Mac: Run screen command from launchctl

Question

I have a Python script that I would like to run on a Mac at system start up in a detached screen session.

The Python File (foo.py):

import time
import datetime

while True:
    print 'hello', datetime.datetime.now()
    time.sleep(2)

The Shell Script Which Calls It (run_foo.sh):

#!/bin/bash
username=`whoami`
_python=`which python`
screen -dm -S run_foo $_python /Users/$username/foo.py

The Plist Which Calls The Shell Script: https://gist.github.com/cooncesean/6617008

===========

The Python script runs fine on its own:

> python foo.py
hello 2013-09-18 21:20:22.132170
hello 2013-09-18 21:20:24.133420
hello 2013-09-18 21:20:26.134697
...

The Shell script that calls the Python script runs fine on its own:

> sh run_foo.sh
There is a screen on:
1922.run_foo    (Detached)
1 Socket in /var/folders/4z/0413fcs523l8nz12xbvng0bh0000gn/T/.screen.

> screen -r run_foo
hello 2013-09-18 21:24:57.243103
hello 2013-09-18 21:24:59.244349

Loading the plist (which calls the shell script, which creates the screen and runs the Python script) leaves me with a dead screen session that needs to be wiped.

> launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/start-foo.plist

> screen -list
There is a screen on:
1951.run_foo    (Dead ???)
Remove dead screens with 'screen -wipe'.
1 Socket in /var/folders/4z/0413fcs523l8nz12xbvng0bh0000gn/T/.screen.

UPDATE: It appears launchd does not allow you to call a daemon (in this case, screen) and raises an exception. So, how does one start a screen session at startup on a Mac? crontab?

Answer 1

I was able to get this working by piecing together a few different answers [1][2][3].

I made a script to launch my screen command as follows:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
screen -dmS MySessionName $SHELL
screen -S MySessionName -p 0 -X stuff "myprogram"$'\n'

then saved this as a .sh file, and ran chmod a+x on it. In Finder, I used Cmd-I to set Terminal.app as the default way to open .sh type files. Then simply go to System Preferences->Users and Accounts->Login Items, click + and add the file.

References:

1. https://askubuntu.com/a/983176/667707
2. https://superuser.com/a/307486/691289
3. https://superuser.com/a/995564/691289