maxlaunchpad

Configuration, Profiles & Storage

Q: Do I need global variables to switch projects?

Some developers want to bind commands like npm start to keys while working across multiple projects. It is tempting to introduce a global “current project” variable that can be referenced in filePath, arguments, or workingDirectory so that switching projects only requires changing that single variable.

For now, MaxLaunchpad does not introduce a general-purpose global variable system for project switching.

Instead, the recommended alternatives are:

• Bind different commands directly to different keys.
• If you need more separation, bind different keys in different tabs.
• When those are not enough, use multiple keyboard profiles (for example: work-project-a.yaml, work-project-b.yaml, personal.yaml).

And hard-code the appropriate filePath / arguments / workingDirectory for that specific project.

This keeps the product simple and predictable, while still giving developers a clear way to have different setups per project.

Rationale:

• The product is intentionally minimal and focused on reliability, not on building a full scripting or templating layer.
• The configuration system already has keys, tabs, profiles which naturally map to different projects or contexts.
• Introducing custom global variables would add significant complexity: new schema, UI to manage variables, interpolation rules, and interactions with OS or shell environment variables.

If a strong, recurring user need emerges for “one keyboard layout, many projects” where only a base directory changes, we can revisit this and consider a very constrained feature (for example, a single baseDirectory per profile with limited interpolation). For now, profiles are the supported way to switch between projects.

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