The neon glow of the monitor flickers as another boot sequence begins. Windows loads, but instead of a clean start, you’re met with a chaotic flood of startup apps—some you installed, some that invited themselves in like sketchy cyberpunk hackers squatting in your system tray. Your machine feels less like a well-oiled cybernetic workstation and more like a dystopian megacity where every process fights for CPU dominance.
You could tame the chaos, of course. You could dive into Task Manager, spelunk through Registry keys, decipher the arcane riddles of Scheduled Tasks, or wander through the forgotten ruins of the shell: folders like a digital archaeologist. Or—hear me out—you could just use Startctl.
The Problem: A Mess of Startup Mechanisms
My quest for simplicity began with a realization: Windows startup management is a fragmented nightmare. Every time I tried to find a tool that just worked, I ran into one of these delightful obstacles:
Too Complex – Some tools were bloated GUI nightmares with a CLI bolted on as an afterthought.
Too Obscure – PowerShell scripts exist, but they often require admin privileges and look like they were transcribed from an ancient, forbidden codex.
Too Outdated – Several abandoned GitHub projects surfaced, casualties of Microsoft’s ever-changing APIs.
Too Locked Down – Windows, being Windows, insists on wrapping even simple startup management in layers of COM objects, security prompts, and UAC dialogs—because why not?
I needed a tool that was fast, self-contained, and didn’t require a blood pact with Microsoft just to add or remove a startup entry.
The Solution: Startctl
Thus, Startctl was born. A simple, cross-platform (but mostly Windows-focused) CLI tool for managing startup programs like an efficient cyber-operator.
Key Features:
🟢 List all startup programs (both Registry-based and from the Startup folder).
🔵 Add new startup applications in one command. No bureaucracy, no questions asked.
🔴 Remove startup entries just as easily. Get rid of unwanted digital squatters.
⚡ No Admin Rights Needed (for standard user-level startup entries—because not everything needs a goddamn UAC prompt).
🔄 Supports Executable Paths and Arguments because sometimes, life needs parameters.
Installation? Just grab the binary and drop it in your PATH. No dependencies, no surprises. No sketchy background services plotting against you.
Lessons Learned While Wrangling Windows
Building Startctl wasn’t just about slapping together some Golang code and calling it a day. It was about navigating Windows’ delightfully inconsistent approach to startup applications:
🔹 The Registry vs. Startup Folder Turf War – Some apps prefer to haunt the Run registry key (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run), while others camp out in the Startup folder. Supporting both was necessary for peace in the digital underworld.
🔹 UAC and Permissions Shenanigans – I designed Startctl to work without admin rights, avoiding system-wide startup locations (HKLM keys) like a cyber-rogue dodging corporate security.
🔹 Parsing Startup Entries from the Abyss – Windows startup entries can be formatted in the most creative ways. Parsing them felt like decrypting an alien transmission while blindfolded.
🔹 Making It Feel Unix-Like – Windows tools often have syntax so inconsistent it makes you question reality. Startctl was designed to feel familiar to those who grew up on ls, rm, and touch—because muscle memory should transcend operating systems.
Why Open Source?
At first, Startctl was just a weekend side project. But then I realized how many people out there are also tired of manually wrestling with startup entries like it’s 1998. So, I made it open-source and threw it on GitHub, where others could contribute, improve, or just stare at the code in quiet appreciation.
Besides, Windows startup behavior mutates with every major update—so keeping an open-source tool means we, the people, can adapt faster than whatever new digital bureaucracy Microsoft throws at us.
What’s Next?
For now, Startctl does its job with the cold efficiency of a cyberpunk mercenary. But there’s always room for enhancement:
Cross-platform expansion: While it compiles on Linux and macOS, the startup logic is still Windows-centric. Time to broaden its horizons.
More startup locations: Detecting Scheduled Tasks and HKLM entries (for those who do want admin-level control).
JSON Output: Because nothing says modern tool like structured, machine-readable output.
If you’re tired of startup apps running amok in your system and want a simple, ruthless tool to control them, give Startctl a spin. Contributions, bug reports, and existential rants are all welcome.
👉 Enter the grid: GitHub - NeonTowel/startctl
