A shell script to create application shortcuts in Google Chrome on a Mac

create_desktop_app_google_chrome.sh

#!/bin/sh

#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Original author: Bracken King
# https://www.lessannoyingcrm.com/blog/2010/08/149/create+application+shortcuts+in+google+chrome+on+a+mac
#
# Modified by: Gilberto R. Olimpio
#
# Changes:
#
# [2020-07-03]
#   - help message (-h | --help)
#   - option to specify the script parameters via command line arguments
#   - exit if icon image file does not exist
#   - show error messages
#   - accept variables and expand '~' for the icon path (e.g. ~/Pictures/icon.png)
#   - confirm before creating the application
#   - allow spaces in the application name
#   - display information about the step being executed
#
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

red=`tput setaf 1`
yellow=`tput setaf 3`
blue=`tput setaf 4`
reset=`tput sgr0`

function error {
  echo "${red}$1${reset}"
}

function info {
  echo "${blue}$1${reset}"
}

function warn {
  echo "${yellow}$1${reset}"
}

function check_icon_path {
  eval icon=$icon
  if [ ! -f "$icon" ]; then
    error "Error: Image not found ($icon)"
    false
  else
    true
  fi
}

function parse_args {
  while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
    case "$1" in
      -h|--help)
        echo "Create application shortcuts in Google Chrome on a Mac."
        echo " "
        echo "Usage:"
        echo "  create_desktop_app_google_chrome.sh [options]"
        echo " "
        echo "Options:"
        echo "  -h, --help            : show this help message"
        echo "  -n, --name <name>     : application name"
        echo "  -u, --url <url>       : application URL url (e.g. https://calendar.google.com)"
        echo "  -i, --icon <path>     : full path to the application icon image"
        echo "  -q, --no-confirmation : do not ask for confirmation before creating the application"
        exit 0
        ;;
      -n|--name)
        shift
        if test $# -gt 0; then
          name=$1
        else
          error "Error: application <name> not specified"
          exit 1
        fi
        shift
        ;;
      -u|--url)
        shift
        if test $# -gt 0; then
          url=$1
        else
          error "Error: application <url> not specified"
          exit 1
        fi
        shift
        ;;
      -i|--icon)
        shift
        if test $# -gt 0; then
          icon=$1
          if ! check_icon_path; then exit 3; fi
        else
          error "Error: icon <path> not specified"
          exit 1
        fi
        shift
        ;;
      -q|--no-confirmation)
        no_confirmation="Y"
        shift
        ;;
      *)
        error "Invalid argument: $1"
        exit 2
        ;;
    esac
  done
}

function prompt {
  echo $1
  printf "> "
  read inputline
}

parse_args "$@"

if [ -z "$name" ]; then
  prompt "What should the Application be called?"
  name=$inputline
  echo " "
fi

if [ -z "$url" ]; then
  prompt "What is the url (e.g. https://www.google.com/calendar/render)?"
  url=$inputline
  echo " "
fi

if [ -z "$icon" ]; then
  while :; do
    prompt "What is the full path to the icon (e.g. ~/Desktop/icon.png)?"
    icon=$inputline
    if check_icon_path; then
      echo " "
      break
    fi
    echo " "
  done
fi

chromePath="/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome"
appRoot="$HOME/Applications"

# various paths used when creating the app
resourcePath="$appRoot/$name.app/Contents/Resources"
execPath="$appRoot/$name.app/Contents/MacOS"
profilePath="$appRoot/$name.app/Contents/Profile"
profileFirstRun="$profilePath/First Run"
plistPath="$appRoot/$name.app/Contents/Info.plist"

echo "Application parameters:"
echo "  - name: $name"
echo "  - url: $url"
echo "  - icon: $icon"
echo " "
echo "Directories used when creating the Application:"
echo "  - resourcePath: $resourcePath"
echo "  - execPath: $execPath"
echo "  - profilePath: $profilePath"
echo "  - plistPath: $plistPath"
echo " "

if [ -z "$no_confirmation" ]; then
  prompt "Do you want to continue and create the Application <y/n>? "
  case $inputline in
    n|N)
      echo " "
      warn "Cancelled!"
      exit 0
      ;;
  esac
fi

# make the directories
info "Creating directories..."
mkdir -p "$resourcePath" "$execPath" "$profilePath"

# this will disable the welcome dialog (when open the app for the first time)
touch "$profileFirstRun"

# convert the icon and copy into Resources
info "Converting icon file:"
info "  [$resourcePath/icon.tiff]"
sips -s format tiff $icon --out "$resourcePath/icon.tiff" --resampleHeightWidth 128 128 >& /dev/null
tiff2icns -noLarge "$resourcePath/icon.tiff" >& /dev/null

# create the executable
info "Creating application executable:"
info "  [$execPath/$name]"
cat >"$execPath/$name" <<EOF
#!/bin/sh
exec $chromePath --app="$url" --user-data-dir="$profilePath" "\$@"
EOF
chmod +x "$execPath/$name"

# create the Info.plist
info "Creating information property list:"
info "  [$plistPath]"
cat > "$plistPath" <<EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" “http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd”>
<plist version=”1.0″>
<dict>
  <key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
  <string>$name</string>
  <key>CFBundleIconFile</key>
  <string>icon</string>
</dict>
</plist>
EOF

printf "\nDone!\n\n"

This script doesn't work (probably because it's so old), but this one works: https://gist.github.com/demonbane/1065791

This script doesn't work (probably because it's so old), but this one works: https://gist.github.com/demonbane/1065791

Thanks for the update!

Gist has been updated and I've added a few small improvements to the script. It's possible to create an app with a single command now:

create_desktop_app_google_chrome.sh --name "Google Calendar" --url https://calendar.google.com --icon /tmp/calendar.png -q

There is also some sort of documentation about the command line arguments:

create_desktop_app_google_chrome.sh --help