Flow.Launcher.Plugin.Add2Path

A Flow Launcher plugin for managing your PATH environment variable.

pm install add2path

Version 2.0, which features new options, important bug fixes, many improvements, and a complete overhaul, is now out! Here's a rundown of the crucial changes.

Warning

Dealing with environment variables is dangerous and can break things. Though I have tried to make this plugin as safe to use as I can, I cannot guarantee that it won't break or corrupt your PATH environment variable.

Use at your own risk. I am not responsible if this plugin breaks things for you.

Important

Editing system PATH requires administrator priveledges. This means that Flow Launcher will show a popup requesting administrator priveledges every time this plugin is used with the !system flag. To make FlowLauncher always run as administrator, see Running as Administrator.

Usage

• Add to PATH: path add <!system or leave blank> <folder path>
• Remove from PATH: path remove <!system or leave blank> <folder path>
• List all entries in PATH and copy to clipboard: path list <!system or leave blank>
• Get current PATH value (semicolon delimited) and copy to clipboard: path get <!system or leave blank>

Note: There is no set command because I can't think of any practical use for it. Plus, completely overwriting your PATH can break a lot of things. If you really want to do it anyway, you can do it manually via the "Edit the system environment variables" screen.

New in Version 2.0

Version 2.0 adds the ability to specify system PATH. While user PATH remains the default, you can now add !system to the query, and the command will operate on the system PATH rather than the user PATH. This works for all commands.

For example, instead of path add C:\foo, you can type path add !system C:\foo.

The !sytem flag is case-sensitive. Make sure there are no spaces in it, and that it is a separate term (surrounded with spaces).

The !system flag must appear directly after the command (e.g. add or get), or else it will be interpreted as part of the inputted folder path - for example, path add C:\foo !system will not trigger the flag; instead, the literal path C:\foo !system will be added to the user PATH.

Important

Editing system PATH requires administrator privileges. This means that Flow Launcher will show a popup requesting administrator privileges every time this plugin is used with the !system flag. To make FlowLauncher always run as administrator, see Running as Administrator.

Other Changes

Besides the addition of the !system flag, several major changes are included in this version. These include:

• An entirely new and reworked interface that makes using the plugin more intuitive
• A batch script to configure FlowLauncher to always run as administrator (to allow editing of the system PATH)
• Several major bug fixes (including input sanitization)
• Improved error handling and messages
• Folder path validation
• A feature to avoid and fix corruption of the PATH environmental variable. Along with all these new features, the code has been fully refactored and improved.

Running as Administrator

Finding FlowLauncher exe

By default, FlowLauncher's executable (Flow.Launcher.exe) should be installed to %LocalAppData%\FlowLauncher. However, this may differ if you have the portable version installed.

Manual Setup

Once you've found Flowlauncher's executable file, you can configure it to always run as administrator:

1. Open the containing folder (again, should be %LocalAppData%\FlowLauncher) in file manager
2. Right-click the file (Flow.Launcher.exe) and select Properties
3. Go to the Compatibility tab
4. Check Run this program as an administrator
5. Hit OK

Or, if you want the official Microsoft guide: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-11/how-to-run-app-as-administrator-by-default-in-windows-11/m-p/3033704

Command-line Setup

Here's a script I hacked together with ChatGPT that automatically configures FlowLauncher to always run as administrator.

Todo

• Commands to backup (path backup <!system or leave blank>) and restore (path restore <!system or leave blank>) PATH using a separate environmental variable

Credits

The Plugin Icon is a screenshot of the icon Windows shows you when you go to the Start Menu and type Edit the sytem environment variables.