i wonder if this works

config/awesome/rc.lua

@@ -589,30 +589,4 @@ local startupApps = {
   'keepassxc',
 }
 
-local run_once = function(cmd)
-    local findme = cmd
-    local firstspace = cmd:find(' ')
-    if firstspace then
-        findme = cmd:sub(0, firstspace - 1)
-    end
-    awful.spawn.easy_async_with_shell(
-        string.format('pgrep -u $USER -x %s > /dev/null || (%s)', findme, cmd),
-        function(stdout, stderr)
-            -- Debugger 
-            if not stderr or stderr == '' or not debug_mode then
-                return 
-            end
-            naughty.notification({
-                app_name = 'Start-up Applications',
-                title = '<b>Oof! Error detected when starting an application!</b>',
-                message = stderr:gsub('%\n', ''),
-                timeout = 20,
-                icon = require('beautiful').awesome_icon
-            })
-        end
-    )
-end
-
-for _, app in ipairs(startupApps) do
-    run_once(app)
-end
+awful.spawn.once(startupApps)