nate-parrott/Flashlight

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: no_license

Adoption not part of the score

5344 stars · 398 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

Flashlight is an unofficial plugin system for macOS Spotlight that lets users extend Spotlight search with new commands and lets developers write plugins in Python. It works by injecting into the Spotlight process and processing queries to add custom results.

Use cases

• search the web from Spotlight
• send iMessages or emails by typing in Spotlight
• add calendar events and reminders with a keystroke
• check the weather from the Spotlight search box
• write custom Spotlight plugins in Python
• shut down or lock the Mac from Spotlight

When to choose

• you are on OS X Yosemite and want to extend Spotlight with custom commands
• you want to write Python-based plugins for Spotlight
• you want a launcher-style power tool built into Spotlight

When to avoid

• you are on a modern macOS version - the project is unmaintained and requires Yosemite
• you need a supported, secure launcher - the code injection approach is a hack
• you want an actively maintained alternative - use the w0lfschild fork or Alfred/Raycast instead

Facets

application · maturity abandoned

plugin-system search-engine developer-tools operating-systems developer-tools spotlight launcher mac-hacks code-injection plugins automation macos

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markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="nate-parrott/Flashlight")