Lurch is a butler... Erm, wait! It's a REST service meant to be used with Alfred, in order to execute bash commands through it's custom web search.
Lurch was inspired by a script developed by a friend of mine, which can be found here.
In order to use Lurch in a correct way, you should have those tools installed:
- Java 1.8
- iTerm 2
- Google Chrome
Download the jar file, under the Releases tab.
After that, be sure that you don't have other services running on port 2309, since Lurch is using it.
Execute Lurch by launching the following command from a terminal:
java -jar lurch-1.0.jar
Next, open Alfred Preferences -> Features -> Web Search and then click on "Add Custom Search".
Fill the form using the following strings:
- Search URL:
http://localhost:2309/bash?q={query} - Encode spaces as:
+ - Title:
Executing command '{query}' - Keyword:
bash
You can now test the new search, and launch your bash commands like bash ls -ltr and your result will appear in a new iTerm2 window.
Lurch works in a clean way, just using App that you usually run on your own. That's why it acts like a real butler! 😏
- A HTTP call is made by Alfred to Lurch's endpoint, through your default browser (Chrome!)
- Lurch will run the passed bash command into an Apple Script
- The Apple Script will open a new iTerm2 window, launching your command
- Lurch returns a javascript in the response that will close the Chrome tab
Unfortunately I can't close a Firefox tab that way, since we're not its owner, that's why Chrome is the "chosen one".