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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutehandlr-regex is a Linux command-line tool for setting default applications by file extension or MIME type, with an added option to route matching URLs or other inputs using regular expressions. Use its standard set commands for ordinary file types; define a regex handler in its TOML configuration when the choice depends on a pattern.
What handlr-regex does
handlr-regex describes itself as a fork of handlr that adds regex-based handlers. The project README puts its aim this way: “Manage your default applications with ease using handlr! Now with the power of regular expressions!” That is the project’s own description, rather than an independent performance assessment. Its documented tools cover both conventional defaults and pattern-based routing.
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- Set a handler for a file extension or MIME type.
- Match inputs against regular expressions and run a configured command.
- Determine MIME types using file extensions and contents.
- Open multiple files at once.
- Optionally choose among handlers using a selector such as rofi or dmenu.
- Use helper commands in scripts, including JSON output.
For a dated version reference, docs.rs lists handlr-regex 0.13.0 with a release date of 2025-05-29. That entry does not establish which version is latest now. Check the project’s current package or release information before relying on a version-specific installation command.
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Set a default app by extension or MIME type
For a conventional file type, use handlr set followed by the extension or MIME type and the relevant desktop-entry identifier. The README gives these examples:
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handlr set .png feh.desktop
handlr set application/pdf evince.desktopThese are examples, not a guarantee that feh.desktop or evince.desktop exists on your system. Use an application entry that is installed and recognized by your desktop environment.
Check and inspect handlers
Use get to inspect a particular association and list to view configured handlers:
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handlr get .png
handlr listThe README also demonstrates a MIME wildcard such as text/*. To ask handlr-regex what MIME type it detects for a path or URL, use:
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The general open command accepts a path or URL:
handlr open <path-or-URL>This is useful when you want to invoke the configured routing directly. The project also documents opening multiple files in one invocation.
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Route URLs or other inputs with regular expressions
Regex handlers are configured in ~/.config/handlr/handlr.toml. Each [[handlers]] entry pairs an execution command with one or more regular expressions. The README illustrates routing YouTube URLs to FreeTube; that is a configuration example, not an application bundled with handlr-regex.
A simplified shape of the documented configuration is:
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[[handlers]]
exec = "your-command"
regexes = ["your-pattern"]Replace the example command and pattern with the command you want to run and the input pattern it should match. Keep the TOML structure and quote strings as required. Regex routing is appropriate when a broad file-type rule is not enough—for example, when different URLs should open in different applications based on their text.
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| Need | Documented approach |
|---|---|
| Choose an app for a file type | Set a default by extension or MIME type with handlr set. |
| Route according to input text, such as a URL pattern | Add a [[handlers]] entry with an exec command and regexes. |
| Choose among multiple matching handlers interactively | Enable enable_selector and optionally configure a selector command such as rofi or dmenu, then add the handlers. |
| Expand wildcards | Wildcard expansion is optional and off by default; enable it only if that behavior is wanted. |
The README documents these as configuration options; it does not provide benchmark results or an independent comparison of matching approaches.
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Install handlr-regex
The project README lists three installation routes. Availability and package details can change, so check the project’s current instructions for the route you choose.
- Arch Linux:
sudo pacman -S handlr-regex. - Cargo:
cargo install handlr-regex. - Release binary: download a release binary and place it somewhere on your
PATH.
The project also documents an optional user-scoped script for using handlr-regex in place of xdg-open. This is a separate integration choice, not a prerequisite for using the handlr commands.
Configure terminal handlers when needed
Launching a terminal application can require extra configuration because terminal emulators do not all accept the same command-line arguments. If a handler does not launch as expected, the README advises checking term_exec_args in ~/.config/handlr/handlr.toml. Its examples account for emulators that use -e, require another argument, or need no extra argument. Match this setting to the terminal emulator actually installed on your system.
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