FastPrompter is a persistent, always-on snippet manager that lives in your system tray and springs into action with a single global hotkey. Born from the need to keep frequently-used text blocks, code templates, and structured prompts instantly accessible, it combines a vintage-inspired frameless UI with industrial-grade crash resilience.
Every keystroke is auto-saved to a local SQLite database. Every crash is caught, logged, and shown to you via a native Win32 MessageBox—no silent deaths.
| Principle | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Speed first | Global hotkeys summon the window in <50ms. F1-F10 paste any snippet instantly. |
| Never lose data | Real-time auto-save to SQLite with delta-based syncing. |
| Crash transparency | All exceptions dump to crash.log + native Win32 popup. |
| Pixel-perfect vintage | Frameless window + Verdana_m1.ttf + zero anti-aliasing + dark golden 95 aesthetic. |
Summon FastPrompter from any application with Alt+X. The window appears at your cursor with zero delay. Hit Esc and it vanishes—no alt-tabbing, no taskbar hunting.
- Snippets — Named, categorized text blocks organized in tabs. Page through them, search by name, drag to reorder.
- Silos — Ten (or more) unnamed scratch slots. Click a silo, type, and it's saved. F1-F10 paste the corresponding silo content directly into any active window.
- Archive — Push stale snippets/silos into the archive drawer. Searchable, restorable, never lost.
Built-in markdown toolbar with bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, horizontal rules, and auto-bullet conversion. Find & replace with context-aware search. Clean excessive newlines with one click.
| Theme | Vibe |
|---|---|
| Default | Clean light-on-dark, easy on the eyes. |
| Golden Vintage | Dark brown surfaces, golden text, classic 3D bevels. |
| Vintage Dark | Deeper shadows, more contrast. |
| Dark 2 (OLED) | True blacks for OLED panels. |
| Custom | Full RGB color configuration. |
- Single-instance IPC via
QLocalServer. A second launch sends "SHOW" to the running copy and exits. - Win32 native hotkeys via
RegisterHotKey— works even when the app is minimized. - Frameless window resizing with edge hit-test handles.
- Auto-backup every 60 seconds to
fastprompter_data.db.bak.
Everything is a keystroke away.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Alt+X |
Toggle window visibility |
Shift+Alt+X |
Show snippet pie menu at cursor |
Ctrl+Shift+L |
Lock/unlock window position |
Ctrl+Shift+E |
Toggle always-on-top |
Alt+D |
Toggle sidebar |
F1 – F10 |
Paste silo 1–10 into active window |
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Q |
Cycle snap corners across monitors |
Ctrl+N |
New empty silo |
Ctrl+S |
Save current snippet |
Ctrl+Z |
Undo |
Ctrl+D |
Toggle zen focus mode |
Ctrl+F / Ctrl+H |
Find / Replace |
Ctrl+Shift+S |
Export silo to text file |
Ctrl+Shift+C |
Clear text |
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Q |
Quit completely |
Esc |
Hide window + auto-save |
- Python 3.11+
- uv (recommended, ~10× faster than pip)
# Clone
git clone https://github.com/vacterro/fastprompter.git
cd fastprompter
# Run (uv auto-creates venv + installs deps)
uv run python FastPrompter.pyw
# Or with plain pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
python FastPrompter.pywThe entry point FastPrompter.pyw adds src/ to the Python path, routes to fastprompter.main:main_entry, and wraps everything with crash-logging + native error dialog.
Full source: github.com/vacterro/FastPrompter/tree/main
FastPrompter/
├── FastPrompter.pyw # Crash-wrapped entry point
├── pyproject.toml # PEP 621 metadata + build config
├── requirements.txt # pip deps
├── build.bat # PyInstaller one-file build
├── crash.log # Auto-generated on fatal error
├── _res/ # Logos, branding assets
│ ├── fastprompter_logo1.png
│ └── fastprompter_logo2.png
├── src/
│ └── fastprompter/
│ ├── main.py # App orchestrator, IPC, hotkeys, UI root
│ ├── core/
│ │ ├── state.py # SQLite state manager + delta sync
│ │ ├── config.py # Theme extraction, tray icon creation
│ │ └── hotkeys.py # Hotkey string → VK/modifier parsing
│ ├── ui/
│ │ ├── editor.py # VaultTextEdit – styled QTextEdit
│ │ ├── snippet_panel.py # Draggable snippet/silo buttons
│ │ ├── pie_menu.py # Quick-list popup at cursor
│ │ ├── settings.py # Hotkey & color config dialogs
│ │ ├── markdown_highlighter.py # Live MD syntax highlighting
│ │ └── backup_dialog.py # Backup/restore UI
│ ├── theme/
│ │ └── themes.py # 7 curated color themes
│ ├── sound/ # WAV click/type effects
│ └── utils/
│ └── paths.py # DB path resolution per profile
├── tests/
│ └── test_performance.py
└── tools/
└── build.py
| Component | Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GUI | PyQt 6.8+ | Mature, native Windows integration, QLocalServer IPC |
| Storage | SQLite (WAL mode) | Zero-config, crash-safe, delta-synced backups |
| Hotkeys | Win32 RegisterHotKey |
Works globally even when hidden |
| Packaging | PyInstaller / Nuitka | Single .exe distribution |
| Build | uv + hatchling | Modern PEP 621, 10× faster pip |
Built with PyQt6, powered by SQLite, inspired by the golden age of desktop software.
