LaunchHere

Right-click any folder in Windows Explorer and launch a configurable command — like copilot --yolo --experimental, claude, aider, npm run dev, anything — in a terminal opened at that folder. Driven by a simple JSON config. No admin, no installers, no DLLs.

Inspired by the classic "Open PowerShell here" entry, generalized to any command and any terminal (wt / cmd / powershell / pwsh).

Two installation paths

LaunchHere ships in two flavors so you can pick the trade-off that fits your environment:

	PowerShell (Preview mode)	MSIX (Phase 2 - In progress)
Status	✅ Stable	🧪 Scaffold / WIP
Install method	Registry under HKCU (no admin)	Sparse MSIX + signed COM handler
Win11 main menu	Under "Show more options" (or enable classic menu globally)	✅ Native, in the main right-click menu
Win10 support	✅	N/A (Win11-only feature)
Build deps	None — pure PowerShell + .vbs + .reg	.NET 8 SDK + Windows 10 SDK 10.0.19041+
Trust prompt	None	One-time self-signed cert trust
Time to first menu entry	~10 seconds	~5 minutes (build + sign + register)

Both flavors read the same commands.json format, so you can author your command list once and use either install path.

Recommended path

• Just want it to work today → PowerShell flavor. ~10 second install.
• Want it in the Win11 main menu without enabling the classic menu globally → MSIX flavor. Requires building a small C# COM handler (scaffold provided).
• Locked-down corporate machine where MSIX/cert installs are blocked → PowerShell flavor.

Repository layout

LaunchHere/
├── README.md                           # ← you are here
├── LICENSE
├── PowerShell/                         # Phase 1: registry-based install
│   ├── README.md
│   ├── config/commands.json            # Your command list (shared schema)
│   ├── examples/commands.example.json
│   ├── installer/                      # Install / Uninstall / Win11 classic-menu helpers
│   └── launcher/                       # Launch-Command.ps1 + Launch-Hidden.vbs shim
└── MSIX/                               # Phase 2: Sparse MSIX + IExplorerCommand handler
    ├── README.md
    ├── ExplorerCommand/                # C# class library implementing IExplorerCommand
    ├── Package/                        # AppxManifest.xml, register/unregister scripts
    └── build.ps1

Config schema (shared)

{
  "menuRootLabel": "Launch Here",
  "commands": [
    {
      "id": "copilot-yolo",
      "label": "Copilot (YOLO, experimental)",
      "terminal": "wt",                    // wt | cmd | powershell | pwsh
      "command": "copilot --yolo --experimental",
      "keepOpen": true
    }
  ]
}

See PowerShell/README.md for full schema docs.

License

MIT