What is espanso?

Espanso is a text expander that runs in the background on Windows, macOS, and Linux. A text expander watches what you type and, when you type a specific short keyword, replaces it with something longer: a full sentence, a block of code, an emoji, a date, or even the output of a script or shell command. The practical uses are broad. If you frequently type your email address, a standard greeting, or a code snippet you use every day, you define a short trigger word and espanso substitutes the full text every time you type it, in any application. It works system-wide, so the same expansions apply whether you are writing in a browser, a text editor, or any other program. Configuration is file-based, meaning you set up your expansions by editing plain text files rather than through a graphical interface. Espanso also has a built-in package manager connected to a public hub where other users share their expansion packs, so you can install pre-made collections of triggers without building them all yourself. It supports regex-based triggers for more flexible matching, app-specific configurations so certain expansions only fire in particular programs, and a search bar for finding and inserting expansions manually. The project is written in Rust and licensed under GPL-3.0. It was created by Federico Terzi and is maintained in spare time, with donations accepted through the project page. There is a community subreddit for support questions and general discussion.