Tea Timer in Bash

content/posts/tea-timer-in-bash/index.md

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+title = "Tea Timer in Bash"
+date = 2025-10-29
+
+[taxonomies]
+categories = ["Linux"]
+
+[extra]
+author = "Emil Miler"
++++
+
+I grew tired of unlocking my phone and starting a timer every time I brewed tea. Running a simple shell script is far more convenient, and writing it also gave me a chance to refresh my dulled shell scripting skills.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+Here is the full script which I named `tea` in my file system:
+
+```sh
+#!/bin/bash
+
+NOTIFICATION_SOUND=~/.scripts/notification.mp3
+DELAY="${1:-180}"
+DELAY_REMAINING=$DELAY
+
+echo "Timer set to $DELAY seconds"
+echo "Remaining: $DELAY_REMAINING"
+
+while [ "$DELAY_REMAINING" -ne 0 ]; do
+	sleep 1
+	((DELAY_REMAINING--))
+	echo -e "\e[1A\e[KRemaining: $DELAY_REMAINING"
+done
+
+notify-send 'Tea is Ready' "Timer was set to $DELAY seconds"
+pw-play "$NOTIFICATION_SOUND" &
+```
+
+So how does it work? First, we set some variables:
+
+```sh
+NOTIFICATION_SOUND=~/.scripts/notification.mp3
+DELAY="${1:-180}"
+```
+
+`NOTIFICATION_SOUND` contains the path for a sound which gets played after the timer runs out. `DELAY` sets the delay to `$1`, or to default of 180 seconds if the `$1` parameter is missing.
+
+Next interesting part is the timing itself. It runs in a loop until `DELAY_REMAINING` reaches zero. The loop also contains a peculiar `echo`:
+
+```sh
+echo -e "\e[1A\e[KRemaining: $DELAY_REMAINING"
+```
+
+This basically replaces the last line in _stdout_, where `\e[1A` moves the cursor to the previous line and `\e[K` erases the line, therefore letting us overwrite the line with new content.
+
+When the timer runs out, system notification is sent with `notify-send` and the predefined sound is played trough _pipewire_ using `pw-play`:
+
+```sh
+notify-send 'Tea is Ready' "Timer was set to $DELAY seconds"
+pw-play "$NOTIFICATION_SOUND" &
+```
+
+The usage is simple: running `tea` with an optional parameter, such as `tea 120`.