paulrberg/delayed-command

Delayed Command Execution

Wait for a specified duration, then execute a Bash command.

Arguments

• duration: Time to wait before execution (e.g., 30s, 5m, 1h, 1h30m)
• command: The Bash command to run after the delay

Duration Format

| Format | Example | Meaning | | -------- | --------- | ----------------- | | Xs | 30s | 30 seconds | | Xm | 5m | 5 minutes | | Xh | 1h | 1 hour | | XhYm | 1h30m | 1 hour 30 minutes | | XhYmZs | 1h5m30s | 1 hour 5 min 30 s |

Workflow

1. Parse Duration

Convert the duration argument to seconds:

• Extract hours (h), minutes (m), and seconds (s) components
• Calculate total seconds: hours * 3600 + minutes * 60 + seconds

Parsing logic:

duration="$1"
seconds=0

# Extract hours
if [[ $duration =~ ([0-9]+)h ]]; then
  seconds=$((seconds + ${BASH_REMATCH[1]} * 3600))
fi

# Extract minutes
if [[ $duration =~ ([0-9]+)m ]]; then
  seconds=$((seconds + ${BASH_REMATCH[1]} * 60))
fi

# Extract seconds
if [[ $duration =~ ([0-9]+)s ]]; then
  seconds=$((seconds + ${BASH_REMATCH[1]}))
fi

2. Execute with Delay

For durations up to 10 minutes (600 seconds):

Run synchronously using the Bash tool with appropriate timeout:

sleep <seconds> && <command>

Set the Bash tool's timeout parameter to at least (seconds + 60) * 1000 milliseconds.

For durations over 10 minutes:

Run in background using run_in_background: true:

sleep <seconds> && <command>

Inform the user the command is running in background and provide the task ID for checking status.

3. Report Result

After execution completes:

• Display command output
• Report exit status
• Note total elapsed time

Examples

Short Delay (Synchronous)

User: /delayed-command 5m npm test

1. Parse: 5 minutes = 300 seconds
2. Execute: sleep 300 && npm test (timeout: 360000ms)
3. Report test results

Long Delay (Background)

User: /delayed-command 1h git commit -m "auto-commit"

1. Parse: 1 hour = 3600 seconds
2. Execute in background: sleep 3600 && git commit -m "auto-commit"
3. Return task ID for status checking

Combined Duration

User: /delayed-command 1h30m ./deploy.sh

1. Parse: 1h30m = 5400 seconds
2. Execute in background (>600s): sleep 5400 && ./deploy.sh
3. Inform user of background task

Error Handling

| Error | Response | | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- | | Invalid duration format | Show supported formats and examples | | Missing command argument | Prompt for the command to execute | | Command not found | Report error after delay completes | | Duration exceeds 24h | Warn user and suggest alternative (cron, at) |