2.0 KiB
Delegator: Subprocesses for Humans
Delegator is a Python library for running shell commands without fighting subprocess. One function call. Real piping. Sane defaults.
$ uv pip install delegator.py
What It Looks Like
import delegator
# Run a command.
c = delegator.run("ls -la")
print(c.out)
print(c.return_code)
# 0
# Pipe commands together.
c = delegator.chain("ps aux | grep python")
print(c.out)
# Check for errors.
c = delegator.run("cat nonexistent.txt")
print(c.err)
# cat: nonexistent.txt: No such file or directory
# Run with a timeout.
c = delegator.run("sleep 100", timeout=5)
No subprocess.Popen arguments to look up. No shell=True debates. No manual pipe wiring. Just run the command and get the result.
The Philosophy
Python's subprocess module is one of the most powerful and most frustrating parts of the standard library. The number of arguments to Popen is staggering. The difference between run, call, check_output, and Popen trips up experienced developers. Piping two commands together requires more code than the commands themselves.
Delegator started as a rewrite of my earlier library envoy. Same idea, better execution. It provides the two things you actually need: run a command, chain commands together. Everything else is handled with sensible defaults.
Pipenv uses Delegator internally for shell command execution. It's the kind of library that quietly makes other tools possible.
The project was gifted to Amit Tripathi, who now maintains it.
Install
$ uv pip install delegator.py