Run multiple commands in layouts

[Korbeil]

Hey,

I would like to create layout for my projects but to do that I need to run multiple commands.
For example here is a script I'm running when starting a project:

cd ~/path/to/my/project/
pipenv run fab create_database
pipenv shell

First part could be removed if we add a cwd configuration in the layout parts section.
For the 2 last lines I would need to run multiple commands, do you think that is possible ?

Thanks for the awesome tool :)

[a-kenji]

Hey! Thanks for creating this issue! Yes, that is possible.

https://zellij.dev/documentation/layouts.html

[Korbeil]

Hey! Thanks for creating this issue! Yes, that is possible.

zellij.dev/documentation/layouts.html

I did not find how to run multiple commands or setting a working directory here, could you give me an example maybe ?

[a-kenji]

Sure!

Here is a small example:

tabs:
  - name: tab 1
    run:
      command: {cmd: fish, args: ["-C $HOME/Downloads && fish -C ls && fish"]}

[Korbeil]

hmmm I'm using bash at the moment and with the following layout:

---
tabs:
  - name: Application
    run:
      command: {cmd: bash, args: ["-c cd /tmp && bash"]}

But the only output I get is:

 $ zellij --layout-path ./zellij.yaml 
Bye from Zellij!

Maybe I did something wrong ?

[a-kenji]

Every shell is different and -c in bash doesn't work like -C in fish.

I think this should work, but I don't use bash often:

---
tabs:
  - name: Application
    run:
      command: {cmd: bash, args: ["-c", "cd /tmp && exec bash"]}

[welcoMattic]

@a-kenji I've just tested, and it doesn't work, neither with zsh. Is it feasible to pass a full string command like:

---
tabs:
  - name: Application
    run:
      command: "cd /tmp && exec bash"

And it will be up to zellij to encapsulate it with the current shell "-c" option?

[a-kenji]

I tested it now and it does work for both bash and zsh for me.

---
tabs:
  - name: tab 1
    run:
      command: {cmd: bash, args: ["-c", "cd /tmp && exec bash"]}

Is there more information that you can maybe give me where it fails.
Does it show an error? What are your steps?
Can you run the arguments when you put them in a script and run it then?

And it will be up to zellij to encapsulate it with the current shell "-c" option?

Maybe? I do want to have the ergonomics of the command improved. Especially on holding a pane open. I am not sure how feasible it is to integrate behavior that is very shell dependent.

[a-kenji]

@welcoMattic

Just to make sure, did you have the arguments split like this:

["-c", "cd /tmp && exec bash"]

?

[welcoMattic]

@a-kenji Yes, I have args splitted. But there are 2 things:

1. command: {cmd: bash, args: ["-c", "cd /tmp && exec bash"]} works, I have a zellij instance, with bash in a pane.
2. command: {cmd: bash, args: ["-c", "cd /tmp && ls"]} doesn't work, I have instantly Bye from Zellij!

What is needed here, is to execute some command to prepare a pane for a project (installing dependancies, running containers, etc).

[a-kenji]

Does this work:

tabs:
  - name: tab 1
    run:
      command: {cmd: "bash", args: ["-c", "cd /tmp && ls && exec bash"]}

?
ls returns and we don't hold on a returning command yet. But you can work around it while keeping a command open.

[welcoMattic]

Yes, it works. Not optimal, but it does the job. Isn't is possible to plan to run a collection of commands instead of only one?

[a-kenji]

Ideally: yes, that is what #851 proposes. It just is not there yet sadly.
What you can already do is bind this process to a shortcut which is also not ideal yet, because we don't have the hold attribute yet, but something like that can be found here: #1061 .

[welcoMattic]

Thanks, I will keep an eye on future updates. Meanwhile, I will use your trick to run some commands in a pane. Thanks a lot!

cc @Korbeil sorry to squatting your issue, but I know we have the same issue 😄

[Korbeil]

No problem, it solved my issue so I'm glad you did :) Thank you both and thank for zellij @a-kenji !

[GregPK]

If you're here and confused about the yaml layout, this is a how to do this in KDL:

Bash:

pane command="bash" {
    args "-c" "cd /tmp && ls"
}

Fish:

pane command="fish" {
    args "--command" "cd /tmp && ls"
}

[ohare93]

Had this issue, but when running as a command with a pipe. Here's how I eventually resolved it:

> zrf --cwd "/mnt/c/Projects/mystuff" git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin

error: Found argument '--cwd /mnt/c/Projects/mystuff ...' which wasn't expected, or isn't valid in this context.

It seems zrf can't take --cwd since it's already an alias. Gonna have to be specific

> zellij run -f --cwd "/mnt/c/Projects/mystuff" git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin

The pipe caused the last part to be considered outside my zellij command 🥹 Need to encapsulate it

> zellij run -f --cwd "/mnt/c/Projects/mystuff" "git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin"

error: Found argument 'git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin' which wasn't expected, or isn't valid in this context

Command needs to come after -- when adding more options

> zellij run -f --cwd "/mnt/c/Projects/mystuff" -- "git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin"

Command not found: git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin
If you were including arguments as part of the command, try including them as 'args' instead.

> zellij run -f --cwd "/mnt/c/Projects/mystuff" -- zsh -c "git ls-tree -r HEAD ./src/myproject | git hash-object --stdin"

Works! 👍