I'm getting some weird behavior when trying to execute another command-line tool from my exec app. It works fine, but for some reason when using the shortcuts run YourShortcut, we only get to the specified line, where the command “hangs”, until the parent process exits.
Now the really strange part: When using other CLI commands it executes as we’d expect. Using other Shortcuts commands shortcuts list works, & we get the data. It’s only when we try to shortcuts run YourShortcut that the CLI command fails.
I’ve been stumped on this for a good month to two. My workaround was to use AppleScript, but it’s really not efficient. It’s very verbose & way over-complicated to what should just work. Ideally, I want to gut out the AppleScript core & replace it with the Shortcuts CLI.
To give a brief overview of the app's architecture, which is a plugin for another 3rd party app:
- StreamDeck.app
- Our custom .exec
- (optional) Sister process, which communicate via it's own CLI tool or websockets.
I’ll also add, that spawning a sister process/app that I was passing the shortcutName to, had the same effect. For the life of me, I can’t seem to solve this. The only other thing that seems like it would work is running a web-socket connection to the side app. I’ve done some preliminary testing & that appears to work, but again, this seems overkill for such a simple problem...
func launchCommand (inputShortcut: String) {
let shortcutCLI = Process()
shortcutCLI.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/usr/bin/shortcuts")
shortcutCLI.arguments = ["run", command]
do{
try shortcutCLI.launch()
//None of the code below runs after the fact either, which makes sense.
//Capture Pipe output & print logic...
} catch {
//It refuses to throw an error, because it's waiting to execute, when the app closes?
NSLog("Failed to run with Error \(error)")
}
}
I've tried variations of the command, without fail, it won't actually launch the Shortcut until the parent process exits/terminates
I got some pointers & tried some things based off stackotter's feedback, which you can see below, but we were unable to resolve it.
func launchCommand (inputShortcut: String) {
let shortcutCLI = Process()
shortcutCLI.executableURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: "/usr/bin/nohup")
shortcutCLI.arguments = ["/bin/bash", "-c", "/usr/bin/shortcuts run \(inputShortcut) >/dev/null 2>&1 &"]
//The rest of the function
}
If you want to test/run it, I've attached the repo. Please note: You will need a StreamDeck device, either physical or the mobile app, which has a free 1-month trial. You'll also need to be running macOS 12.0+.
I'd appreciate any feedback/suggestions on how to best proceed.
Thanks,
SENTINELITE
