Dired Global Script Runner 🛒

An Emacs package for Yazi-style global file marking across Dired buffers, sending selections to external scripts via an Eat terminal. (Includes Doom/Evil bindings).

This package allows you to navigate through multiple directories, collect files into a global "shopping cart," and seamlessly pass them as arguments to any external Bash, Python, or Lua script.

Originally built to bypass Termux/Android PTY argument-parsing bugs, it copies the final execution command directly to your clipboard for a foolproof, manual paste execution.

💡 Note: This package is the lightweight precursor to a more ambitious, generalized job orchestrator currently in development. If you are looking for visual batch processing and advanced task management in Emacs, keep an eye on org-commander (GitHub | Codeberg)!

📋 Prerequisites

To use this script, you need:

• Eat (Emulate A Terminal): Required. The script uses Eat to launch a fast, full-screen terminal.

• For Doom Emacs Users: The map! keybindings provided below rely on Evil mode for the bulk-marking workflow.

• For Vanilla Emacs Users: The core Elisp functions are completely vanilla and will work anywhere. You just need to bind them using standard define-key (see examples below).

✨ Features

• Global Selection: Mark files across entirely different directories (unlike standard dired marks).

• Persistent State: Save your marked lists as plain text .org files and load them later.

• Auto-Cleanup: Automatically trims your saved lists history to keep the 10 most recent (while ignoring manually renamed lists).

• Multi-Language Support: Automatically detects .sh, .py, and .lua scripts and uses the correct interpreter.

• Foolproof Execution: Avoids terminal argument bugs by copying the generated command to your clipboard and opening a fresh eat terminal for you to paste and run.

⚡ The Power of Visual Selection

Most file managers force you to press an "add" key on every single file. This package integrates perfectly with Dired's native marks.

The Doom/Evil Workflow Advantage:

1. Press V (capital V) to enter Evil line-wise visual mode.

2. Use j/k to highlight a block of files.

3. Press m to natively Dired-mark them all instantly.

4. Press SPC m m to push that entire batch into your global shopping cart in one shot!

Made a mistake? Visually select the wrong files, press m, and hit SPC m u to instantly yank that batch out of your global cart.

📦 Installation

1. Download run-script-in-terminal.el and place it in your ~/.config/doom/ directory (or your preferred local package directory).

2. Load it in your config:

   (load! "run-script-in-terminal.el") ;; For Doom Emacs
   ;; OR: (load "/path/to/run-script-in-terminal.el") ;; For Vanilla
   

⌨️ Keybindings & Usage

🦇 For Doom Emacs (Evil)

Add these mappings directly to your config.el file:

(map! :leader
      "m m" #'mythings/script/add-mark      ; Add point/marks to global list safely
      "m u" #'mythings/script/remove-mark   ; Remove point/marks from global list
      "m s" #'mythings/script/show-marks    ; Show marks (use SPC h e if list is long)
      "m v" #'mythings/script/save-marks    ; Save current list manually
      "m l" #'mythings/script/load-marks    ; Load a previous/renamed list
      "m d" #'mythings/script/trim-marks    ; Manually clear old lists > 10
      "m c" #'mythings/script/clear-marks   ; Just clear memory without saving
      "m r" #'mythings/script/run-script-in-eat) ; Run! (Saves, clears, copies cmd, opens eat)

🐮 For Vanilla Emacs

If you do not use Doom, simply evaluate this block to bind the functions to a custom prefix (C-c m) in your dired-mode-map:

(with-eval-after-load 'dired
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m m") #'mythings/script/add-mark)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m u") #'mythings/script/remove-mark)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m s") #'mythings/script/show-marks)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m v") #'mythings/script/save-marks)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m l") #'mythings/script/load-marks)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m d") #'mythings/script/trim-marks)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m c") #'mythings/script/clear-marks)
  (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "C-c m r") #'mythings/script/run-script-in-eat))

What Each Key Does

Doom Bind	Vanilla Bind	Function	Detailed Description
SPC m m	C-c m m	Add Marks	Adds the file at your cursor to the global cart. Pro-tip: If you have files marked with Dired's standard m, it adds all of them at once. It safely ignores duplicates.
SPC m u	C-c m u	Remove Marks	Removes the file at your cursor from the global cart. If you have files marked with standard m, it removes all of them from the cart.
SPC m s	C-c m s	Show Marks	Peeks at your currently collected files in the bottom echo area. Pro-tip: If your list is very long, open the *Messages* buffer to view the full list.
SPC m r	C-c m r	Run Script	The Magic Button. Prompts you to select a script. It builds the shell command, saves your list to an .org file, clears your memory, copies the command to your clipboard, and drops you into a full-screen eat terminal. Just press paste and Enter!
SPC m v	C-c m v	Save Marks	Manually saves your current cart to a timestamped .org file.
SPC m l	C-c m l	Load Marks	Opens a finder to let you select a previously saved .org list and loads its contents back into your active global cart.
SPC m d	C-c m d	Trim Old Marks	Looks at your save directory and deletes old auto-generated timestamp files, keeping only the 10 most recent. If you rename a file manually, it is ignored and kept safe!
SPC m c	C-c m c	Clear Marks	Instantly empties your active cart from memory without saving.

🚀 Full Example

(Note: For familiarity, this demo uses the Doom Emacs keybindings. If you use vanilla Emacs, simply substitute SPC m with your chosen prefix like C-c m.)

1. Open dired in ~/downloads. Press m on audio1.mp3 and audio2.mp3.

2. Press SPC m m. (2 files added to cart).

3. Navigate to ~/music. Visually select 5 files with V and j, press m, then SPC m m. (Global cart now has 7 files).

4. Press SPC m r and select ~/bin/convert-to-opus.sh.

5. Emacs opens a fresh full-screen terminal and says: "Command copied!"

6. Paste the clipboard contents into the terminal and press Enter.

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