AppImage Manager

A lightweight, native AppImage manager for KDE Plasma 6, built with a core philosophy of complete source agnosticism.

Disclaimer: This project is vibecoded - built with heavy AI assistance. It is also an independent, community-driven effort and is not affiliated with or endorsed by KDE or the KDE e.V. organization.

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Installation

Arch Linux (AUR) - recommended

paru -S appimage-manager-plasma

Note: libappimage is an AUR dependency and will be pulled in automatically by your AUR helper.

Other distributions

Other distros are not yet validated. Build from source at your own risk - see Build & Install below.

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Features

• Dashboard: Browse, search, and sort all installed AppImages by name, size, category, or date. Sidebar navigation with Installed, Discover, Settings, and About sections.
• Rich Metadata: Displays app icon, version, size, category, and AppStream description extracted directly from each AppImage.
• Source Agnosticism & Custom Sources: Built to be fully source-agnostic. In addition to the current default AM database and AppImage Hub catalogs (~1,300 curated apps), you can add, configure, reorder, or disable your own custom JSON repository sources directly. Supports both am script installs and direct HTTP downloads with no browser redirects.
• Dolphin Integration: Right-click any .AppImage in Dolphin to open the management window directly.
• Drag-and-Drop Install: Drag an AppImage onto the management window or dashboard to install it into the configured Applications folder with desktop integration.
• GPG Signature Verification: Optional pre-install check. Parses embedded ELF signature sections and invokes gpg to verify authenticity. Warns on unsigned files; blocks tampered ones.
• Clean Uninstall: Detects leftover configuration and cache directories after removal. Moves everything to KDE Trash - no permanent deletion.
• AppImage Updates: Checks for newer versions asynchronously. Downloads updates via zsync2 delta-patching with a full HTTP fallback when zsync2 is unavailable.
• Background Daemon: Persistent system tray entry with hourly update scans and Downloads folder monitoring. Prevents duplicate notifications when the dashboard is also open.
• Download Notifications: Watches ~/Downloads and fires a native KDE notification when a new .AppImage appears - click "Manage" to open it immediately.
• Plasma Integration: Native Kirigami styling, KDE notifications, KIO file operations, and XDG desktop/icon database integration for compatibility with non-Plasma launchers.
• First-Run Wizard: Guides new users through folder setup and desktop integration on first launch.

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Requirements

• Build Tools: CMake 3.22+, Ninja, C++20 compiler (GCC 12+ or Clang 15+)
• Qt 6.9+: Core, Gui, Quick, Qml, Concurrent, Network, Sql, Svg
• KDE Frameworks 6: CoreAddons, I18n, Config, KIO, IconThemes, Notifications, Crash, DBusAddons, StatusNotifierItem, Kirigami, KirigamiAddons
• Required: libappimage for in-process SquashFS metadata extraction
• Optional: gpg/gpg2 for signature verification; zsync2 for delta updates; am for script installations from the Discover page

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Installing Dependencies

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake extra-cmake-modules ninja \
    qt6-base qt6-declarative qt6-svg \
    kcoreaddons ki18n kconfig kio kiconthemes knotifications kcrash kdbusaddons \
    kirigami kirigami-addons kstatusnotifieritem gnupg
# libappimage is AUR only:
# yay -S libappimage
# Optional: AUR packages for Discover page script installs:
# yay -S am-git zsync2

Fedora

sudo dnf install gcc-c++ cmake extra-cmake-modules ninja-build \
    qt6-qtbase-devel qt6-qtdeclarative-devel qt6-qtsvg-devel \
    kf6-kcoreaddons-devel kf6-ki18n-devel kf6-kconfig-devel kf6-kio-devel kf6-kiconthemes-devel \
    kf6-knotifications-devel kf6-kcrash-devel kf6-kdbusaddons-devel kf6-kstatusnotifieritem-devel \
    kf6-kirigami-devel kf6-kirigami-addons-devel libappimage-devel gnupg2

Debian / Ubuntu (24.04+)

sudo apt install build-essential cmake extra-cmake-modules ninja-build \
    qt6-base-dev qt6-declarative-dev libqt6svg6-dev \
    libkf6coreaddons-dev libkf6i18n-dev libkf6config-dev libkf6kio-dev libkf6iconthemes-dev \
    libkf6notifications-dev libkf6crash-dev libkf6dbusaddons-dev libkf6statusnotifieritem-dev \
    qml6-module-org-kde-kirigami qml6-module-org-kde-kirigamiaddons \
    libappimage-dev gnupg2

openSUSE Tumbleweed

sudo zypper in gcc-c++ cmake extra-cmake-modules ninja \
    qt6-base-devel qt6-declarative-devel qt6-svg-devel \
    kf6-kcoreaddons-devel kf6-ki18n-devel kf6-kconfig-devel kf6-kio-devel kf6-kiconthemes-devel \
    kf6-knotifications-devel kf6-kcrash-devel kf6-kdbusaddons-devel kf6-kstatusnotifieritem-devel \
    kf6-kirigami-devel kf6-kirigami-addons-devel libappimage-devel gpg2

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Build & Install

cmake --preset release
cmake --build --preset release
sudo cmake --install build/release

To reload the Dolphin context menu without logging out:

kquitapp6 dolphin && dolphin &

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Usage

Command	Action
appimagemanager	Opens the dashboard.
appimagemanager /path/to/app.AppImage	Opens the management window for a specific file.
appimagemanager --daemon	Runs the background update checker (autostarts on login).

Dolphin: Right-click any .AppImage file and select Manage AppImage.

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License

Licensed under the GPL-2.0-or-later. See LICENSES/GPL-2.0-or-later.txt for details.