DEX(1)

✨ NAME ✨

dex — DesktopEntry Execution 💅 (that's the dex section of the manual, bestie)

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dex [options] [DesktopEntryFile]...

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so dex — short for DesktopEntry Execution — is literally a program that generates and executes DesktopEntry files of the Application type. that's it, that's the whole vibe. no cap. 🎀

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -h, --help — shows you this help message and then dips 👋
• --action ACTION — the identifier of an "additional application action" you wanna operate on. you might know these as a quicklist/jumplist entry, iykyk 💅
• -a, --autostart — autostart programs, babe. go go go 🏃‍♀️
• -c PATH, --create PATH — creates a DesktopEntry file for the program sitting at the given path 🫶. there's an optional second argument that specifies the filename of the created DesktopEntry file — or you can pass the filename - to print the file to stdout instead. by default, a new file gets created with the .desktop file extension.
• -d, --dry-run — dry run, so like… don't execute any command. window shopping only 🛍️
• -e ENVIRONMENT, --environment ENVIRONMENT — specify which Desktop Environment an autostart should be performed for. pspsps, this only works in combination with --autostart ⚠️
• -p PROPERTY, --property PROPERTY — displays a DesktopEntry property value. the supported properties are: Type, Version, Name, NoDisplay, Hidden, OnlyShowIn, NotShowIn, TryExec, Exec, Path, Terminal, Actions, StartupNotify, StartupWMClass, URL. and for ACTIONs? only Name and Exec are supported, sorry babes 💀
• -s SEARCHPATHS, --search-paths SEARCHPATHS — a colon separated list of paths to search for desktop files, which overrides the default search list 🌈
• -t DIRECTORY, --target-directory DIRECTORY — create files in target directory 📁
• --term TERM — the terminal emulator that'll be used to run the program if Terminal=true is set in the desktop file. defaults to x-terminal-emulator 🖥️
• -w, --wait — block until the program exits. sit there. wait. patience is a virtue fr fr ⏳
• --test — perform a self-test 🧪
• -v, --verbose — verbose output, so you get all the tea ☕
• -V, --version — display version information 👑

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🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

Perform an autostart/execute all programs in the autostart folders.

dex -a

Perform an autostart/execute all programs in the specified folders.

dex -a -s /etc/xdg/autostart/:~/.config/autostart/

Preview the programs would be executed in a regular autostart.

dex -ad

Preview the programs would be executed in a GNOME specific autostart.

dex -ad -e GNOME

Preview the value of DesktopEntry property Name.

dex -p Name htop.desktop

Create a DesktopEntry for a program in the current directory.

dex -c /usr/bin/skype

Create a DesktopEntry for a programs in autostart directory.

dex -t ~/.config/autostart -c /usr/bin/skype /usr/bin/nm-applet

Execute a single program from command line and enable verbose output.

dex -v skype.desktop

Execute a single program (with Terminal=true in the desktop file) in gnome-terminal.

dex --term gnome-terminal nvim.desktop

Execute a single program and block until it exits.

dex --wait nvim.desktop

Execute a specifified application action.

dex --action new-private-window firefox.desktop

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👑 Author 👑

big love and credit to Jan Christoph Ebersbach and Johannes Löthberg — the icons who made this 💖

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aaaand that's a wrap bestie 🫶 this was dex-0.10.1, dated Jan 16, 2026. slay, go autostart something iconic ✨🌸💅