Launches and Manages scripts and applications. Supports Terminal UI and Graphical UI and allows you to:

• Save and organize multiple scripts and applications
• Enable or disable scripts on demand
• Run scripts and applications using GUI or terminal
• Run everything silently on system startup
• Run multiple scripts simultaneously or sequentially
• Load multiple scripts from external file
• Use AutoHotkey built-in and environment variables

Quick Start

Download and run launcher.ahk. Add path to your script and click Run button. Create .lnk file in %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup to run this script on system startup: "path\to\launcher.exe" -autorun. If you prefer command line, add launcher.exe to PATH. Then open powershell or cmd and type:

launcher --add=myscript.ahk
launcher --run=myscript.ahk
launcher -scripts

launcher.ahk supports GUI mode only.

launcher -scripts and launcher.ahk displays the same scripts. You can manage them from terminal and GUI simultaneously!

Usage Syntax

launcher --param=script1[;script2;script3...]
launcher --param=@file
launcher -switch
launcher variable=value

Pattern	Description	Example
--param=value	Execute a parameter with a value	launcher --run=script
--param=val1;val2	Multiple values separated by semicolon	launcher --run=script1;script2
--param=@file	Load values from external file	launcher --add=@list.ini
-switch	Execute a switch (no value)	launcher -autorun
variable=value	Set a custom variable	launcher myvar=C:\path

Parameters

Parameters perform specific actions on your scripts.

Parameter	Description	Usage Example
--add	Add script(s) to the saved list	launcher --add=script.ahk
--enable	Enable script(s). Can add and enable simultaneously	launcher --enable=script.ahk
--disable	Disable script(s). Can add and disable simultaneously	launcher --disable=script.ahk
--run	Run enabled script(s) immediately	launcher --run=script.ahk
--close	Close running script(s)	launcher --close=script.ahk
--remove	Remove script(s) from the saved list	launcher --remove=script.ahk
--sep	Set custom separator for multiple scripts	launcher --sep=^ --run=s1^s2

Tip

Parameters can be combined in a single command. They execute in left-to-right order: launcher --add=script1.ahk --add=script2.ahk --enable --run

Switches

Switches control global behavior and data management. They don't require values.

Switch	Description	Use Case
-autorun	Run all enabled scripts automatically	Launch all your enabled scripts with one command
-autoclose	Close all running scripts	Shut down all active scripts
-vars	Display all saved variables	View your configured variables
-scripts	Display all saved scripts	See what scripts are registered
-vars-clear	Clear all saved variables	Reset all custom variables
-scripts-clear	Clear all saved scripts	Reset script registry
-save	Write all data to disk immediately	Force save without processing remaining parameters
-restore	Restore data from disk	Reload configuration from disk
-verbose	Show additional messages	Debug and see detailed output
-help, -h, -?	Show help message	Display built-in documentation

Script Management

Adding Scripts

launcher --add=quickswitch.ahk
launcher --add=C:\Ahk\radify.ahk

In GUI you can specify path to the script in the input field and click Add at the bottom:

You can insert an absolute path (C:\AutoHotkey\QuickSwitch), a path relative to the current working dir (QuickSwitch) or just filename (script.ahk).

Enabling/Disabling Scripts

launcher --enable=quickswitch
launcher --disable=radify

In GUI use buttons at the bottom to manage scripts:

Running Scripts

By filename:

launcher --run=quickswitch

By full path:

launcher --run=C:\Ahk\quickswitch.ahk

You can run all scripts at once:

launcher -autorun

Tip

This switch runs all scripts and applications silently. You can create shortcut in %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup with this switch: "path\to\launcher.exe" -autorun.

Closing Scripts

launcher --close=quickswitch
launcher -autoclose

Removing Scripts

launcher --remove=quickswitch
launcher --remove=script1;script2;script3

launcher -scripts-clear

Viewing Saved Scripts

launcher -scripts
launcher -scripts -verbose

Terminal switch -scripts and Graphical List View displays the same information, which means you can use both TUI and GUI to query required information.

Custom Separators

By default, multiple scripts are separated by semicolon ;

launcher --run=quickswitch;radify;arrows

You can change this for batch operations:

launcher --sep=^ --run=quickswitch^radify^arrows

Separator is saved:

launcher --run=script1^script2
launcher --run=script3^script4

Separator can be changed in GUI. You can use it in the input field.

Escaped values

For batch/PowerShell special characters, use quotes to escape them:

launcher --sep='|'
launcher --sep"|"
launcher --sep='&'

Tip

If you need quotes inside quotes, escape them with backticks:

launcher --sep="`""
launcher --sep='`''

File References

Load multiple scripts from external files using the @file, where file can be any path with @ prefix:

launcher --add=@list.in
launcher --remove=@list.ini
launcher --run=@scripts.ini

list.ini simply lists file paths:

AutoHotKey\MarkdownToBBCode\MarkdownToBBCode.exe
AutoHotKey\ChangeLogSorter\ChangeLogSorter-1.0.ahk
AutoHotKey\QuickSwitch\QuickSwitch.ahk

Paths can be on individual lines or on asingle line:

AutoHotKey\MarkdownToBBCode\MarkdownToBBCode.exe;AutoHotKey\ChangeLogSorter\ChangeLogSorter-1.0.ahk
AutoHotKey\QuickSwitch\QuickSwitch.ahk

; separator can be changed.

