diff --git a/crates/rmenu-plugin/src/internal.rs b/crates/rmenu-plugin/src/internal.rs
index b299556..f4388ec 100644
--- a/crates/rmenu-plugin/src/internal.rs
+++ b/crates/rmenu-plugin/src/internal.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 /*
  *  Internal Library Loading Implementation
  */
-use abi_stable::std_types::{RBox, RHashMap, RString};
 use libloading::{Error, Library, Symbol};
 
 use super::{Module, ModuleConfig};
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/Cargo.toml b/crates/rmenu/Cargo.toml
index a6131d7..e34a75e 100644
--- a/crates/rmenu/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/rmenu/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,4 +7,18 @@ edition = "2021"
 
 [dependencies]
 abi_stable = "0.11.1"
+clap = { version = "4.0.32", features = ["derive"] }
+dashmap = "5.4.0"
+eframe = "0.20.1"
+egui = "0.20.1"
+egui_extras = { version = "0.20.0", features = ["svg", "image"] }
+image = { version = "0.24.5", default-features = false, features = ["png"] }
+log = "0.4.17"
 rmenu-plugin = { version = "0.1.0", path = "../rmenu-plugin", features = ["rmenu_internals"] }
+serde = { version = "1.0.152", features = ["derive"] }
+shellexpand = "3.0.0"
+toml = "0.5.10"
+
+[patch.crates-io]
+eframe = { git = "https://github.com/imgurbot12/egui", branch="feat/grid-color" }
+egui = { git = "https://github.com/imgurbot12/egui", branch="feat/grid-color" }
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/config.rs b/crates/rmenu/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51241e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::{env, fs};
+
+use rmenu_plugin::ModuleConfig;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use shellexpand::tilde;
+
+/* Variables */
+
+static HOME: &str = "HOME";
+static XDG_CONIFG_HOME: &str = "XDG_CONIFG_HOME";
+
+/* Types */
+
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct PluginConfig {
+    pub prefix: String,
+    pub path: String,
+    pub config: ModuleConfig,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct RMenuConfig {
+    pub terminal: String,
+    pub icon_size: f32,
+    pub window_width: f32,
+    pub window_height: f32,
+    pub result_size: usize,
+}
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
+pub struct Config {
+    pub rmenu: RMenuConfig,
+    pub plugins: HashMap<String, PluginConfig>,
+}
+
+impl Default for Config {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            rmenu: RMenuConfig {
+                terminal: "foot".to_owned(),
+                icon_size: 20.0,
+                window_width: 500.0,
+                window_height: 300.0,
+                result_size: 15,
+            },
+            plugins: HashMap::new(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/* Functions */
+
+#[inline]
+fn get_config_dir() -> PathBuf {
+    if let Ok(config) = env::var(XDG_CONIFG_HOME) {
+        return Path::new(&config).join("rmenu").to_path_buf();
+    }
+    if let Ok(home) = env::var(HOME) {
+        return Path::new(&home).join(".config").join("rmenu").to_path_buf();
+    }
+    panic!("cannot find config directory!")
+}
+
+pub fn load_config(path: Option<String>) -> Config {
+    // determine path based on arguments
+    let fpath = match path.clone() {
+        Some(path) => Path::new(&tilde(&path).to_string()).to_path_buf(),
+        None => get_config_dir().join("config.toml"),
+    };
+    // read existing file or write default and read it back
+    let mut config = match fpath.exists() {
+        false => {
+            // write default config to standard location
+            let config = Config::default();
+            if path.is_none() {
+                fs::create_dir(get_config_dir()).expect("failed to make config dir");
+                let default = toml::to_string(&config).unwrap();
+                fs::write(fpath, default).expect("failed to write default config");
+            }
+            config
+        }
+        true => {
+            let config = fs::read_to_string(fpath).expect("unable to read config");
+            toml::from_str(&config).expect("broken config")
+        }
+    };
+    // expand plugin paths
+    for plugin in config.plugins.values_mut() {
+        plugin.path = tilde(&plugin.path).to_string();
+    }
+    config
+}
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/gui/gui.rs.bak b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/gui.rs.bak
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd612a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/gui.rs.bak
@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+use std::cmp::min;
+use std::process::exit;
+
+use eframe::egui;
+use eframe::egui::ScrollArea;
+
+use super::exec::exec_command;
+use super::icons::{background_load, IconCache};
+use super::modules::{Entries, Mode, ModuleSearch, Settings};
+
+/* Application */
+
+pub struct App {
+    modules: ModuleSearch,
+    search: String,
+    results: Option<Entries>,
+    focus: usize,
