Run adjacent command-line program from custom directory

command.tool

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -e

: ${run_dir:="${HOME}/Library/Application Support/CUSTOM_DIRECTORY"}

# Find absolute path to script
script_path=$(cd "${0%/*}" 2>/dev/null; echo "$PWD"/"${0##*/}")
if [ -n "$(readlink "$script_path")" ]; then
	script_path=$(readlink "$script_path")
fi

mkdir -p  "$run_dir" && cd "$_"
"${script_path%.*}"

In macOS, double-clicking a command-line program will open it in Terminal and run it from the Home folder, potentially polluting it with whatever output it might create there.

In order to easily have a command-line program run from a custom directory:

1. Download and place this script in the same folder as the command-line program.
2. Name the script the same as the command-line program followed by the .tool suffix.
3. Give the script execute permissions in Terminal by running chmod +x followed by space and dropping the script file in the Terminal window.
4. Edit the script’s contents so that the value of run_dir between quotes is the path you want to run the command-line program from.

From then on, run the program by double-clicking the script in order to have it ran from the custom directory.