🚀 Build Your Own App Launcher CLI with Node.js

#node #cli

Managing multiple projects on your machine can get messy—especially if you’re constantly jumping between NestJS, Angular, and other apps. Wouldn’t it be great to have a command-line tool that lists all your projects, lets you choose one, and runs your desired command with a single keystroke?

That’s exactly what I built: a custom App Launcher CLI using Node.js. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make one yourself.

✨ Features

📂 Automatically scans a folder for apps/projects.
📌 Sorts apps by last modified for quick access.
⚡ Run custom commands like npm run start:dev or ng serve --open.
🛠 Commands are fully configurable in .env.
🖥 Optional: Convert it into a desktop EXE app with pkg.

🛑 Prerequisites

Node.js installed
Basic knowledge of running CLI commands

📂 Project Setup

Create a new folder and install dependencies:

mkdir app-launcher
cd app-launcher
npm init -y
npm install inquirer dotenv

⚙️ Add a .env File

Define your base path for apps and the commands you want available:
APPS_BASE_PATH=D:/apps

COMMAND_1_NAME=NestJS (Start Dev)
COMMAND_1_CMD=npm run start:dev

COMMAND_2_NAME=Angular (Serve with Open)
COMMAND_2_CMD=ng serve --open

COMMAND_3_NAME=Open Shell
COMMAND_3_CMD=cmd

📝 The App Launcher Code
Here’s the main script app-launcher.js:

const cp = require("child_process");
const fs = require("fs");
const path = require("path");
const inquirer = require("inquirer");
require("dotenv").config();

const style = {
  reset: "\x1b[0m",
  bright: "\x1b[1m",
  fgGreen: "\x1b[32m",
  fgCyan: "\x1b[36m",
  fgYellow: "\x1b[33m",
  fgMagenta: "\x1b[35m"
};

const APP_NAME = "App Launcher";
const APP_VERSION = "1.0.0";
const APP_AUTHOR = "Nasouh Mrstani / Senior Web Developer";
const APP_EMAIL = "nasouhmra@gmail.com";
const baseDir = process.env.APPS_BASE_PATH || "D:/apps";

function boxText(text) {
  const line = "─".repeat(text.length + 2);
  return [
    style.fgCyan + `┌${line}┐` + style.reset,
    style.fgCyan + ` ${text} ` + style.reset,
    style.fgCyan + `└${line}┘` + style.reset,
  ].join("\n");
}

function showWelcome() {
  const line = style.fgGreen + "═".repeat(50) + style.reset;
  console.log(line);
  console.log(boxText(style.bright + APP_NAME + "  " + APP_VERSION + style.reset));
  console.log(style.fgMagenta + `Author: ${APP_AUTHOR}` + style.reset);
  console.log(style.fgCyan + `Email: ${APP_EMAIL}` + style.reset);
  console.log(style.fgGreen + `Apps path: ${baseDir}` + style.reset);
  console.log(line + "\n");
}

const COMMANDS = [];
for (let i = 1; ; i++) {
  const name = process.env[`COMMAND_${i}_NAME`];
  const cmd = process.env[`COMMAND_${i}_CMD`];
  if (!name || !cmd) break;
  const parts = cmd.split(" ");
  COMMANDS.push({ name, cmd: parts });
}

async function main() {
  showWelcome();

  const dirs = fs.readdirSync(baseDir, { withFileTypes: true })
    .filter(d => d.isDirectory())
    .map(d => {
      const folderPath = path.join(baseDir, d.name);
      const stats = fs.statSync(folderPath);
      return { name: d.name, value: folderPath, mtime: stats.mtime };
    });

  if (dirs.length === 0) {
    console.log(style.fgMagenta + "❌ No folders found in " + baseDir + style.reset);
    return;
  }

  dirs.sort((a, b) => b.mtime - a.mtime);

  const { projectPath } = await inquirer.prompt([
    {
      type: "list",
      name: "projectPath",
      message: style.fgGreen + "Select a folder" + style.reset,
      pageSize: 15,
      choices: dirs.map(d => ({
        name: style.fgCyan + d.name + style.reset,
        value: d.value
      })),
    }
  ]);

  console.log(boxText(path.basename(projectPath)));

  const { command } = await inquirer.prompt([
    {
      type: "list",
      name: "command",
      message: `Choose a command for "${path.basename(projectPath)}"`,
      choices: COMMANDS.map(c => ({ name: c.name, value: c.cmd })),
    },
  ]);

  console.log(style.fgYellow + `Running: ${command.join(" ")} in ${projectPath}` + style.reset);

  cp.spawn(command[0], command.slice(1), {
    cwd: projectPath,
    shell: true,
    stdio: "inherit"
  });
}

main().catch(err => console.error("Error:", err));

▶️ Run the Launcher

Simply run:

node app-launcher.js

🖥 Convert to Desktop App (Optional)
If you want a single .exe you can run from your desktop:

npm install -g pkg
pkg app-launcher.js --targets node18-win-x64 --output app-launcher.exe

Now you have a portable Windows executable 🎉.

📬 Wrapping Up

With just a bit of Node.js and some CLI magic, you now have your own App Launcher that makes managing projects faster and easier.

✅ Clean interface
✅ Customizable with .env
✅ Runs on Windows as EXE with pkg

GitHub Repo

DEV Community

🚀 Build Your Own App Launcher CLI with Node.js

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