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Rofi is a fuzzy searcher for linux (select one entry from a set of entries quickly by typing a substring). fzf is a similar tool for the shell.

This is useful for quickly producing hacky GUI interfaces.

Is there a similar way to easily select one of several strings with a gui from the command-line in mac?

Example of what rofi is useful for

Searching and playing audio files from a known location.

cd music
ls | rofi | xargs vlc

You might bind this to a key.

The key point is that you have complete programmatic control over the input to the fuzzy finder and how the output is used.

Att Righ
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    even if Spotlight does a lot of what you seem to describe, I am used to Quicksilver, but I don't understand if you are looking for an app or for a library to include in other projects - and btw both Spotlight and Quicksilver can be extended with plugins – Gio Valerio Jan 12 '18 at 01:55
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    Another one would be Alfred. It can also be extended with "Workflows", but that feature requires a powerpack license that costs moneys. – Joonas Jan 12 '18 at 08:00
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    Thanks for the reply. Hmm, how much control does one have over the input and actions of quicksilver and alfred. I kind of want something I can use for hacky scripting where I can completely control input and output from my script. Kind of a like a combobox popup that takes you 10 seconds to code. – Att Righ Jan 13 '18 at 01:08
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    As someone who just writes barely working applescripts with Alfred, I can't really say. I've seen many Workflows where people have done cool stuff, but I wouldn't know about the process. There's Packal, which has tons of Workflows people have made (Some more can be found I github/google). Sadly Alfred doesn't have a trial for the power pack. I couldn't find good videos on custom Workflows though you should still check those out. They should at least show you how that interface works a little bit. – Joonas Jan 13 '18 at 02:15
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    These are the best videos I could find. They show how Workflows are created. This first one is sort of basic Workflow with an argument https://youtu.be/OtazipiwMkQ and this second hows shows how script filters can be made https://youtu.be/JMIJ7N6ULXg – Joonas Jan 13 '18 at 02:40
  • If you are here and looking for a window switcher (which is something rofi does "out of the tin" on linux). This question addresses this topic. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/240298/switch-between-windows-by-name-on-osx – Att Righ May 17 '22 at 14:05

1 Answers1

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There is the choose app and it does exactly what you ask for. It takes stdin, shows GUI selector and returns selected item to stdout.

You can install it using brew install choose-gui

conscio
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