+    images: IconCache,
+}
+
+// application class-related functions and utilities
+impl App {
+    pub fn new(modes: Vec<Mode>, settings: Settings) -> Self {
+        let modules = ModuleSearch::new(modes, settings).expect("module search failed");
+        let mut app = Self {
+            search: "".to_owned(),
+            modules,
+            results: None,
+            focus: 0,
+            images: IconCache::new(),
+        };
+        app.search();
+        app
+    }
+
+    fn search(&mut self) {
+        // assign values
+        self.focus = 0;
+        self.results = self.modules.search(&self.search, 0).ok();
+        // load icons in background
+        if let Some(results) = self.results.as_ref() {
+            background_load(&mut self.images, 20, results);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // shift focus based on size of results and scope of valid range
+    fn shift_focus(&mut self, shift: i32) {
+        // handle shifts up
+        if shift < 0 {
+            let change = shift.abs() as usize;
+            if change > self.focus {
+                self.focus = 0;
+                return;
+            }
+            self.focus -= change;
+            return;
+        }
+        // handle shifts down
+        let max_pos = if let Some(r) = self.results.as_ref() {
+            r.len() - 1
+        } else {
+            0
+        };
+        self.focus = min(self.focus + shift as usize, max_pos);
+    }
+}
+
+// ui component functions
+impl App {
+    // implement keyboard navigation controls between menu items
+    #[inline]
+    fn keyboard_controls(&mut self, ctx: &egui::Context) {
+        // tab/ctrl+tab controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::Tab) {
+            if ctx.input().modifiers.ctrl {
+                self.shift_focus(-1);
+            } else {
+                self.shift_focus(1);
+            };
+        }
+        // arrow-key controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::ArrowUp) && self.focus > 0 {
+            self.shift_focus(-1);
+        }
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::ArrowDown) {
+            self.shift_focus(1);
+        }
+        // pageup/down controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::PageUp) {
+            self.shift_focus(-5);
+        }
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::PageDown) {
+            self.shift_focus(5);
+        }
+        // escape
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::Escape) {
+            exit(1);
+        }
+        // enter - app selection
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::Enter) {
+            let Some(results) = self.results.as_ref() else { return };
+            let Some(entry) = results.get(self.focus) else { return };
+            exec_command(&entry.exec, entry.terminal);
+            exit(0);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // implement simple topbar searchbar
+    #[inline]
+    fn simple_search(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) {
+        let size = ui.available_size();
+        ui.horizontal(|ui| {
+            ui.spacing_mut().text_edit_width = size.x;
+            let search = ui.text_edit_singleline(&mut self.search);
+            if search.changed() {
+                self.search();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    // implement simple scrolling grid-based results panel
+    fn simple_results(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) {
+        let focus = self.focus;
+        ScrollArea::vertical()
+            .auto_shrink([false; 2])
+            .show_viewport(ui, |ui, viewport| {
+                // calculate top/bottom positions and size of each row
+                let top_pos = viewport.min.y;
+                let bottom_pos = viewport.max.y;
+                let spacing = ui.spacing();
+                let row_height = spacing.interact_size.y + spacing.item_spacing.y;
+                // render results and their related fields
+                let Some(found) = self.results.as_ref() else { return };
+                let results = found.clone();
+                egui::Grid::new("results")
+                    .with_row_color(move |row, style| {
+                        if row == focus {
+                            return Some(egui::Rgba::from(style.visuals.faint_bg_color));
+                        };
+                        None
+                    })
+                    .show(ui, |ui| {
+                        let has_icons = results
+                            .iter()
+                            .filter(|r| r.icon.is_some())
+                            .peekable()
+                            .peek()
+                            .is_some();
+                        for (n, record) in results.into_iter().enumerate() {
+                            let y = n as f32 * row_height;
+                            // load and render image field
+                            //   content is contained within a horizontal to keep
