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Scheduled Tasks on MacOS

Automating repetitive tasks on macOS can save time and improve productivity. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I automated syncing my local notes folder with its remote repository on GitHub.

Automating Git Sync

To achieve this, I created a simple script that automates the process of committing and pushing changes from a local Git repository to a remote one. Here’s how it works:

The commit-and-push.sh Script

This script takes a single parameter: the path to your local Git repository. It stages all changes, commits them with a default message, and pushes them to the remote repository.

#!/bin/bash
# Automates committing and pushing changes to a remote Git repository

set -eo pipefail

LOCAL_REPOSITORY=$1

cd "${LOCAL_REPOSITORY}"
git add .
git commit -m "[Automated] Commit and push"
git push

Setup

  1. Add to Path: Place the script in a directory that’s already included in your PATH. For example:
mv commit-and-push.sh /usr/local/bin
  1. Set Permissions: Make the script executable by running:
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/commit-and-push.sh

With this setup, you can run the script from anywhere without needing to specify its full path.

Scheduling with crontab

To schedule the script, I used crontab, a utility for setting up recurring tasks.

Getting Started with crontab

crontab -l
crontab -e

These commands apply only to the current user, which is ideal for tasks requiring SSH keys, like pushing to a remote Git repository.

Setting Up the Cron Job

Cron jobs are defined using a simple structure:

For building the cron expression, tools like crontab.guru can help. Alternatively, you can consult the man crontab manual.

Here’s the cron job I added:

0 0,12 * * * /usr/local/bin/commit-and-push.sh /Users/lima/Vault/

Explanation:

Wrapping Up

With this setup, my notes folder stays synchronized without manual intervention. I hope this post inspires you to automate some of your own repetitive tasks!