[PowerToys Run] Start customizable web search from run

[CombeeMike]

Summary of the new feature/enhancement

In short

I'd like to see the features of the Webby plugin in Launchy being available in run.

In long

Allow starting web searches directly from the run tool by entering some search target + a search term and pressing enter.

I could imagine using some special character like > for shell plugin here as well. This could look something like this (just an idea):

• The term # ddg powertoys should open the URL https://duckduckgo.com/?q=powertoys in my default browser
  • # -> Websearch
  • ddg -> The search target, duckduckgo here.
  • powertoys -> The search term

The mapping search target -> url should be freely configurable. E.g. in launchy I use the following:

• dict -> https://dict.cc?s=%1
• dictesp -> https://dict.leo.org/esde?lp=esde&lang=de&search=%1
• ddg -> https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%1
• mdn -> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q=%1
• ...

This should also work without a search term & URI params to simply make URLs available via run:

• Notion -> https://www.notion.so/

[mbaas2]

Great idea, +1!

Actually...after typing # - that could already populate the "result list" with a preview of configured searches and their acronyms. (And if you clicked "Notion" there - it should launch immediately, as it has needs further params)

And maybe we can even expand that "parameter-idea" and make it more versatile: if your URL has %n, n can be any int, so you can use multiple arguments to build a call. If n is followed by "text", that text is the prompt for the parameter. And there'd be a history of params used (per search) :)

[jyuwono]

great feedback, thank you! I'm going to close this issue and use #3245 to track the suggestions.

[CombeeMike]

This has been closed as duplicate of #3245. However, the concrete features requested here (freely configurable "search targets") have IMHO not been implemented, which is why I'd really appreciate if this could be re-opened as "stand alone" or "follow up" feature request to #3245.

[Aaron-Junker]

This has been closed as duplicate of #3245. However, the concrete features requested here (freely configurable "search targets") have IMHO not been implemented, which is why I'd really appreciate if this could be re-opened as "stand alone" or "follow up" feature request to #3245.

I agree

[madsholme]

why has custom search with keyword and custum urls not been implanted yet? how hard can that be..? it would make powertools run much more usefull..

[programcsharp]

Yep, this is the one thing blocking me from using PowerToys Run instead of a different launcher. Got to have those configurable prefixes for different search engines!

[mikeparkie]

I couldn't agree more. Would also improve my FireFox experience, as Open Search isn't as plain sailing as Chromium based browsers.

[nortakales]

The crazy thing to me is that this seems like the killer feature for this tool, but it doesn't exist after all this time somehow. I type in my Chrome address bar more often than any other location, hands down. Having access to that with a quick hotkey would be sick.

[Daydreamer-riri]

Hey guys, I implemented a plugin that might do something similar: WebSearchShortcut.

I'm not sure if this meets your needs. Perhaps you could try it out and make some suggestions? I am not a skilled dotnet developer, but I will try to make this plugin as good as possible.

[madsholme]

Hey guys, I implemented a plugin that might do something similar: WebSearchShortcut.

I'm not sure if this meets your needs. Perhaps you could try it out and make some suggestions? I am not a skilled dotnet developer, but I will try to make this plugin as good as possible.

close, but i would like to do triggers for each search query so i could do

con for a confluence search j for a jira search

and then define earch search url and query for each of those.

[Daydreamer-riri]

Hey guys, I implemented a plugin that might do something similar: WebSearchShortcut.

I'm not sure if this meets your needs. Perhaps you could try it out and make some suggestions? I am not a skilled dotnet developer, but I will try to make this plugin as good as possible.

close, but i would like to do triggers for each search query so i could do

con for a confluence search j for a jira search

and then define earch search url and query for each of those.

I think this can be achieved without affecting existing functions. This may be put into the next version.

[madsholme]

Hey guys, I implemented a plugin that might do something similar: WebSearchShortcut. I'm not sure if this meets your needs. Perhaps you could try it out and make some suggestions? I am not a skilled dotnet developer, but I will try to make this plugin as good as possible.

close, but i would like to do triggers for each search query so i could do con for a confluence search j for a jira search and then define earch search url and query for each of those.

I think this can be achieved without affecting existing functions. This may be put into the next version.

that would be awesome :)

[Daydreamer-riri]

@madsholme Can you raise an issue in this repository? Then we can discuss it further there.

[Daydreamer-riri]

Hi @CombeeMike, @nortakales, @mikeparkie and everyone, I think my plugin WebSearchShortcut already implements the feature proposed in this issue. Welcome to use it and make good suggestions for improvement!