+                            //   scroll-pos from updating when icon renderings
+                            //   change
+                            if has_icons {
+                                ui.horizontal(|ui| {
+                                    // only render images that display within view window
+                                    if n == 0 || (y < bottom_pos && y > top_pos) {
+                                        if let Some(icon) = record.icon.as_ref() {
+                                            if let Ok(image) = self.images.load(icon) {
+                                                let size = egui::vec2(20.0, 20.0);
+                                                image.show_size(ui, size);
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                        return;
+                                    }
+                                    ui.label("");
+                                });
+                            }
+                            // render text fields
+                            let label = ui.label(&record.name);
+                            if n == self.focus {
+                                label.scroll_to_me(None)
+                            }
+                            if let Some(extra) = record.comment.as_ref() {
+                                ui.label(extra);
+                            }
+                            ui.end_row();
+                        }
+                    });
+            });
+    }
+}
+
+impl eframe::App for App {
+    fn update(&mut self, ctx: &egui::Context, _frame: &mut eframe::Frame) {
+        egui::CentralPanel::default().show(ctx, |ui| {
+            self.keyboard_controls(ctx);
+            self.simple_search(ui);
+            self.simple_results(ui);
+        });
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/gui/icons.rs b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/icons.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa34edb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/icons.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/*
+ *  GUI Icon Cache/Loading utilities
+ */
+use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::thread;
+
+use dashmap::{mapref::one::Ref, DashMap};
+use egui_extras::RetainedImage;
+use log::debug;
+
+use rmenu_plugin::{Entry, Icon};
+
+/* Types */
+
+type Cache = DashMap<String, RetainedImage>;
+type IconRef<'a> = Ref<'a, String, RetainedImage>;
+
+/* Functions */
+
+// load result entry icons into cache in background w/ given chunk-size per thread
+pub fn load_images(cache: &mut IconCache, chunk_size: usize, results: &Vec<Entry>) {
+    // retrieve icons from results
+    let icons: Vec<Icon> = results
+        .iter()
+        .filter_map(|r| r.icon.clone().into())
+        .collect();
+    for chunk in icons.chunks(chunk_size).into_iter() {
+        cache.save_background(Vec::from(chunk));
+    }
+}
+
+/* Cache */
+
+// spawn multiple threads to load image objects into cache from search results
+
+pub struct IconCache {
+    c: Arc<Cache>,
+}
+
+impl IconCache {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            c: Arc::new(Cache::new()),
+        }
+    }
+
+    // save icon to cache if not already saved
+    pub fn save(&mut self, icon: &Icon) -> Result<(), String> {
+        let name = icon.name.as_str();
+        if !self.c.contains_key(name) {
+            self.c.insert(
+                name.to_owned(),
+                if name.ends_with(".svg") {
+                    RetainedImage::from_svg_bytes(name, &icon.data)?
+                } else {
+                    RetainedImage::from_image_bytes(name, &icon.data)?
+                },
+            );
+        }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    // load an image from the given icon-cache
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn load(&mut self, icon: &Icon) -> Result<IconRef<'_>, String> {
+        self.save(icon)?;
+        Ok(self
+            .c
+            .get(icon.name.as_str())
+            .expect("failed to load saved image"))
+    }
+
+    // save list of icon-entries in the background
+    pub fn save_background(&mut self, icons: Vec<Icon>) {
+        let mut cache = self.clone();
+        thread::spawn(move || {
+            for icon in icons.iter() {
+                if let Err(err) = cache.save(&icon) {
+                    debug!("icon {} failed to load: {}", icon.name.as_str(), err);
+                };
+            }
+            debug!("background task loaded {} icons", icons.len());
+        });
+    }
+}
+
+impl Clone for IconCache {
+    fn clone(&self) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            c: Arc::clone(&self.c),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/gui/mod.rs b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7623ba7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/gui/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+/*!
