Ferrum

Ferrum Launcher

Alpha

Installs, updates, rolls back and launches every Ferrum app from one window.

One app to manage the whole Ferrum family, in the spirit of an IDE launcher. Every version of every app is a GitHub Release; the launcher installs the one you pick and keeps the others a click away.

Download Launcher

Apps it installs

What Ferrum Launcher does

Install the launcher once; it takes care of the rest.

  • Every app in one window

    See each Ferrum app with its active version, or "Not installed", and an update badge when a newer release exists.

  • One-click install and update

    Download progress with cancel, several apps at once, and checksum verification before anything is installed.

  • Roll back any time

    Every release is listed with its date, size and notes. Install, activate or remove any version.

  • Automatic updates

    Checks on startup and every few hours. The launcher updates itself in place: it downloads the new version, replaces the app and restarts.

  • Command-line links

    The active version of each app is linked into ~/.ferrum/bin, so ferrumapi, ferrumgit and the rest run from a shell.

  • Safe installs

    Archives are unpacked into a staging folder and moved into place, so a failed or cancelled install leaves nothing behind.

Status: Alpha

Ferrum Launcher is in alpha. Its install, checksum, unpacking and version-pruning logic is covered by automated tests against a local fake release server.

What it manages

  • Ferrum Editor, FerrumAPI, FerrumGIT, FerrumData, FerrumTerm, FerrumKit, FerrumContainers, FerrumPorts and FerrumEnv
  • Itself: new launcher versions install in place and restart the app
  • Keeps the last 3 versions of each app by default
  • Shell commands like `fee .` to open Ferrum Editor on the current folder, `feg .` for FerrumGIT or `fet` for FerrumTerm, and `fep` and `fev` for FerrumPorts and FerrumEnv, each turned on per app
  • Global shortcuts, a menu bar icon and hiding any app from the Dock (macOS)

No sign-in

  • No sign-in: apps download from public GitHub Releases
  • An optional GitHub token only for private forks or higher API rate limits
  • A token, if set, is never written to the launcher state file or to logs

Requirements & built with

Get it
Free DMG for Apple Silicon Macs (see Download)
Installers
macOS today; Windows and Linux coming soon
Releases
Tagged <app>-v<semver> in Amygdal-doo/ferrum-releases
Built with
Rust, GPUI, reqwest + rustls

The macOS build is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning.