This Linux app makes mouse gestures so powerful, you’ll forget about your keyboard

Are you tired of memorizing dozens of keyboard shortcuts just to be productive? Do you wish there was a faster way to launch apps and execute commands without digging through menus? Let me introduce you to Kando—a gesture-based menu system that might change your entire workflow!

Say hello to Kando (formerly Fly-Pie)

Kando is a unique gesture-based menu system for quickly launching apps, executing bash scripts , and more. Technically, it's what you'd call a pie menu , where all menu options are arranged in a circular structure (a pie) instead of the conventional list. However, Kando combines pie menus with Fitt's Law —which is concerned with faster computer-human interactions—making Kando a fast and efficient way to navigate a cluster of options! Words really can't do justice in explaining this visual tool, so here's a video from Kando's creator showing how it works:

You basically press a keyboard shortcut—the default is Ctrl+Space—and the pie menu pops up right at your cursor location. From here, you can click any menu item to execute it. The items can be programmed to do almost anything: launch an application, run a bash script, simulate a keyboard shortcut, execute hotkeys, open files—you name it.

However, the real power lies in Kando's nested menu structure. Each menu item can itself be another menu, creating a hierarchy of menus and sub-menus that you can navigate with your mouse. Just by moving your cursor in a few short quick turns, Kando lets you easily drill through multiple layers of menus and find exactly what you want. It's remarkably quick once you get the hang of it.

If you've ever used the Fly-Pie GNOME extension , you'll immediately recognize Kando—it's version 2.0 of that concept. Fly-Pie is currently in low-maintenance mode as its developer is focusing on Kando. The big difference is that Kando is now a cross-platform application. You can install it on any Linux distribution using Flatpak . This means you're no longer locked into GNOME-based systems and can use it on any Linux distro. It's also available on Windows and macOS!

How I'm using Kando

I've been using Kando for a little over a week on my Garuda Linux PC , predominantly as a quick launcher for my apps and frequently visited websites. I created a nested menu system where all of my frequently used apps and websites are neatly categorized—allowing me to launch them with just a few efficient mouse movements.

I can also configure Kando to open specific pages on a website, which is super useful. Before, I would open my browser, type part of a URL to trigger autocomplete, or click through bookmarks to navigate to a specific page on a website. With Kando, I can have menu items pointing directly to those pages and launch them instantly.

For example, I'm a heavy Notion user —I use it for writing articles, storing research notes, and keeping a wishlist of things I want to buy. Each of these is its own separate database in Notion with a specific URL. With Kando, I can open any one of these databases with a quick mouse motion and immediately start jotting things down—no more looking through my browser bookmarks.

The possibilities are endless

After using Kando, I'm starting to see its potential, and it's one of those powerful tools that is only limited by your imagination. Here are a few workflows I plan to build with this amazing utility.

First, Kando lets you open different pie menus with different menu items based on the currently active app or window title. I want to leverage this to configure special shortcut menus for the apps I use most often: the file manager, the browser, and Discord. I can map all supported keyboard shortcuts for each of these apps into dedicated pie menus and see if it helps me optimize and streamline how I use them.

Next, I believe Kando might be my gateway into tiling window managers . I've always loved tiling WMs for their minimal aesthetics and windows presentation, but most of them follow a keyboard-centric workflow. You have to remember dozens of keyboard shortcuts just to navigate and manage your workspace. This is why I've hesitated to jump into something like Hyprland despite how gorgeous it looks.

However, with Kando, I am feeling optimistic. It should let me map all necessary keyboard shortcuts to specific menu items—allowing me to use visual, mouse-based gestures to tile windows and navigate through the workspace.

Other than this, I'm also considering launching custom Bash scripts with Kando, which can be really powerful. For example, first use Kando to quickly launch my browser. Then, after selecting the address bar, use Kando to trigger a bash script that turns on the mic, listens to what I say, transcribes it (using tools like Vosk or Whisper ), and then pastes it into the selected text field. Of course, this can help me fill out almost any text field and aid in regular writing work.

I'm super excited to explore these options because they could push me toward a more mouse-based workflow and make me less keyboard-dependent. In fact, with the right mouse with programmable buttons, I wouldn't even need a keyboard as I can map one of the mouse buttons to launch Kando !

How to install and set up Kando on Linux

Kando is available as a Flatpak and AppImage , so you can install it on any Linux distro. There's also an AUR package and Nixpkgs package, so if you're on Arch or NixOS , you can use those. The tool also supports all popular desktop environments and window managers—although the exact installation process varies depending on which system you're running. You can visit the official Kando documentation for specific installation instructions that match your setup.

I personally installed Kando as a Flatpak on my Garuda Linux system running KDE Plasma. The process was pretty painless without any bugs or errors. You do need to install an extra Plasma-specific add-on, but Flatpak handles that automatically during the installation process, so there's nothing to worry about.

Once installed, Kando should show up as an app in your app launcher. When you run it, it starts in the background and shows up as a tray icon. Right-click the icon and select "Show Settings" to open the Kando settings page. From here, you can configure the Kando menu—selecting items and tweaking how everything looks and operates.

Configuring Kando

Kando has a graphical, drag-and-drop menu editor that makes creating your custom menus straightforward. In the center, you see a quick overview of the Kando menu you're editing. There's a list of menu items below from where you can add more options. You can also click and drag items to change their position on the menu.

The left-hand sidebar contains a list of all Kando menus you've created, whereas the right-hand sidebar shows some basic settings. The Shortcut ID refers to the keyboard shortcut you'll press to trigger the selected menu. Tags are optional and can be used to help you group your menus and create collections.

The Menu Behavior options let you enable three specific modes. There's Centered Mode, which always opens the Kando menu in the center instead of the cursor location; Anchored Mode, which opens the sub-menus at the same position as the parent menu; and Hover Mode, which lets you select a menu item just as you hover over it—no need to click.

Next are the Menu Conditions, which let you bind the same shortcut to different Kando menus based on certain conditions. So Ctrl+Space (the default shortcut) will open one menu when you're on the desktop and a different menu if a specific app or window is in focus. You can also configure it to trigger different menus based on where your mouse cursor is located.

Now, towards the top, you'll find the Settings cog wheel—click it to open the settings page. You'll find plenty of options to tweak menu behavior, menu sounds, and more. Next to Settings is Menu Themes, from where you change how the Kando menu looks. By default, Kando ships with four beautiful themes, but you can download more from its GitHub page .

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That was a quick introduction to Kando, what it has to offer, and how I'm using it. If you find it interesting and want to try it out, I'd strongly encourage checking out the official documentation —it's really thorough and covers pretty much everything you might need!