+ *  Rmenu - Egui implementation
+ */
+use std::cmp::min;
+
+use eframe::egui;
+use rmenu_plugin::Entry;
+
+mod icons;
+use icons::{load_images, IconCache};
+
+use crate::{config::Config, plugins::Plugins};
+
+/* Function */
+
+// spawn gui application and run it
+pub fn launch_gui(cfg: Config, plugins: Plugins) -> Result<(), eframe::Error> {
+    let options = eframe::NativeOptions {
+        initial_window_size: Some(egui::vec2(cfg.rmenu.window_width, cfg.rmenu.window_height)),
+        ..Default::default()
+    };
+    let gui = GUI::new(cfg, plugins);
+    eframe::run_native("rmenu", options, Box::new(|_cc| Box::new(gui)))
+}
+
+/* Implementation */
+
+struct GUI {
+    plugins: Plugins,
+    search: String,
+    results: Vec<Entry>,
+    focus: usize,
+    focus_updated: bool,
+    images: IconCache,
+    config: Config,
+}
+
+impl GUI {
+    pub fn new(config: Config, plugins: Plugins) -> Self {
+        let mut gui = Self {
+            config,
+            plugins,
+            search: "".to_owned(),
+            results: vec![],
+            focus: 0,
+            focus_updated: false,
+            images: IconCache::new(),
+        };
+        // pre-run empty search to generate cache
+        gui.search();
+        gui
+    }
+
+    // complete search based on current internal search variable
+    fn search(&mut self) {
+        // update variables and complete search
+        self.focus = 0;
+        self.results = self.plugins.search(&self.search);
+        self.focus_updated = true;
+        // load icons in background
+        if self.results.len() > 0 {
+            load_images(&mut self.images, 20, &self.results);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn set_focus(&mut self, focus: usize) {
+        self.focus = focus;
+        self.focus_updated = true;
+    }
+
+    // shift focus up a certain number of rows
+    #[inline]
+    fn focus_up(&mut self, shift: usize) {
+        self.set_focus(self.focus - min(shift, self.focus));
+    }
+
+    // shift focus down a certain number of rows
+    fn focus_down(&mut self, shift: usize) {
+        let results = self.results.len();
+        let max_pos = if results > 0 { results - 1 } else { 0 };
+        self.set_focus(min(self.focus + shift, max_pos));
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn keyboard(&mut self, ctx: &egui::Context) {
+        // tab / ctrl+tab controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::Tab) {
+            match ctx.input().modifiers.ctrl {
+                true => self.focus_down(1),
+                false => self.focus_up(1),
+            };
+        }
+        // arrow-key controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::ArrowUp) {
+            self.focus_up(1);
+        }
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::ArrowDown) {
+            self.focus_down(1)
+        }
+        // pageup / pagedown controls
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::PageUp) {
+            self.focus_up(5);
+        }
+        if ctx.input().key_pressed(egui::Key::PageDown) {
+            self.focus_down(5);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl GUI {
+    // implement simple topbar searchbar
+    #[inline]
+    fn simple_search(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) {
+        let size = ui.available_size();
+        ui.horizontal(|ui| {
+            ui.spacing_mut().text_edit_width = size.x;
+            let search = ui.text_edit_singleline(&mut self.search);
+            if search.changed() {
+                self.search();
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    // check if results contain any icons at all
+    #[inline]
+    fn has_icons(&self) -> bool {
+        self.results
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|r| r.icon.is_some())
+            .peekable()
+            .peek()
+            .is_some()
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    fn grid_highlight(&self) -> Box<dyn Fn(usize, &egui::Style) -> Option<egui::Rgba>> {
+        let focus = self.focus;
+        Box::new(move |row, style| {
+            if row == focus {
+                return Some(egui::Rgba::from(style.visuals.faint_bg_color));
+            }
+            None
+        })
+    }
+
+    // implement simple scrolling grid-based results pannel
+    #[inline]
+    fn simple_results(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) {
+        egui::ScrollArea::vertical()
+            .auto_shrink([false; 2])
+            .show_viewport(ui, |ui, viewport| {
+                // calculate top/bottom positions and size of rows
+                let spacing = ui.spacing();
+                let top_y = viewport.min.y;
+                let bot_y = viewport.max.y;
+                let row_h = spacing.interact_size.y + spacing.item_spacing.y;
+                // render results and their related fields
+                let results = &self.results;
+                let has_icons = self.has_icons();
+                egui::Grid::new("results")
+                    .with_row_color(self.grid_highlight())
+                    .show(ui, |ui| {
+                        for (n, record) in results.iter().enumerate() {
+                            // render icon if enabled and within visible bounds
+                            if has_icons {
+                                ui.horizontal(|ui| {
+                                    let y = n as f32 * row_h;
+                                    if n == 0 || (y < bot_y && y > top_y) {
+                                        if let Some(icon) = record.icon.as_ref().into_option() {
+                                            if let Ok(image) = self.images.load(&icon) {
