Configuration

QuickLink stores data in %APPDATA%\QuickLink\:

• settings.json (app settings)
• data.json (your saved items)
• commands.json (user-defined commands)

Edit via the Settings UI (search for “Settings”).

Don’t edit these files directly. They are app-managed and manual changes may be overwritten or corrupt your data.

Settings Reference

Global Settings

{
  "HotkeyModifiers": 6,
  "HotkeyKey": 65,
  "HideFooter": true,
  "SearchUrl": "https://chatgpt.com/?q={query}",
  "ApiKey": ""
}

HotkeyModifiers

The keyboard modifiers for the global hotkey.

• 0 - None
• 2 - Ctrl
• 4 - Shift
• 6 - Ctrl + Shift
• 8 - Alt
• 10 - Ctrl + Alt
• 12 - Shift + Alt
• 14 - Ctrl + Shift + Alt

Default: 6 (Ctrl + Shift)

HotkeyKey

The key code for the global hotkey.

Common Keys:

• 65 - A
• 66 - B
• 67 - C
• 32 - Space
• 13 - Enter

You can find complete VK codes in Windows Virtual Key documentation.

Default: 65 (A)

Current Default: Ctrl + Shift + A

HideFooter

Whether to hide the footer in the search window.

• true - Hidden
• false - Visible

Default: true

SearchUrl

The URL to open when you press Enter without selecting an item.

Supported Placeholders:

• {query} - Your search text (URL-encoded)

Popular Options:

• https://google.com/search?q={query} - Google
• https://chatgpt.com/?q={query} - ChatGPT
• https://claude.ai/new?q={query} - Claude
• https://bing.com/search?q={query} - Bing
• https://www.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=search&srsearch={query} - Wikipedia

Default: https://chatgpt.com/?q={query}

ApiKey

Your xAI API key for the AI Assistant feature.

• Leave empty to disable AI features
• Required for using Grok AI integration

Default: Empty

Items (data.json)

Items are stored in data.json as a list of objects:

[
  {
    "Title": "GitHub",
    "Value": "https://github.com",
    "IsEncrypted": false
  },
  {
    "Title": "Build",
    "Value": ">dotnet build",
    "IsEncrypted": false
  }
]

Item type is inferred from Value:

• https://... / http://... → link
• >... → shell command
• anything else → text/snippet (copied to clipboard)

If IsEncrypted is true, the UI masks the value and it is stored encrypted.

User-Defined Commands (commands.json)

User-defined commands are stored in commands.json:

[
  {
    "Prefix": "/scripts",
    "Source": "Directory",
    "SourceConfig": {
      "Path": "C:\\Scripts",
      "Recursive": true,
      "Glob": "*.ps1",
      "Items": []
    },
    "ExecuteTemplate": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"{item.path}\"",
    "Icon": "Script",
    "OpenInTerminal": true
  }
]

Best Practices

1. Back up - Copy %APPDATA%\QuickLink\ regularly
2. Use the UI - Avoid JSON syntax mistakes
3. Restart after edits - Changes are loaded on startup
4. Escape backslashes - In JSON, use \\ for Windows paths
5. Use quotes - All string values must be quoted in JSON

Common Changes

Change Global Hotkey

Edit HotkeyModifiers and HotkeyKey:

{
  "HotkeyModifiers": 6,
  "HotkeyKey": 32
}

This sets the hotkey to Ctrl + Shift + Space.

Change Search Engine

Update SearchUrl:

{
  "SearchUrl": "https://google.com/search?q={query}"
}

Add AI API Key

{
  "ApiKey": "your-xai-api-key-here"
}

Troubleshooting

Settings won’t save in UI:

• Check that settings.json exists
• Verify QuickLink has write permissions to %APPDATA%\QuickLink\
• Try editing directly

Settings revert after restart:

• Close QuickLink completely
• Edit settings.json
• Restart QuickLink

JSON is corrupted:

• Restore from backup
• Use a JSON validator to check syntax
• Restart QuickLink

Full Example

Here’s a complete settings.json file:

{
  "HotkeyModifiers": 6,
  "HotkeyKey": 65,
  "HideFooter": true,
  "SearchUrl": "https://chat.openai.com/?q={query}",
  "ApiKey": "xai-api-key-here",
  "Items": [
    {
      "Type": 0,
      "Name": "GitHub",
      "Value": "https://github.com"
    },
    {
      "Type": 1,
      "Name": "Email Signature",
      "Value": "Best regards,\nJohn Doe\njohn@example.com"
    },
    {
      "Type": 2,
      "Name": "Lock PC",
      "Value": ">rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation"
    },
    {
      "Type": 4,
      "Name": "Scripts",
      "Trigger": "/scripts",
      "SourceType": 0,
      "Path": "C:\\Scripts",
      "GlobPattern": "*.ps1",
      "Recursive": true,
      "ExecuteTemplate": "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"{item.path}\"",
      "Terminal": true
    }
  ]
}