Slicer Launcher — User Guide

Slicer Launcher is a small Windows utility that displays all your installed 3D slicers as clickable tiles, and can hand a file (.stl, .3mf, .obj, …) to the slicer of your choice. Optionally, it also monitors your Klipper / Moonraker printers in real time.

Portable application, configuration stored in %APPDATA%\SlicerLauncher\config.json. No background service: everything lives in the window.

1. Installation

With the installer (recommended)

1. Run SlicerLauncher-Setup-<version>.exe.
2. Choose "Install for me" (no UAC, installs into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SlicerLauncher) or "Install for all users" (with UAC, installs into %ProgramFiles%\SlicerLauncher).
3. Optional checkboxes:
   • Associate with .stl / .3mf / .obj files — unchecked by default. Can be enabled later from the Settings screen.
   • Create a desktop shortcut — unchecked by default.

SmartScreen warning: the installer is not Authenticode-signed. On first launch, Windows shows "Unknown publisher" → click More info → Run anyway.

Portable mode

Copy SlicerLauncher.exe anywhere and run it. Everything works, except registering as an "Open With" handler, which requires the installer (or can be enabled manually from Settings).

Uninstallation

Removes the executable, shortcuts and Windows file associations. Intentionally keeps your config.json: if you reinstall later, your manually-added slicers and printers are preserved.

2. First launch

On first start, the application:

• creates %APPDATA%\SlicerLauncher\config.json;
• auto-detects slicers already installed on the machine and shows them as tiles. Detection covers:

Slicers that aren't found are not listed. You can add them manually (see §4) or re-run detection later from Settings > Re-scan installed slicers.

Default language: English. To switch to French, see §7.

3. Launching a slicer

Without a file

Click a tile → the slicer opens. The Slicer Launcher window stays open.

With a file (3 ways)

1. Drag and drop a file (.stl, .3mf, .obj, …) onto the window. The header changes ("Choose a slicer for this file"), the file name appears, then click the desired slicer's tile. The window closes automatically after launch.
2. Command line: SlicerLauncher.exe "C:\path\to\model.stl". Same behavior as drag-and-drop.
3. Windows "Open With…": if you've enabled file association (see §6), Slicer Launcher appears in the Open with menu.

Keyboard shortcuts

While the window has focus, Alt + digit launches the matching tile:

• Alt + 1 to Alt + 9 → tiles 1 through 9 (visible, not hidden).
• Alt + 0 → tile 10.

The shortcut is shown as a blue pill in the top-left corner of each eligible tile.

4. Managing slicers

Adding a slicer manually

"+ Add slicer" button at the bottom of the window. Fields:

• Name — label shown on the tile.
• .exe path — full path to the executable. Browse… button to navigate.
• Argument template — command-line template, defaults to "%FILE%".
  • %FILE% is replaced with the path of the opened file.
  • If no file is passed at launch, the slicer starts with no arguments.
  • Examples:
    • "%FILE%" — pass the file as the first argument (standard case).
    • --load-config "C:\presets\fast.ini" "%FILE%" — load a preset, then open the file.
    • -s "%FILE%" -o "%FILE%.gcode" — slice directly to G-code (depending on what the slicer supports).

Click OK. If the .exe doesn't exist, the app asks for confirmation before saving.

Editing a slicer

"…" button at the top-right of the tile. Opens the same dialog as adding, pre-filled.

Editing an auto-detected slicer clears its "auto" flag: it will survive a future re-scan without being overwritten.

Re-scanning slicers

Settings > Re-scan installed slicers. Adds only newly-installed slicers; existing entries (auto-detected or manually edited) are never modified.

Missing or uninstalled slicer

If a slicer's .exe no longer exists, its tile appears greyed out and clicking does nothing. Hovering the tile shows the missing path. Edit the entry to fix the path, or delete it (coming soon: in-UI deletion).

5. 3D printers (Klipper / Moonraker)

Slicer Launcher can continuously monitor printers running Klipper / Moonraker (Mainsail, Fluidd, Creality K2, etc.). Printers appear in a second grid below the slicers, with a real-time state badge.

Adding a printer

"+ Add printer" button. Fields:

• Name — label shown on the tile.
• Type — currently only Klipper / Moonraker.
• Host — IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.42) or mDNS name (e.g. mainsailos.local).
• Port — 7125 by default (Moonraker port).
• API key — optional, required if Moonraker is configured with authentication.

Test connection button to verify before saving. Returns the current state (idle / printing / paused), nozzle and bed temperature on success.

States shown on the tile

The tile also shows the current filename, a progress bar while printing, and temperatures (nozzle / bed).

Clicking a printer tile

Opens the printer's web interface (http://<host>) in the default browser — typically Mainsail or Fluidd, which listen on port 80.

Polling cadence

Every 5 seconds by default (configurable only by manually editing config.json, key printerPollIntervalSec).

6. Windows file association

Settings > tick "Register as 'Open With' handler".

Effect:

• Slicer Launcher is added to the "Open with…" menu in Windows Explorer for the .stl, .3mf and .obj extensions.
• No administrator rights needed: registration is per-user (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes).
• Untick to remove the association.

Slicer Launcher does not hijack the extension: it merely adds itself to the Open with list. Your default application stays whatever Windows had picked.

7. Interface language

The application is available in English (default) and French.

To switch:

1. Open Settings.
2. Pick the language in the Language dropdown: English or Français.
3. A message indicates that the change requires a restart.
4. Close Slicer Launcher and re-launch it.

The preference is stored in config.json under the language key ("en" or "fr").

8. Configuration and storage

Location

%APPDATA%\SlicerLauncher\config.json

Contents (excerpt)

{
  "version": 1,
  "lastUsedId": "prusaslicer",
  "registeredAsHandler": true,
  "printerPollIntervalSec": 5,
  "language": "en",
  "slicers": [
    {
      "id": "prusaslicer",
      "displayName": "PrusaSlicer",
      "exePath": "C:\\Program Files\\Prusa3D\\PrusaSlicer\\prusa-slicer.exe",
      "argsTemplate": "\"%FILE%\"",
      "autoDetected": true,
      "hidden": false
    }
  ],
  "printers": [
    {
      "id": "printer_a1b2c3d4",
      "displayName": "K2 Plus living room",
      "kind": "moonraker",
      "host": "192.168.1.42",
      "port": 7125,
      "apiKey": ""
    }
  ]
}

Manual editing

Quit the app before editing the file — Slicer Launcher overwrites config.json on every UI-driven change (adding, editing, launching a slicer, switching language, …).

Useful fields not yet exposed in the UI:

• hidden: true on a slicer to hide it from the grid without deleting it.
• printerPollIntervalSec to tune the Moonraker polling cadence (in seconds, minimum 1).

9. Troubleshooting

Full reset

Close the app then delete %APPDATA%\SlicerLauncher\config.json. On next launch, auto-detection starts from scratch.

10. Known limitations

• Only one printer family supported: Klipper / Moonraker. Bambu (MQTT/TLS) and Anycubic (MQTT) are on the roadmap.
• No in-UI deletion for slicers/printers (edit config.json manually, or mark the slicer hidden: true).
• No drag-drop tile reordering: order follows config.json.
• Language change requires a restart (no live re-translation of open windows).
• No Authenticode signature on the installer — SmartScreen will warn on first launch.