A shepherd for your Appimages.
support install from url
Aly Raffauf
(Jun 17, 2026, 11:23 PM EDT)
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README.md
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README.md
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## Features
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- **Shows up like a real app.** Lands in your application menu with its real name and icon.
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- **Installs from a file or a URL.** Point it at a local AppImage or paste a download link — appherder fetches and installs it.
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- **Uninstalls cleanly.** Remove an app and its launcher and icon go with it. No leftovers.
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- **Upgrades replace instead of piling up.** appherder names an app by what's inside it, not the download's filename, so a newer version of `Foo` just replaces the old one.
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- **Checks for updates.** Reads the update info baked into each AppImage and fetches the latest from GitHub, GitLab, zsync, or a static URL. `appherder upgrade --check` shows what's new; `appherder upgrade` downloads and installs it.
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## Usage
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```bash
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appherder install ~/Downloads/Foo-x86_64.AppImage # install one
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appherder install ~/Downloads/Foo-x86_64.AppImage # install from a file
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appherder install https://example.com/Foo.AppImage # or download and install
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appherder uninstall foo # remove one
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appherder list # see what's installed
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appherder sync # match your apps to what's in ~/AppImages
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cmd/appherder/cli.go
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cmd/appherder/cli.go
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import (
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"fmt"
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"io"
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"net/url"
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"github.com/alyraffauf/appherder/internal/appherder"
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"github.com/spf13/cobra"
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func newInstallCommand(a appherder.App) *cobra.Command {
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return &cobra.Command{
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Use: "install APPIMAGE",
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Short: "Install an AppImage",
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Long: "Copies an AppImage into ~/AppImages and creates a launcher for it with the app's\nreal name and icon. You can delete the original download afterward.",
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Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
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Use: "install APPIMAGE|URL",
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Short: "Install an AppImage from a file or URL",
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Long: "Copies an AppImage into ~/AppImages and creates a launcher for it with the app's\n" +
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"real name and icon. You can delete the original download afterward.\n\n" +
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"Accepts a local file path or an HTTP/HTTPS URL to download directly.",
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Args: cobra.ExactArgs(1),
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RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
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name, err := a.Install(args[0])
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arg := args[0]
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var name string
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var err error
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if isURL(arg) {
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fmt.Fprintf(cmd.OutOrStdout(), "downloading %s...\n", arg)
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name, err = a.InstallFromURL(cmd.Context(), arg)
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} else {
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name, err = a.Install(arg)
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}
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if err != nil {
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return err
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}
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return nil
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},
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}
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}
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func isURL(s string) bool {
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parsed, err := url.Parse(s)
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return err == nil && (parsed.Scheme == "http" || parsed.Scheme == "https") && parsed.Host != ""
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}
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func newUninstallCommand(a appherder.App) *cobra.Command {
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internal/appherder/install.go
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internal/appherder/install.go
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package appherder
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import (
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"context"
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"fmt"
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"os"
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"path/filepath"
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}
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return appName, nil
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}
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// InstallFromURL downloads an AppImage from url and installs it.
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func (a App) InstallFromURL(ctx context.Context, url string) (string, error) {
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tmp, err := os.CreateTemp("", "appherder-install-*.appimage")
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if err != nil {
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return "", fmt.Errorf("create temporary file: %w", err)
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}
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tmpName := tmp.Name()
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defer os.Remove(tmpName)
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if err := download(ctx, url, tmp); err != nil {
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tmp.Close()
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return "", err
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}
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if err := tmp.Close(); err != nil {
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return "", fmt.Errorf("close download: %w", err)
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}
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return a.Install(tmpName)
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}
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// deriveAppName picks the canonical install name, matching GearLever so the
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internal/appherder/install_url_test.go
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internal/appherder/install_url_test.go
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package appherder
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import (
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"context"
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"net/http"
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"net/http/httptest"
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"os"
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"path/filepath"
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"testing"
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)
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func TestInstallFromURLDownloadsAndCleansUp(t *testing.T) {
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srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
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w.Write([]byte("not an appimage"))
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}))
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defer srv.Close()
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home := t.TempDir()
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a := App{homeDir: func() (string, error) { return home, nil }}
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_, err := a.InstallFromURL(context.Background(), srv.URL+"/Foo.AppImage")
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if err == nil {
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t.Fatal("expected error for non-AppImage content")
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}
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matches, _ := filepath.Glob(filepath.Join(os.TempDir(), "appherder-install-*.appimage"))
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if len(matches) > 0 {
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t.Fatalf("temp files left behind: %v", matches)
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}
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}
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func TestInstallFromURLHandlesDownloadFailure(t *testing.T) {
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srv := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
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w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
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}))
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defer srv.Close()
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home := t.TempDir()
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a := App{homeDir: func() (string, error) { return home, nil }}
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if _, err := a.InstallFromURL(context.Background(), srv.URL+"/Foo.AppImage"); err == nil {
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t.Fatal("expected error for 404 download")
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}
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}