macOS Terminal Timer

Sep 27, 2018 Mohamed Akram

Here’s how to set up a macOS terminal timer that uses notifications:

1. Enable atrun:

   sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.atrun.plist
   

   If you’re on macOS Mojave or higher, you’ll also need to give atrun and Terminal full disk access. To do so:

   1. Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and click the lock to make changes.

   2. Click the + button to open the file dialog and use Command + Shift + G to go to /usr/libexec/atrun and open it.

   3. Repeat the process for /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app.

2. Install reattach-to-user-namespace:

   • Homebrew: brew install reattach-to-user-namespace
   • MacPorts: sudo port install tmux-pasteboard

3. Add to ~/.profile:

   after() (
   	count=$1; shift
   	unit=$1; shift
   	title=`echo $* | sed 's/"/\\\"/g'`
   	at now + $count $unit <<-EOF
   	reattach-to-user-namespace osascript -e '
   	display notification with title "$title" sound name ""'
   	EOF
   )
   

4. Enjoy:

   $ after 1 minute cookies are ready!