Productivity utilities · checked 2026-10-14

Can I vibecode Raycast Pro?

KINDA· weekend project

The Pro extras for one person are mostly plumbing around macOS: a global hotkey and floating panel, an app index, a clipboard watcher writing to SQLite, snippets, notes as files and a streaming chat window. A competent agent can get that working in Swift over a weekend. The gaps are the reasons people pay: the Store with thousands of extensions, window management that copes with odd apps and several displays, sync between machines, Windows, and macOS permissions that you must grant again after unsigned rebuilds. If extensions matter, SuperCmd and Vicinae already run Raycast's, so start there rather than from zero.

$10/moprice

$120you'd save a year

weekendbuild time

—people replaced it

Before you start

What you need on hand.

DifficultyAdvanced · Real infrastructure or OAuth work.

TimeA weekend; permissions and signing take the first hours

Claude Code, Codex or CursorAny of them can run the prompt.
A Mac on macOS 14+ with Xcode or the command-line toolsThe prompt builds a native Swift app, so Linux and Windows won't work.
An Anthropic API key or OllamaOnly the AI panel needs it; the rest runs without any account.
Time to grant AccessibilitySnippet expansion and window commands need it, and an unsigned rebuild can reset the grant.

Before you buildRaycast Free already gives you the launcher, snippets and quicklinks. Pro adds AI, sync, unlimited notes and clipboard history, so check whether you use those before building.

1. Install one agent: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor.
2. Make an empty folder and open it in the agent.
3. Paste the prompt below, press enter, and answer its questions as it builds.

The prompt

Build me a macOS launcher to replace Raycast Pro. Requirements:

- Swift 6 with SwiftUI and AppKit, macOS 14+, built by `swift build` or `xcodebuild`. A
menu-bar app (LSUIElement), no Dock icon. Packages: GRDB for SQLite and
KeyboardShortcuts (sindresorhus) for the global hotkey.
- Option+Space opens a floating NSPanel with one search field; Esc closes it. Results come
from installed apps (NSMetadataQuery over /Applications and ~/Applications), quicklinks,
snippets, clipboard entries and notes, ranked by fuzzy match and recent use.
- Clipboard history: poll NSPasteboard every 500 ms and store text and image entries in GRDB
at ~/Library/Application Support/MyLauncher/launcher.db with no size cap. Skip entries marked
org.nspasteboard.ConcealedType and apps on an ignore list. Pin and delete entries; Return
pastes the selected one into the frontmost app.
- Snippets: a keyword plus text with {clipboard} and {date} placeholders, expanded when the
keyword is typed in any app. Ask for the Accessibility permission with a short explanation.
- Quicklinks: a name, a URL template containing {query} and an optional alias, so `gh swift`
opens a GitHub search.
- Notes: Markdown files in ~/Documents/LauncherNotes/, Cmd+N opens a small editor, and note
text is searchable from the main box.
- AI chat: Tab from an empty search opens a panel that streams from the Anthropic Messages
API or a local Ollama URL. ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, MODEL and OLLAMA_URL come from a .env file in
the Application Support folder. Conversations are saved in the same database.
- Window commands through the Accessibility API: left half, right half, maximise, centre,
next display.
- Single user. No accounts, no telemetry, local-first. Outbound calls: the AI provider only.
- Out of scope: an extension store, cloud sync, Windows, iOS, dictation, translation.
- README: build and run, granting Accessibility, and a warning that unsigned rebuilds make
macOS ask for permissions again, with the ad-hoc signing steps that avoid it.

Opens your agent with the prompt filled in, you press enter. Or copy it and paste it into an empty folder.

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Then keep going

Next prompts, same folder.

The first prompt builds the core. Run these one at a time in the same folder to grow it into your own Raycast Pro.

Add an importer to the launcher in this folder. Requirements:

- Read the JSON files produced by Raycast's Export Snippets and Export Quicklinks commands.
- Map Raycast placeholders ({clipboard}, {date}, {argument}) to ours; list every placeholder
  that has no equivalent instead of dropping it silently.
- Skip entries whose keyword or alias already exists and print a summary of what was added.
- A Settings button opens a file picker; add tests with a sample export.
- Update the README.

Add folder sync to the launcher in this folder. Requirements:

- A setting for a sync folder (iCloud Drive, Dropbox or any directory).
- Write snippets, quicklinks and settings as one JSON file per item with a modified timestamp;
  notes stay as Markdown files.
- On launch and every 60 seconds, merge by newest timestamp, keep tombstones for deletions
  and never overwrite a file that changed in the last 5 seconds.
- Leave clipboard history and AI chats out of the sync.
- Update the README with the conflict rules.

Add script commands to the launcher in this folder. Requirements:

- Scan ~/Library/Application Support/MyLauncher/scripts for executable files.
- Read a header comment (# title:, # icon:, # argument:) and show each script as a result.
- Run it with the typed argument, a 10-second timeout and a restricted PATH from a setting;
  show stdout in a result panel and copy it on Cmd+C.
- Never run anything that is not executable by the current user and log every run.
- Update the README with two example scripts.

