Runner is a dynamic CLI wrapper for Apple OS X.

Have you ever wanted to run a command from the Terminal, but have the output appear in its own Cocoa window, which will disappear on its own if the command completes successfully? This might be useful for: running backups; watching a large set of files copy over to a network server; executing a long-running command whose output you want to review if there was an error, but you don’t want to wait for, etc.

Well then, Runner is the tool for you.

Usage

Runner comes bundled as a regular Mac application, but it’s not intended to be run directly. If you examine the contents of the bundle, you’ll find an executable under the name Runner.app/Contents/MacOS/Runner. It’s this executable that you want to invoke, directly from the command-line.

To make it easier, I recommend creating a helper script that you place in your /usr/local/bin directory, named runner. Assuming you installed Runner.app in /Applications, the contents of the script would be:

#!/bin/bash

exec /Applications/Runner.app/Contents/MacOS/Runner "$@" \

    > /dev/null 2>&1

Now you can watch the output of a command in its own window by typing:

$ runner <command and arguments>

Features

Runner is designed around the needs I had for it, which include:

  • The output window remains open if the command fails.
  • The command can be restarted while running at the touch of a button.
  • You can instantly abort any command, with a prompt to confirm.
  • Running commands can be paused and resumed.
  • The window remembers its last size and position.
  • The display font can be increased or decreased, and the change is persistent.
  • Most of the above can be configured in the Preferences.

Download

To download Runner, head over to the Downloads section.

© 2008 John Wiegley