startup-tasks-automation

startup-tasks-automation

Run a list of commands when your computer starts, for example open Chrome, Slack and a project in VS Code. Each command can have a delay so the apps don't all start at the same time.

Installation

npm i startup-tasks-automation

Node.js 20 or newer is required.

Usage

import { runTasks } from 'startup-tasks-automation'

await runTasks([
  {
    command: 'C:/"Program Files"/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe',
    delay: 5_000
  },
  { command: 'C:/Users/me/AppData/Local/slack/slack.exe', delay: 10_000 },
  { command: 'code .', cwd: 'C:/Users/me/projects/my-app', delay: 15_000 }
])

A task can also be a plain string if it doesn't need a delay:

await runTasks(['code C:/Users/me/projects/my-app'])

CommonJS works too:

const { runTasks } = require('startup-tasks-automation')

The started apps are not tied to the script, so they keep running after it exits. The script exits by itself once the last task has started.

API

runTasks(tasks, options?)

Starts every task after its delay. Returns a promise that resolves when all tasks have been started. The value is a list of tasks that failed to start (empty if all went fine).

tasks is an array of strings or objects with these fields:

Field	Type	Description
command	string	Command to run. It runs through the system shell, so arguments and quotes work.
delay	number	Milliseconds to wait before running the command, counted from the start. Default 0.
cwd	string	Folder to run the command in. Default is the current folder.

Delays are counted from the moment runTasks is called, not from the previous task. In the example above Chrome starts after 5 seconds, Slack after 10 and VS Code after 15.

options:

Field	Type	Description
onStart	(task) => void	Called after a task has started.
onError	(error, task) => void	Called when a task fails to start. If not set, the error is printed to the console.

Note that "failed to start" means the shell itself couldn't be started (for example, cwd doesn't exist). If the shell starts but the command inside it fails, for example because of a wrong path, it's not reported.

TypeScript types (Task, RunTasksOptions, TaskFailure) are included.

Running the script on startup

Put the code in a file, for example startup.js, and make your system run it when you log in:

• Windows: create a shortcut or a .bat file with node C:\path\to\startup.js and put it in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.
• macOS: add it as a Login Item, or create a launchd agent in ~/Library/LaunchAgents.
• Linux: add a .desktop file to ~/.config/autostart.

License

ISC