Questions tagged [automator]
An application developed by Apple for macOS that implements the creation of workflows.
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Unable to load a workflow as a service using launchctl in macOS
I am trying to load a workflow as a service using launchctl on macOS (Ventura 13.2.1), but I am encountering an error message. The workflow is located at /Users/rohan/Library/Services/open-bluetooth-...
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Shell script application bundle prompts for Rosetta installation
I exported the following line of AppleScript code into an macOS application via the "Script Editor":
do shell script "open '/Applications/Google Chrome.app' --args --proxy-server=...
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What can be done to make programs startup faster?
I bought a new MacBook Air with an M1 chip.
When I launch programs, they don't launch immediately. First, the icon bounces for a few seconds, and only after that, I can see the program window.
I found ...
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Creating Automator Quick Action to Extract (and Move) Media Files From Subfolders to New Folder (in Parent Directory)
I have an audio recording device that puts all files from any given capture into its own folder. (This includes all channels of the recording plus a metadata document.)
Typically, I navigate to the ...
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Error when executing a shell script in Automator that works fine in Terminal [duplicate]
I am trying to create an Automator Quick Action that will extract subtitles from a .mp4 file via a shell script when selected from the Finder. When I run the command in Terminal, it executes properly ...
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How can I take a screenshot and then send it in an email with Automator?
I run some tests on my Mac that take several hours. When the tests are done, I want to send myself an email with a screenshot of the test results.
Here is how I configured my Automator App:
New mail ...
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Automator run shell script does not know my PATH?
When I use the "run shell script" in automator, and do, for example
say $PATH
it then tells me the PATH. But the path is incomplete. Some items I have in $PATH when using the terminal (zsh) ...
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Run a shell script having individual icon in dock
Target
Run a command line tool or script displayed with a specific icon in dock. A terminal window should not be displayed. I would like to use this to start octave with its gui.
What I tried
...
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Old iPads and data pull automation
I have 20 old iPads (mini 5th gen, software version 12.2) that are used for note taking daily. The application, Tap Forms HD has a export folder that holds a .csv file. The .csv file is still stored ...
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Automator workflow crashing silently when ran as Finder extension
I made an Automator workflow that essentially runs a shell script to optimize images. I intend to use it as a Finder.app extension, by selecting images and running the workflow as a "quick action&...
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Make a keyboard shortcut for adding specific text? [closed]
I am using a Late 2014 iMac running Big Sur. I would like to be able to make a keyboard shortcut to automatically enter a specific text screen into the current window. I did a Google search on how ...
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A script that opens .py types in values required
First a bit of backstory, when I do python assignments I had to manually add inventory items again and again which was painful so I wrote a shell script which would start my python program and enter ...
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How can I combine multiple Word files into one?
There's an old answer to this question here: Method for Combining Multiple Word Documents into One?
But the top rated answer is to just do it manually by inserting one at a time. I have to believe ...
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Is there a way to make login items only work on specific days?
Is there some kind of script or automation I can run that gives me the possibility for certain apps to open at login but only on certain days? For instance I want to be able to open Mail, Slack, ...
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Mac loses the ability to set desktop image after a few days of automatic setting
I have a script that pulls images from Reddit and sets them as my wallpaper. This works fine for the first few days, though after that it just stops changing the wallpaper. The images continue to ...
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USB Overdrive how to use a modifier key to change the macro executed
On my Mac I use USB Overdrive to assign the macros CmdShift[ or ] to switch tabs quickly with my mouse's side buttons. I wanted to know if it was possible to make it so that when I am holding down a ...
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Keyboard shortcut to stop the app automator on mac [duplicate]
How can I create a keyboard shortcut for the Automator app on mac? I need this to work like this: There is an ongoing service that uses the mouse and so i can’t use it for stopping the service, i need ...
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Adding ffmpeg terminal code as a quick action [duplicate]
I created a terminal code to add timestamps to a video, now I want to add this code as quick action using automator.
ffmpeg -i example.mp4 -vf "drawtext=fontfile=Arial.ttf: text='%{frame_num}': ...
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Terminal command to enable / disable Stage Manager in the new System Settings in macOS Ventura
I am trying to write an automation using either Bash or AppleScript, to enable / disable Stage Manager, and this looks quite difficult to achieve.
I cannot find much documentation around since in ...