What you lose

The Store and its thousands of community extensions
Cloud sync of settings, snippets and notes between machines
The Windows and iOS apps, plus the Pro dictation and translator
Window management that handles odd apps and several displays
One subscription that covers many AI models; you pay your provider per token instead

Why people still pay

People who already live in Raycast pay for what sits around the launcher: AI chat across several models, unlimited clipboard history and notes, and sync, all inside a tool whose extensions keep working. A home-built launcher means maintaining those pieces, and the macOS permission quirks, yourself.

Moatintegrations execution polish

Do the math

Raycast Pro or your own copy?

Over

Your usage

Count my time12h ×$/h

Raycast Pro, 1 yr$120

Your own copy, 1 yr$43running + build session

You keep$78pays for itself in 2 months

Estimate · The app costs nothing to run. AI chat is billed per token by your provider, a few dollars a month for light use, or nothing on Ollama. A native Swift build takes more agent iterations than a web app.

Leaving Raycast Pro

Take your data, then cancel.

1 · Take your data out of Raycast Pro

1Run the Export Settings & Data command in Raycast (Mac or Windows) and set a passphrase of at least 8 characters. You get one encrypted .rayconfig file with settings, hotkeys, aliases, snippets, quicklinks, notes, installed extensions and more.
2Snippets and Quicklinks can also be exported on their own as plain JSON with the Export Snippets and Export Quicklinks commands.
3Pro can schedule exports to a folder, which keeps a fresh backup copy off the machine.

2 · Cancel Raycast Pro

1Open raycast.com/settings/account and turn off auto-renewal for the subscription.
2Pro stays until the renewal date, after which the account returns to Free.

Export first: the Free plan keeps 5 notes and 3 months of clipboard history, and cloud sync is a paid feature. The manual does not say what happens to synced data after a downgrade.
The manual lists clipboard history in the .rayconfig export, but its note on moving from Raycast v1 says it is left out, so check the file before relying on it.
Cancel before the trial ends if you don't want to be charged; each account gets only one trial and resubscribing bills at once.
Unused AI credits stop working on Free, so spend them before the renewal date.

Checked 2026-10-14 against Raycast Pro's docs: 1, 2, 3

The escape hatch

Don't feel like building it? These are already free.

SuperCmdOpen sourceElectron launcher with AI chat, clipboard history, snippets and notes. It runs Raycast extensions and can import an encrypted .rayconfig backup.★ 3.2k · active Jul 2026 · one-click install
macOSVisit ↗VicinaeOpen sourceNative keyboard launcher with clipboard history, a text expander, file search and extensions compatible with Raycast's React API; GPL-3.0.★ 10k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
Linux, macOSVisit ↗SolOpen sourcemacOS launcher and command palette with a clipboard manager, window manager and script runner; installs with Homebrew; MIT.★ 3.2k · active Oct 2026 · one-click install
macOSVisit ↗

All 4 free alternatives to Raycast Pro ›

The numbers

Raycast Pro pricing

Plan	Monthly	Annual, per month	What you get
Free	$0	$0	Core launcher, thousands of extensions, 5 notes, clipboard history for 3 months. No AI, cloud sync, dictation, custom themes, translator or custom window commands.
Pro	$10	$8	Unlimited notes and clipboard history, AI with fast models and your own keys, 500 AI credits a month, cloud sync, dictation, custom themes, translator, custom window commands.
Plus	$20	$16	Everything in Pro plus top-tier AI models and 3,000 credits a month.
Max	$50	$40	Everything in Plus with 7,500 credits a month.
Teams Free	$0	$0	Free features for unlimited members, a private store and sharing of up to 5 commands and 30 snippets and quicklinks each. No AI.
Teams Pro	$15	$12	Pro per user, with shared commands, quicklinks and snippets. No seat minimum or maximum.
Enterprise	custom	—	Teams Pro plus AI controls, SAML and SCIM, domain capture and allow-lists.

Free tier: 5 notes, 3 months of clipboard history, no AI, sync, dictation, themes or translator.
Billing: Monthly or yearly (the yearly Pro price of $96 is 20 percent below twelve monthly payments). Renews on the same date automatically; one free trial per account; verified students get 50 percent off Pro.
Hidden costs: AI runs on credits: Pro includes 500 a month, unused credits expire after 60 days, and top-tier models need Plus or Max. Top-up credits are extra and need an active paid plan. AI is off on Free, so leftover credits stop working after you cancel.
Source: www.raycast.com

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Questions

Raycast Pro, briefly

Not answered here? Tell us and we'll add it.

Ask a question ›

Free keeps the launcher and extensions, with 5 notes, 3 months of clipboard history and no AI or cloud sync.

Kinda. The core is a weekend build with the prompt on this page, but real gaps remain: The Store and its thousands of community extensions, Cloud sync of settings, snippets and notes between machines.

About $10 a month on the Pro plan, $120 a year (checked 2026-10-14).

The Store and its thousands of community extensions; Cloud sync of settings, snippets and notes between machines; The Windows and iOS apps, plus the Pro dictation and translator; Window management that handles odd apps and several displays; One subscription that covers many AI models; you pay your provider per token instead. If any of those matter to you, keep paying.