MSYS2 launcher

A helper for launching MSYS2 shells. Features blink-less launching and correct taskbar/start pinning.

Installation

Just make and put the .exe and .ini files inside your MSYS2 root. Needs mintty v2.1.6 or newer.

Configuration

All three default launchers are the same (except for embedded icons and descriptions) and are configured by corresponding .ini files. The .ini file has to be in the same directory as the .exe file and have the same filename (except for the .exe -> .ini change).

By default, only MSYSTEM is set, but options for inheriting PATH and tweaking MSYS are prepared, as well as CHERE_INVOKING for the shell to stay in the current working directory (instead of changing to the home directory).

The .ini file contains environment variables, each on a separate line, in the usual VAR=val format. Lines starting with # are ignored. The values are expanded using the current environment (use Windows %var% syntax).

Pinning

As with many other applications, the correct way to pin a shortcut to the taskbar is by right-clicking the button of a running MSYS2 shell (started by this launcher) on the taskbar and choosing "Pin this program to taskbar". Pinning the .exe file itself won't create the shortcut correctly. There are tools to diagnose and fix such a situation (7+ Taskbar Tweaker and Win7AppId) in case re-pinning is not preferred.