Right-click ⌄	Show the taskbar, or open taskbar settings
Click the volume	Mute or unmute
Scroll over the volume	Change the volume
Right-click the volume	Open sound settings
Click the clock	Open notifications and the calendar
Click the battery	Open battery settings
Scroll anywhere else	Switch virtual desktops
Shift+scroll	Scroll through the apps

The dock hides over full-screen apps. Tray icons you pin in Windows show in the dock; the rest are behind ⌄.

If Wisp quits or crashes, the taskbar comes back with every tray icon.

Launcher

Type to search, then press Enter.

Type	To
code	Find apps, then files. vsc finds Visual Studio Code.
?invoice	Find files only
^vis · term$ · 'note · !edge	Match the start · the end · exactly · exclude
sqrt(2) * 10	Calculate. Enter copies the result.
> ipconfig	Run a command in Command Prompt
wifi off · bt · vol 40 · mute	Change a setting. Tab lists networks, devices or outputs.
play · pause · next	Control media
w code	Switch to an open window
lock · sleep · restart · shut down	Lock or power off. Some ask for a second Enter.
time tokyo · date	Copy a time or the date
dark mode · display · …	Open that Settings page
now · sound	Open live panels for status and audio
quit	Quit Wisp
Anything else	Search the web

Apps you opened recently rank higher. With the box empty, the launcher shows your recent apps.

Key	To
Alt+Space	Show or hide the launcher
Enter	Open the selected result
Tab	Show more actions, such as Run as administrator
Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Run as administrator
Ctrl+Shift+E	Show in File Explorer
Ctrl+Shift+C	Copy the path
Esc	Close

Drag and drop

Drag a result out of the launcher and drop it anywhere:

• Files and folders into a chat, an email, an upload box or a folder. The original stays where it is.
• Apps onto the desktop or into a folder, to make a shortcut.
• Text, such as a result, the time or a path, into any text box.
• Links and web searches into a browser or a chat.

Press Esc to cancel a drag.

Settings

Open Settings from Wisp's tray icon, or edit %APPDATA%\wisp\config.toml. The tray icon also has Rescan apps, Start with Windows and Quit.

Setting	Default	What it does
hotkey	"Alt+Space"	Shows or hides the launcher
dock	true	Shows the dock
dock_autohide	true	Hides the dock until the pointer touches the bottom edge. false keeps it visible.
hide_taskbar	true	Hides the Windows taskbar while Wisp runs
position	"bottom"	"bottom" grows the launcher from the dock; "center" opens it in the middle
theme	"system"	"system", "dark" or "light"
backdrop	"acrylic"	"acrylic", "mica" or "solid"
max_results	8	Results visible at once
show_recent	true	Shows recent apps when the box is empty
file_search	true	Searches files in the Windows Search index
file_search_exclude	["node_modules", …]	Folder names file search skips
search_url	Google	Web search URL. {query} is replaced by your search.

Configs from Wisp 0.3 keep the taskbar. To switch, set dock and hide_taskbar to true and position to "bottom".

To add your own panel, put a TOML file in %APPDATA%\wisp\surfaces. See src/surface/now.toml for an example.

Speed

Wisp 0.2.0 against PowerToys Run 0.94 on the same PC, median of 30 runs:

	Wisp	PowerToys Run
Typing → first results	24 ms	200 ms
Shortcut → launcher drawn	15 ms	30 ms
Memory	20 MB	302 MB
Size on disk	1.5 MB (0.4.0)	794 MB

The dock grows into the launcher in 155 ms. A hidden dock uses almost no CPU. bench/ has the method and full results.

How it works

• Tray icons: Wisp creates its own hidden Shell_TrayWnd, which apps find first. Wisp copies each icon and passes the message on to Explorer.
• One window: the dock and the launcher are the same window, so the dock can grow into the launcher.
• Blur: Windows turns off blur for inactive windows. The dock is never active, so it uses an older blur API that stays on.
• Drawing: Direct2D draws in software. At this size it is fast and saves about 30 MB.
• Apps: Wisp reads shell:AppsFolder, the same list Start uses.
• Files: Wisp queries the Windows Search index on a worker thread.

Build

Install Rust and the Windows SDK, then:

git clone https://github.com/SumirSeth/wisp
cd wisp
cargo build --release --workspace

To try your changes without touching your installed Wisp, run scripts\install-nightly.ps1. It installs Wisp Nightly with its own folder, config and shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+Space).

To contribute, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT © Sumir Seth