A Command Line for the Rest of Us

As someone who writes every day (or at least tries to), I naturally have a love for text. As someone who is immersed in technology and spends most of my day in front of a computer, I enjoy delving into the technical details, but I also appreciate a well-designed interface.

With that in mind, the Terminal (or CLI) has always had a certain allure for me. It’s text-based, tech-heavy, and often enables you to accomplish tasks that would take more clicks in a GUI.

That said, the CLI can feel overwhelming at times, and sometimes I just don’t have the bandwidth to deal with it (I’m speaking for myself here — I’m sure plenty of savvy folks could navigate it even if you woke them up at midnight).

In my quest to do more, I used Alfred for a long time. A few years ago, however, I switched to Raycast — a newcomer app compared to Alfred’s long-standing history. Both apps are known as “launcher” tools, combining the best of two worlds: a text-based, keyboard-driven interface and the convenience of a GUI when needed. Over time, however, Alfred began to feel somewhat stagnant, especially in terms of design, so I haven’t looked back since.

I rely on a variety of Raycast’s built-in tools, such as the Clipboard Manager, Snippets, Window Management, Notes, Quicklinks, Calculator, etc. Additionally, I use many companion extensions from the Raycast Store. I think of these as “companions” because they work seamlessly with the standalone apps I have on my Mac. Raycast also includes AI capabilities, which operate at a layer above the apps — making it impressively versatile. Quick AI and AI Commands are ✨👌

This expandability, without the need for extra setup or tinkering with Alfred’s Workflows, is one of Raycast’s biggest draws for me. Plus, it’s fast and visually appealing.

With today’s update to Raycast Notes, I suggest giving it a try.

To paraphrase Apple, Raycast is “a command line for the rest of us.”