Tool · ProductivityFree

Raycast

Raycast replaces Spotlight. Open with Cmd+Space, type what you want: launch an app, paste a snippet, search clipboard, run a Claude command. Infinitely extensible.

Visit the site ↗Free. Pro $8/month for AI/cloud sync

How I use it

›Fast app switching (10x faster than Mission Control)
›Clipboard history (paste something copied 3 hours ago)
›Snippets for response templates, signatures, commands

Installation

Prérequis.macOS 12+. Free, with Pro plan at $8/month for Raycast AI and cloud sync. Not available on Windows/Linux.

One line, one terminal

$ brew install --cask raycast

Disable Spotlight (Cmd+Space) in Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts, and remap Cmd+Space to Raycast in its Preferences. Otherwise they overlap.

Configs and workflows worth knowing

Quicklinks with placeholders

A Quicklink is a shortcut to a URL with a variable. E.g. 'linear PROJ-412' opens the Linear ticket directly. You save 10 seconds per lookup, and times 20/day, it adds up.

Example

Name     : linear
URL      : https://linear.app/your-team/issue/{query}
Keyword  : linear
Open in  : Default Browser

Snippets with tab trigger

Define a snippet with a short trigger (e.g. ';sig'). Type it anywhere on Mac, Raycast expands. Ideal for email signatures, response templates, recurring code snippets, temporary passwords.

Clipboard history

Cmd+Shift+V opens your clipboard history (up to 3 months back). You find what you copied last Tuesday without digging through files. Search by text, filter by type (URL, image, file).

Alternatives

AlfredLaunchBar