+                                                let xy = self.config.rmenu.icon_size;
+                                                image.show_size(ui, egui::vec2(xy, xy));
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                });
+                            }
+                            // render main label
+                            let label = ui.label(record.name.as_str());
+                            //   scroll to laebl when focus shifts
+                            if n == self.focus && self.focus_updated {
+                                label.scroll_to_me(None);
+                                self.focus_updated = false;
+                            }
+                            // render comment (if any)
+                            if let Some(comment) = record.comment.as_ref().into_option() {
+                                ui.label(comment.as_str());
+                            }
+                            ui.end_row();
+                        }
+                    });
+            });
+    }
+}
+
+impl eframe::App for GUI {
+    fn update(&mut self, ctx: &egui::Context, _frame: &mut eframe::Frame) {
+        egui::CentralPanel::default().show(ctx, |ui| {
+            self.keyboard(ctx);
+            self.simple_search(ui);
+            self.simple_results(ui);
+        });
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/main.rs b/crates/rmenu/src/main.rs
index f367f8a..63f2a90 100644
--- a/crates/rmenu/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/main.rs
@@ -1,20 +1,55 @@
-use abi_stable::std_types::{RHashMap, RString};
-use rmenu_plugin::internal::load_plugin;
+use clap::Parser;
 
-static PLUGIN: &str = "../../plugins/run/target/release/librun.so";
+mod config;
+mod gui;
+mod plugins;
 
-fn test() {
-    let mut cfg = RHashMap::new();
-    // cfg.insert(RString::from("ignore_case"), RString::from("true"));
+use config::{load_config, PluginConfig};
+use gui::launch_gui;
+use plugins::Plugins;
 
-    let mut plugin = unsafe { load_plugin(PLUGIN, &cfg).unwrap() };
-    let results = plugin.module.search(RString::from("br"));
-    for result in results.into_iter() {
-        println!("{} - {:?}", result.name, result.comment);
-    }
-    println!("ayy lmao done!");
+/* Types */
+
+#[derive(Parser)]
+#[command(author, version, about, long_about = None)]
+struct Args {
+    /// configuration file to read from
+    #[arg(short, long)]
+    pub config: Option<String>,
+    /// terminal command override
+    #[arg(short, long)]
+    pub term: Option<String>,
+    /// declared and enabled plugin modes
+    #[arg(short, long)]
+    pub show: Option<Vec<String>>,
 }
 
 fn main() {
-    test();
+    // parse cli-args and use it to load the config
+    let args = Args::parse();
+    let mut config = load_config(args.config);
+    // update config based on other cli-args
+    if let Some(term) = args.term.as_ref() {
+        config.rmenu.terminal = term.to_owned()
+    }
+    // load relevant plugins based on configured options
+    let enabled = args.show.unwrap_or_else(|| vec!["drun".to_owned()]);
+    let plugin_configs: Vec<PluginConfig> = config
+        .plugins
+        .clone()
+        .into_iter()
+        .filter(|(k, _)| enabled.contains(k))
+        .map(|(_, v)| v)
+        .collect();
+    // error if plugins-list is empty
+    if plugin_configs.len() != enabled.len() {
+        let missing: Vec<&String> = enabled
+            .iter()
+            .filter(|p| !config.plugins.contains_key(p.as_str()))
+            .collect();
+        panic!("no plugin configurations for: {:?}", missing);
+    }
+    // spawn gui instance w/ config and enabled plugins
+    let plugins = Plugins::new(enabled, plugin_configs);
+    launch_gui(config, plugins).expect("gui crashed")
 }
diff --git a/crates/rmenu/src/plugins.rs b/crates/rmenu/src/plugins.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b876ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/rmenu/src/plugins.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+use abi_stable::std_types::RString;
+use rmenu_plugin::internal::{load_plugin, Plugin};
+use rmenu_plugin::Entry;
+
+use super::config::PluginConfig;
+
+/// Convenient wrapper used to execute configured plugins
+pub struct Plugins {
+    plugins: Vec<Plugin>,
+}
+
+impl Plugins {
+    pub fn new(enable: Vec<String>, plugins: Vec<PluginConfig>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            plugins: plugins
+                .into_iter()
+                .map(|p| unsafe { load_plugin(&p.path, &p.config) }.expect("failed to load plugin"))
+                .filter(|plugin| enable.contains(&plugin.module.name().as_str().to_owned()))
+                .collect(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// complete search w/ the configured plugins
+    pub fn search(&mut self, search: &str) -> Vec<Entry> {
+        let mut entries = vec![];
+        for plugin in self.plugins.iter_mut() {
+            let found = plugin.module.search(RString::from(search));
+            entries.append(&mut found.into());
+            continue;
+        }
+        entries
+    }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/drun/src/lib.rs b/plugins/drun/src/lib.rs
index dde9c48..cc5092e 100644
--- a/plugins/drun/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plugins/drun/src/lib.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ static PREFIX: &str = "app";
 
 static XDG_DATA_DIRS: &str = "XDG_DATA_DIRS";
 
-static DEFAULT_XDG_PATHS: &str = "/usr/share/";
+static DEFAULT_XDG_PATHS: &str = "/usr/share/:/usr/local/share";
 static DEFAULT_APP_PATHS: &str = "";
 static DEFAULT_ICON_PATHS: &str = "/usr/share/pixmaps/";