What Plugins Are Included with Albert Out of the Box?

Updated

Albert ships with a curated, peer-reviewed collection of plugins that are actively maintained, and the project states it works out of the box—no searching, no duplicates, no broken code. The site does not publish a named list of every bundled plugin, so the honest answer is: you get a maintained default set rather than a documented catalog, and you should confirm the exact contents in the app after install.

What the site actually promises

The "Batteries included" section of albertlauncher.github.io makes four claims:

  • The bundled plugins are curated — someone has selected them deliberately.
  • They are peer-reviewed — not just dumped in.
  • They are actively maintained — they aren't abandoned code.
  • The result is no searching, no duplicates, no broken code, no risks — "It just works out of the box."

That is a quality statement about the default set, not an inventory. If you need to know whether a specific capability (web search, calculator, file browsing, etc.) is present, treat the site as silent on it and check the installed plugin list instead.

Why "out of the box" matters here

Albert is a keyboard launcher written in C++/Qt with a plugin-based architecture. The same architecture that lets it be "your go-to app launcher or a full-blown system command palette" also means functionality is modular: what you can do depends on which plugins are loaded. The bundled set is the baseline you get before adding anything.

Two extension paths exist beyond the default plugins, per the site:

Path What it is Who it's for
Bundled plugins Curated, peer-reviewed, maintained set Everyone; the starting point
Embedded Python modules Extensions written as Python modules inside Albert Users who want custom logic with minimal setup
CGI approach Extensions in any language via CGI Users who prefer another language or external processes

The site also notes the plugin architecture supports frontends as well as functional extensions, and that the APIs are "simple and easy to learn" with "powerful utilities" for common tasks.

How to verify what you actually have

Because no list is published, verify locally:

  1. Install Albert and launch it.
  2. Open the settings/preferences area and find the plugins or extensions section.
  3. Read the list of loaded plugins and their descriptions.
  4. Note which are enabled by default versus available but off.

Expected result: a list matching the "curated collection" description. If a plugin you expected is missing, it may exist but be disabled, or it may not be part of the bundled set.

Common sticking points

  • Assuming a plugin exists because a similar launcher has it. The site makes no per-plugin claims; don't infer from competitors.
  • Confusing bundled plugins with Python/CGI extensions. The latter are things you add or write, not part of the default set.
  • Expecting a download step. The site's framing is that the default set is already there; if you find yourself hunting for a plugin marketplace, re-read the "no searching" claim and check settings first.

The practical takeaway

If your question is "do I need to assemble a plugin set myself?" — no, per the site. Albert is designed to be useful immediately with a maintained default collection, and you extend it only when you want something specific via Python modules or CGI. If your question is "is plugin X included?" — the site won't tell you; the in-app plugin list will.