shell.py

import subprocess

def shell(*args, **kwargs):
    """Execute a shell command and return the output as a string.
    Any additional kwargs are passed directly to subprocess.run.
    Examples:
        shell("date")
        shell("date", "-u")
        message = "hello, world"
        shell("echo", message)
            execute the command `echo` with the message argument
        shell("cat", input="hello, world")
            execute the command `cat` and send it the string "hello, world" on
            stdin.
        shell("pwd", cwd="/etc")
            execute the command `pwd` in the specified current working
            directory
    """
    assert "shell" not in kwargs, "The `shell` kwarg to subprocess is generally unsafe. See https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html#security-considerations"

    return subprocess.run(
        args, check=True, timeout=60, capture_output=True, text=True, **kwargs
    ).stdout