| name | osascript-subprocess |
| description | Run subprocesses from JXA/osascript using NSTask. Use when you need separate stdout/stderr streams, async execution, stdin piping, kill signals, exit codes, or running uv Python scripts from within a JXA automation script. |
osascript-subprocess
NSTask via JXA ObjC bridge — full POSIX process control from within osascript.
All scripts are Python with JXA embedded as strings.
NSTask vs doShellScript
| doShellScript | NSTask |
|---|
| Execution | Synchronous, blocks | Sync or async |
| stderr | Merged or lost | Separate NSPipe |
| stdin | None | NSPipe — writable |
| Kill process | Cannot | task.terminate() |
| Exit code | Only via error | task.terminationStatus |
| Long-running | Blocks script | Background option |
Use doShellScript for quick one-liners. Use NSTask when you need stderr, stdin, kill, or async.
PATH Note
uv lives in /opt/homebrew/bin. Always set PATH explicitly in NSTask — it does not inherit shell PATH:
task.environment = $.NSDictionary.dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys(
$("/opt/homebrew/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin"), $("PATH"),
...
);
Use /usr/bin/env as launchPath with ["uv", "run", ...] as arguments — lets env resolve uv from PATH.
Scripts
Run any shell command via NSTask — returns {stdout, stderr, exitCode}:
uv run scripts/run-command.py "ls -la /tmp"
uv run scripts/run-command.py "ping -c 3 google.com"
Run a uv run Python script via NSTask with proper PATH resolution:
uv run scripts/run-uv-script.py /path/to/script.py arg1 arg2
Reference
