Native macOS workspace switcher with search and preview

[rvk7895]

Summary

A standalone, native macOS workspace switcher for AeroSpace — inspired by the dmenu/rofi workflow common in i3/sway on Linux. It presents a Spotlight-style floating panel that lists all active workspaces alongside their window contents, with real-time search filtering.

Screenshot

Motivation

With a large number of workspaces, recalling which workspace contains which application becomes difficult. The existing alt-N keybindings require you to already know where things are. A searchable workspace overview bridges that gap — you can find a window by app name or title and jump directly to it.

How it works

• Triggered via an exec-and-forget keybinding (e.g. ctrl-alt-space)
• A borderless floating panel appears, listing all non-empty workspaces with their app names and window titles
• Workspaces are annotated with FOCUSED / VISIBLE badges
• Real-time filtering by workspace name, app name, or window title
• Keyboard-driven: arrow keys to navigate, Enter to switch, Escape to dismiss
• Uses only 3 aerospace CLI calls for fast startup

Implementation

Single-file Swift tool (main.swift) compiled with swiftc against AppKit and Carbon. No external dependencies. Follows the same standalone companion-tool pattern as other community integrations.

Prior art

• Spacelist — terminal UI with similar functionality
• dmenu / rofi workspace switching in i3/sway

Proposal

I would like to contribute this as an entry on the Goodies page, alongside existing community tools like Spacelist. Happy to submit a PR with the documentation and source.

[rvk7895]

Update: The tool is now available as a standalone repository.
Repository: https://github.com/rvk7895/aerospace-workspace-switcher

Quick install

git clone https://github.com/rvk7895/aerospace-workspace-switcher.git
cd aerospace-workspace-switcher
make install PREFIX=~/.local

Then add to ~/.aerospace.toml:

[mode.main.binding]
ctrl-alt-space = 'exec-and-forget aerospace-workspace-switcher'

Happy to submit a Goodies page PR whenever this gets the green light.