Raycast Pro

---
name: raycast-pro
description: Master Raycast on macOS: commands, extensions, AI, clipboard history, window management, and custom scripts. Use when turning Raycast into the central command layer of a Mac workflow.
category: productivity
---

# Raycast Pro

## Overview

Raycast replaces Spotlight with a faster, extensible command bar: launch apps, search files, run extensions, manage windows and clipboard — all keyboard-driven.

Its power is the extension store plus script commands: almost anything scriptable becomes a Raycast command.

Pro usage means: Raycast-first for launching and searching, extensions for frequent services, custom scripts for personal workflows.

## When to use

- Setting up Raycast as a Spotlight replacement
- Choosing and configuring extensions for daily workflows
- Building custom script commands for personal automation
- Using Raycast for window management and clipboard history
- Speeding up common Mac tasks with a command-bar workflow

## Core concepts

- **Universal command bar.**
  One hotkey (Cmd+Space, taking over from Spotlight) for apps, files, actions, calculations, and commands. The single entry point.
- **Extensions.**
  Store extensions for Jira, GitHub, Notion, Todoist, Spotify, translators, and hundreds more. Install only what you'll use weekly.
- **AI commands.**
  Built-in AI for quick answers, text transforms, and custom prompts with hotkeys. Treat as a fast assistant, not a search engine.
- **Clipboard history.**
  Every copy saved, searchable, pinnable. Snippets and history turn re-typing into recall.
- **Window management.**
  Built-in commands: halves, thirds, quadrants, next display, almost-maximize. Assign hotkeys to your 4-6 most-used layouts.
- **Script commands.**
  Shell, Python, or AppleScript files become commands with arguments. Your personal automation library, searchable in one place.
- **Quicklinks and aliases.**
  Bookmark frequent URLs, files, and folders with short aliases. Type 3 letters, hit enter — you're there.
- **Fallback commands.**
  When no match: search Google, open in app, create note. Configure fallbacks so the bar never dead-ends.

## Practical workflow

1. **Take over the hotkey.**
   Set Raycast to Cmd+Space, disable Spotlight's binding. Commit fully — split-brain launching kills the habit.
2. **Learn the basics week one.**
   App launching, file search, calculations, clipboard history. Force Raycast-first for everything for a week.
3. **Install 5-10 extensions.**
   Only services you touch daily. Configure API keys via the extension preferences; test each command once.
4. **Set up clipboard history.**
   Enable, set history size and exclusions (password managers excluded by default — verify). Learn the paste-from-history hotkey.
5. **Assign window hotkeys.**
   Your 4-6 layouts on memorable hotkeys. Window management becomes reflex, not menu-diving.
6. **Create 3 script commands.**
   Start with real annoyances: file a screenshot, start a timer, open today's notes. Put scripts in version control.
7. **Build quicklinks.**
   Alias your 10 most-visited URLs, folders, and files. Three keystrokes to anywhere.
8. **Prune quarterly.**
   Remove unused extensions and stale quicklinks. A command bar with 200 entries is a junk drawer.

## Common pitfalls

- **Running Spotlight alongside.**
  Two launchers = neither becomes reflex. Pick one. (It's Raycast.)
- **Extension hoarding.**
  40 extensions installed, 35 unused. Each is config and update surface. Install on proven need.
- **Ignoring clipboard history.**
  Re-typing things you copied an hour ago. The history is there — build the recall hotkey habit.
- **No window hotkeys.**
  Using Raycast only as a launcher wastes half its value. Window layouts on hotkeys is transformative.
- **Script commands without version control.**
  Clever scripts living only in Raycast's folder. Back them up; they're your automation library.
- **AI as search replacement.**
  Asking the AI things that need current facts or sources. AI for transforms and drafts; search for facts.
- **Default hotkey conflicts.**
  Overlapping bindings with apps. Audit conflicts when adding hotkeys; keep a personal hotkey map note.
- **Never updating.**
  Extensions and Raycast itself update with fixes and features. Update monthly, not never.