You can pass simple filename relative to current working directory:

launcher --add=@list.ini

...or pass quoted full path:

launcher --run=@'C:\Temp files\My scripts'
launcher --run='@C:\Temp files\My scripts'
launcher --run="@C:\Temp files\My scripts"

@file can be passed to any parameter. Use it to organize your scripts into logical groups and version control them easily.

Variables

Save and reuse custom variables that persist across sessions. For any parameter or GUI input field you can pass a path that contains environment variables; built-in AutoHotkey variables or manually defined variables (see below). Enclose the variables in percent signs %

launcher --run=%A_Temp%\DarkTheme.ahk
launcher --add=%TEMP%\scripts.ini

Define Variables

To define a new variable with any value, simply write name=value without any prefix like -- or @

launcher mainDir=C:\Scripts\DarkGui
launcher projectPath=C:\MyProject

Values with spaces must be escaped with quotes:

launcher mainDir="C:\My Scripts\Dark Gui"
launcher projectPath='C:\Temp Scripts'

launcher --run=%mainDir%\DarkTheme.ahk
launcher --add=@'%projectPath%\scripts.ini'

Variables in Variables

New variable can hold literals and other variables, including env. vars:

launcher mainDir=%A_ScriptDir%\DarkGui
launcher projectPath=%A_Temp%\myproject
launcher dataPath=%AppData%\Data

launcher --run=%mainDir%\DarkTheme.ahk
launcher --add=%projectPath%\project.ahk --add=@%dataPath%\data.ini

Modify On The Fly

Change variable values within a single command to control different execution paths:

launcher AhkDir=C:\Ahk --run=%AhkDir%\quickswitch AhkDir=C:\Scripts --run=%AhkDir%\radify

First part runs script from C:\Ahk, second part runs script from C:\Scripts. In the end AhkDir variable holds last path, i.e. C:\Scripts. So you can reuse it later.

Removing Variables

Pass empty value or unset to remove existing variable:

launcher mainDir=
launcher mainDir=unset

Non-existing variable cannot be initialized with empty value!

You can remove all variables:

launcher -vars-clear

Variables in Paths

Variables can be passed to any parameter and file list (@file)

launcher listfile=C:\config\scripts.ini --add=@%listfile%
launcher --run=%A_ScriptFullPath%

launcher projectPath=C:\Long Long Path
launcher --add=@'%projectPath%\My Scripts\scripts.ini'

Variables in List

File list (@file) can contain scripts, variables, and AutoHotkey variables separated by your chosen separator:

C:\s1.ahk;C:\s2.ahk
C:\%A_Temp%\s3.ahk
C:\%myvar%\s4.ahk
%A_ScriptDir%\local.ahk

Newline "`n" serves as separator too, so you can group scripts on individual lines:

C:\s1.ahk;C:\s2.ahk
C:\%A_Temp%\s1.ahk;C:\%A_Temp%\s2.ahk

Examples

GUI

Command line

Basic workflow:

launcher --add=quickswitch.ahk
launcher --enable=quickswitch
launcher --run=quickswitch

Multiple scripts:

launcher --add=script1.ahk --add=script2.ahk --add=script3.ahk
launcher --run=script1.ahk;script2.ahk;script3.ahk

Project setup with variables:

launcher projectDir=C:\MyProject
launcher scriptsFile=%projectDir%\scripts.ini
launcher --add=@%scriptsFile%
launcher --enable
launcher -autorun

Development and Production:

launcher env=dev --run=%env%\test.ahk env=release --run=%env%\public.ahk

Custom separator for readable scripts list:

launcher --sep=| --run=cleanup|optimize|backup|report

Load from external file:

launcher --add=@'C:\Scripts\utilities.ini'
launcher --enable
launcher -autorun -verbose

launcher -autoclose -save -vars-clear

Disk Usage

Each parameter can modify some internal data: variables, scripts paths, etc. Data is normally written to disk after all parameters are processed to reduce disk I/O operations. Use -save if you need to save data immediately:

launcher --add=script1 --add=script2 -save
launcher -restore -verbose

Backup your .ini configuration: -save and -restore aren't magical switches, they can fail to restore previous version.

Debugging

If something doesn't working as expexted, please report about it. You can pass -verbose swith to each command to get additional information. If you're using terminal, attach this information to report please. In GUI mode use ShareX or IceCream screen recorder to record a video/gif with unexpected behavior.