Launching Kando from a Terminal

Sometimes it is useful to run Kando from the command line in order to see the output of the application. If you installed Kando via a package manager or via one of the installers from GitHub, Kando’s executable will be located in one of the following directories:

Windows

On Windows, the path to the executable depends on the current version number. Just copy %localappdata%\Kando into the address bar of the Windows Explorer and check the contained directories.

%localappdata%\Kando\app-<version number>\Kando.exe

macOS

On macOS, the executable is located in the following directory:

/Applications/Kando.app/Contents/MacOS/Kando

Grant Permissions!

If you run Kando from the command line, you need to grant the required permissions to the terminal. See Installing on macOS to learn which permissions are required.

Linux

On Linux, this depends on the installation method. The executable is usually located in one of the following directories:

/usr/bin/kando
/usr/local/bin/kando

Flatpak

flatpak run menu.kando.Kando

Command Line Interface

Kando comes with a command line interface (CLI) that allows you to interact with Kando from the terminal. For now, these commands are available:

--help

Prints the help message for the CLI.

--version or -v

Prints the version of Kando.

--menu "Menu Name" or -m "Menu Name"

Opens the menu with the given name. This also works if Kando is already running. In this case, the menu will be opened in the running instance.

This behaves as if the menu’s shortcut had been pressed, so all context conditions are checked. Also, if multiple menus have the same name, the one with the most specific conditions will be opened. Furthermore, if a menu is already open, calling this command will be like pressing the shortcut again - so it will either close the menu or cycle through the matching menus depending on your settings.

--trigger <shortcut> or -t <shortcut> new!

Opens the menu which is assigned to the given shortcut or shortcut ID. This also works if Kando is already running. In this case, the menu will be opened in the running instance.

This behaves as if the shortcut had been pressed, so all context conditions are checked. Also, if multiple menus are bound to the same shortcut, the one with the most specific conditions will be opened. Furthermore, if a menu is already open, calling this command will be like pressing the shortcut again - so it will either close the menu or cycle through the matching menus depending on your settings.

--close-menu new!

Closes the currently opened menu. This will do nothing if no menu is shown or Kando is not running.

--settings or -s

Opens the settings window. This also works if Kando is already running. In this case, the settings window will be opened in the running instance.

--reload-menu-theme

Reloads the menu theme. This can be useful if you are developing a theme and want to see the changes without restarting Kando.

--reload-sound-theme

Reloads the sound theme. This can be useful if you are developing a theme and want to hear the changes without restarting Kando.