[Feature] Disown process on launch

[kevb1973]

System: NixOS (unstable)
Compositor: Niri
Terminal: Kitty

When using cute to launch a gui app, the controlling terminal remains open until the launched app is closed.

Since I'm using cute as a launcher in a floating window, this floating window sits on top of the launched app.

Would it be possible to disown each process when it's launched so cute can close? I had a look at the code, but my bash skills are sad. lol

Here is an example bind. (I replaced backticks with single quotes to fix formatting):

## niri - binds
'''bash
neovide ~/.config/niri/binds.kdl
'''

Thanks for sharing such a cool project.

[kevb1973]

After some playing around, I found a work-around that seems to solve the issue. It's Niri specific, so I don't know if there is a similar method on other compositors.

Instead of launching the gui app directly, I launch it with niri like this:

## niri - binds
'''bash
niri msg action spawn -- neovide ~/.config/niri/binds.kdl
'''

Now the app opens and the launcher window disappears as expected.

[ras0q]

Thanks for the #1 issue!
Since setting up NixOS was a hassle, I tested it locally with Ubuntu + xeyes command and could reproduce the issue (FYI: You can nest Markdown code blocks using four or more backquotes.)

# up

```sh
xeyes
```

I think running the GUI without Cute should yield the same result. How were you running neovide before?

[kevb1973]

Thanks for the markdown tip! I was trying to figure out how to escape them.. lol

Prior to cute, I was using this bash script I found somewhere on Github:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

apps=(
  "Launch - Neovide:neovide"
  )

choice=$(printf "%s\n" "${apps[@]}" | cut -d: -f1 | fzf --cycle --prompt="  ")

if [ -n "$choice" ]; then
    cmd=$(printf "%s\n" "${apps[@]}" | grep "^$choice:" | cut -d: -f2)

    # Executes the app, fully detaching it from the terminal
    setsid sh -c "$cmd >/dev/null 2>&1 &"
fi

GUI apps are correctly detached from the launching terminal and the terminal exits after launch.

I removed everything from the apps array except the Neovide example to keep it simple. It looks like the last line is what does the magic.

[ras0q]

I see. So it would be good to provide an option in cute to execute setsid sh -c “$cmd >/dev/null 2>&1 &”.
Do you have any good ideas for log disposal? Since we don't have an advanced structure like Docker Compose, implementing a cute logs command based on docker compose logs seems too complex.

[kevb1973]

Wish I could help, but that's unfortunately beyond my level of technical expertise. No idea what log disposal is. 😅

[ras0q]

OK, I'll look into it a bit more.
By the way, in the latest main branch, commands are now executed directly via exec, so simply appending & should be enough to run them in the background. Would this behavior meet your needs?

[kevb1973]

That would work great. I just updated to the latest version using fisher and tested with the following:

## launch - neovide-test
```bash
neovide & 
```

Unfortunately the app doesn't launch.

Here is terminal output:

❯ cute -v launch-neovide-test
▶ Executing task: launch - neovide-test
[launch - neovide-test]$ neovide
✔ Completed task: launch - neovide-test

Let me know if there is anything I can do to help test.

[kevb1973]

I found another workaround. While it's not Niri specific, it is Systemd specific.

## launch - neovide-test
```bash
systemd-run --user neovide
```