◲ desk

Lightweight workspace manager for the shell.

Desk makes it easy to flip back and forth between different project contexts in your favorite shell. Change directory, activate a virtualenv or rvm, load in domain-specific aliases, environment variables, functions, arbitrary shell files, all in a single command.

Instead of relying onCTRL-Rto execute and recall ( "that command's gotta be here somewhere..." ), desk helps shorten and document those actions with shell aliases and functions, which are then namespaced under a particular desk.

Because Deskfiles are just enriched shell scripts, the possibilities are endless. For example, when doing work on AWS I have desk securely load AWS API keys into environment variables via pass-- no effort on my part, and no risk of accidentally persisting that sensitive information to a history file.

I have a hard time calling this a "workspace manager" with a straight face -- it's basically just a shell script that sources another shell script in a new shell. But I often find myself working in multiple different code trees simultaneously: the quick context switches and namespaced commands that desk facilitates have proven useful.

There are no dependencies other thanbash.Desk is explicitly tested withbash, zsh,andfish.

◲ desk 0.6.0

Usage:

desk
List the current desk and any associated aliases. If no desk
is being used, display available desks.
desk init
Initialize desk configuration.
desk (list|ls)
List all desks along with a description.
desk (.|go) [<desk-name-or-path>[shell-args...]]
Activate a desk. Extra arguments are passed onto shell. If called with
no arguments, lookfora Deskfileinthe current directory. If not a
recognized desk, try as a path to directory containing a Deskfile.
desk run<desk-name><cmd>
Run acommandwithin a desk's environment then exit. Think'$SHELL-c'.
desk edit [desk-name]
Edit (or create) a deskfile with the name specified, otherwise
edit the active deskfile.
desk help
Show this text.
desk version
Show version information.

Since desk spawns a shell, to deactivate and "pop" out a desk, you
simply need to exit or otherwise end the current shell process.

For example, given this deskfile (~/.desk/desks/tf.sh):

#tf.sh
#
#Description: desk for doing work on a terraform-based repository
#

cd~/terraform-repo

#Set up AWS env variables: <key id> <secret>
set_aws_env() {
exportAWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="$1"
exportAWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="$2"
}

#Run `terraform plan` with proper AWS var config
plan() {
terraform plan -module-depth=-1 \
-var"access_key=${AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID}"\
-var"secret_key=${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}"
}

#Run `terraform apply` with proper AWS var config
aliasapply='terraform apply'

we'd get

$ desk.tf
$ desk

tf
deskfordoing work on a terraform repo

set_aws_env Set up AWS env variables:<key id><secret>
plan Run`terraform plan`with proper AWS var config
apply Run`terraform apply`with proper AWS var config

Basically, desk just associates a shell script (name.sh) with a name. When you calldesk. name,desk drops you into a shell wherename.shhas been executed, and then desk extracts out certain comments inname.shfor useful rendering.

Installing

With homebrew

brew install desk

With curl

Assuming~/binexists and is on the PATH... otherwise, substitute/usr/local/bin and addsudoas needed.

0. curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jamesob/desk/master/desk > ~/bin/desk
1. chmod +x ~/bin/desk

With git

0. git clone [email protected]:jamesob/desk.git && cd desk && sudo make install

After that, rundesk initand start adding deskfiles with eitherdesk edit [deskfile name] or by manually adding shell scripts into your deskfiles directory (by default~/.desk/desks/).

Enabling shell extensions

NB:Shell extensions are automatically enabled if Desk is installed via Homebrew.

Using bash

0. Addsource /path/to/desk/repo/shell_plugins/bash/deskto your.bashrc.

Using fish

mkdir-p~/.config/fish/completions
cp/path/to/desk/repo/shell_plugins/fish/desk.fish ~/.config/fish/completions

Using zsh

0. Addfpath=(/path/to/desk/repo/shell_plugins/zsh $fpath)to your.zshrc.

Optionally, use one of the zsh plugin frameworks mentioned below.

Usingoh-my-zsh

0. make oh-my-zshfrom within this repo. This sets up a symlink.

or

0. cd ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins
1. git clone [email protected]:jamesob/desk.git /tmp/desk && cp -r /tmp/desk/shell_plugins/zsh desk
2. Add desk to your plugin list

UsingAntigen

0. Addantigen bundle jamesob/desk shell_plugins/zshto your.zshrc
1. Open a new terminal window. Antigen will clone the desk repo and add it to your path.

Usingzgen

0. Addzgen load jamesob/desk shell_plugins/zshto your.zshrcwith your other load commands
1. rm ~/.zgen/init.zsh
2. Start a new shell; zgen will generate a newinit.zshand automatically clone the desk repository for you and add it to your path.

Deskfile rules

Deskfiles are just shell scripts, nothing more, that live in the desk config directory. Desk does pay attention to certain kinds of comments, though.

• description:you can describe a deskfile by including# Description:... somewhere in the file.

• alias and function docs:if the line above an alias or function is a comment, it will be used as documentation.

Deskfiles

Deskfiles are just shell scripts at the root of a project directory that adhere to the conventions above. These can be put into version control to formalize and ease common development tasks like running tests or doing local builds.

For example, if we have some directory or repository calledmyproject,if we createmyproject/Deskfile,we'll be able to do any of the following:

$ desk go /path/to/myproject/
$ desk go /path/to/myproject/Deskfile
myproject/ $ desk go.
myproject/ $ desk go

Sharing deskfiles across computers

Of course, the desk config directory (by default~/.desks) can be a symlink so that deskfiles can be stored in some centralized place, like Dropbox, and so shared across many computers.

Using a non-default config location

By default, desk configuration lives in~/.desk($DESK_DIR) and deskfiles live in~/.desk/desks($DESK_DESKS_DIR). If you want to use some other location, specify as much indesk initand then ensure you set$DESK_DIR and/or$DESK_DESKS_DIRto match in your shell's rc file.

Shortening invocation

Typingdesk.frequently can get old; personally, I like to alias this with

aliasd.='desk.'

in my shell rc file.

Usage with OS X

Desk won't work when used strictly with~/.bash_profileon OS X's terminal, since the content of~/.bash_profileis only executed onlogin,not shell creation, as explainedhere.

My recommendation is to use~/.bashrcas your general-purpose config file, then simply have~/.bash_profilepoint to it:

#~/.bash_profile

if[-f~/.bashrc ];then
source~/.bashrc
fi

Related projects

• godeskby @hamin: a desk launcher with fuzzy filtering

Tips accepted

BTC:18ehgMUJBqKc2Eyi6WHiMwHFwA8kobYEhy

Half of all tips will be donated toan organization providing aid to Syrian refugees.

Donations made on behalf of tippers

date	amount	organization
2015-11-18	$1.07	http://moas.eu
2016-11-14	$21.00	http://moas.eu