Hi Hacker News, I am the developer of the application Chauffeur.

Every time I had to open all my apps by hand — VS Code on the right folders, the Chrome tabs, some files edited in Notepad++, open PDF's. I wanted an app that restores my whole context via click on one button.

Chauffeur does this: it saves the state of multiple apps and restores them on demand. Everything stays on the local computer. Open files/projetcs/tabs only talks to 127.0.0.1 or localhost.

Platforms: Windows, MacOS and Linux. Commercial: Free + Pro. No trial, no time limit. Free: free forever, no account, no credit card. Limit: 1 saved workspace (overwritable), restoring is free Pro (paid): unlimited named workspaces + automatic snapshots + export/import. The price is 5.99€/month or 49€/year.

I would like feedback on the cross application context model and the local only architecture. I would be happy to answer anything.

Why i Built it: On each task switch i would have to open all applicatiosn by hand and remeber what project/files i'd have to open. (VS Code: the right folders, Chrome-Tabs, Notepad++-Files, PDFs)

Technology: - One Context = State of several apps, restore via one click - Background Service (Core) in C++17/Qt, REST API on 127.0.0.1/localhost (dynamic Port + Token) - 2 Integrations types: Core-Plugins (loaded into the service) and Add-ins (processes on its own, registered via REST + Heartbeat)

Each app is dfferent: Office VSTO, Browser-Extension, VS/VS-Code/JetBrains-Extension, Notepad++-DLL Type-B Plugins without Add-in: PDF-Viewer (Sumatra/Acrobat), Explorer/Finder, Obsidian, OneNote, LibreOffice Currrently supported: Excel, Word, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Visual Studio, VS Code, JetBrains, Notepad++, Sumatra, Acrobat, OneNote, Obsidian, LibreOffice, Explorer/Finder, PDF-Viewer

All is loacl held. only License/Payment accesss the API Contexts are local JSON files

Plattforms (currently): - Windows + macOS (Apple Silicon, signied/notarized) + Linux (AppImage)