cross-platform-shell-delay-sleep-wait

name	cross-platform-shell-delay-sleep-wait
description	How to pause/sleep in shell commands on macOS, Linux, and Windows — use this when the agent needs to wait before running the next command.
last_updated	"2026-02-13T00:00:00.000Z"

Cross-Platform Shell Delay

When the agent needs to wait for a period of time (e.g., waiting for a port to release, a process to exit, or a file to become available), use the correct delay command for the user's platform.

Platform Commands

Platform	Command	Notes
macOS / Linux	sleep <seconds>	POSIX standard; supports decimals (sleep 0.5)
Windows (cmd.exe)	timeout /t <seconds> /nobreak	Built-in; /nobreak prevents user from skipping
Windows (PowerShell)	Start-Sleep -Seconds <seconds>	Native cmdlet; also supports -Milliseconds

In Chained Commands

Use && to chain a delay before the next command:

macOS / Linux:

sleep 2 && npm run dev

Windows (cmd.exe):

timeout /t 2 /nobreak && npm run dev

Windows (PowerShell):

Start-Sleep -Seconds 2; npm run dev

In Node.js (Cross-Platform)

When Node.js is available (always true in this Electron project), this works on all platforms:

node -e "setTimeout(() => {}, 5000)"

Or inline before another command (use && on macOS/Linux/cmd, ; in PowerShell):

node -e "setTimeout(() => process.exit(), 2000)" && npm run dev

In Application Code (TypeScript)

The codebase already uses a standard pattern for async delays:

const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));

await sleep(2000);

See src/main/services/demoModeService.ts for the canonical example of platform-branching with process.platform.

Platform Detection

Branch on process.platform when spawning shell commands:

const delay = process.platform === 'win32'
  ? 'timeout /t 2 /nobreak &&'
  : 'sleep 2 &&';