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Set Mac to wake and run scripts while in sleep mode
I'm a Python developer and I would like the Mac to awaken from sleep when I configure it to do so and run some scripts or certain programs during the day. On Windows there's "Task Scheduler" ...
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How do I set up a keystroke to change the background color of an Apple Mail inbox listing
I'm using Apple Mail. I'm also running an extension (MailSuite) which I use to set up keystroke commands. Mailsuite Act-On has a command which I can activate with an Act-On keystroke, to change the ...
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osascript gets "System Events got an error: osascript is not allowed assistive access. (-1728)"
I have a modest (~250 lines) python3 script using tkinter and subprocesses.
The python script launches a macOS app using the "run" subprocess.
Python defined functions then query the system ...
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Automator remove all but the first page of a pdf in Monterey
Under Monterey,
Is there an easy way to have automator delete all but the 1st page of a pdf file.
Or extract the 1st page?
My end goal is to create a thumbnail image from the 1st page, but the ...
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Why can't I use Automator to correctly target UI elements in System Preferences? [ventura]
I'm trying to use Automator to record an action on the system preferences, in the accessibility display pane. I want to change the value of the slider for the color filter intensity.
I use automator ...
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AppleScript's "Set first paragraph to" using Mail no longer works with 13.1 (Ventura)
I have an Automator/AppleScript task working since months that takes a selected e-mail, replies to it and adds a standard greeting on top of the reply.
Since updating to macOS Ventura (13.1), the ...
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Node module doesn't work as intended with automator shell script
I am trying to start a live-server on demand in any folder temporarily with automator, and kill it when I'm done.
Live server is a node package. I've installed globally.
In terminal, if I go to any ...
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Help with writing an AppleScript to navigate to profiles and double click the first profile
I'm new to AppleScript and I'm trying to write one that opens System Settings in macOS Ventura, navigate to the Profiles pane (or at least it used to be called that) and double click the first profile ...
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Setup routines on macOS to mimic Samsung routines
Is there a way, or a free tool available to create, routines on macOS just like Samsung allows to create routines?
For example, my custom Samsung routines are:
Switch off charging when battery ...
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A more comfortable workflow to rename screenshots
I find myself frequently wanting to change the names of my screenshots to something more memorable. I can change the location in which they're stored via the screenshot tool itself, and I can do some ...
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In the Save As dialogue, how can I save to the top (or another active) Finder window
Frequently what I would like to do in a Save As dialog box is to click a single button or type a single command that would select the top window in the Finder (or another active Finder window, but it ...
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Create Thumbnail of 1st Page of a PDF
I use an Automator application to move pdf files to a directory, then copy them to another directory, then convert the copy into a thumbnail using only the 1st page, with the file name remaining ...
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"Syntax Error: System Events got an error: Automator is not allowed assistive access" for Miniaturise all windows with AppleScript
When I try to Miniaturise all windows with the following AppleScript, Automator minimizes all windows, then tells me: "Syntax Error: System Events got an error: Automator is not allowed assistive ...
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How can I activate chrome casting screen with just using the keyboard?
My screen is broken and so often doesn't work. But I want to wait for the new 14 inch macbook pro to come out to buy that one instead of getting a repair for my current macbook.
So I added a keyboard ...
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Automator Shell Script - grep and variables - extracting and combining text
I'm trying to create an Automator Folder Action that does the following when multiple files are moved into it. Each file has the same format (TextA is always the same; StringA and B are different for ...
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Mac Automator - When given a folder containing many files with the same name format, organise the folder with new sub-folders [duplicate]
So I have a folder which contains many .mp3 and .cdg files (setting up a Karaoke system 😅)
All of the files follow the same naming system:
Artist - Song name [Karaoke]
Rather than having all of the ...
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"Extract Odd & Even Pages" fails: command line tool returned error 127
I'm trying to whip up a quick & dirty solution to manual duplex printing with automator. It always fails at the "Extract Odd & Even Pages" step no matter which PDF I throw at it.
The ...
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Is it possible to write an automation that is triggered by certain text messages but actually able to get the contents of the texts that triggered it?
I'm wondering if it is possible to create an iOS automation which gets invoked upon the phone receiving an SMS, and then reads the content of that SMS and performs some action or script on the content ...
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Automator crashes upon startup
On Monterey (12.6.2), on a heavily-upgraded Mac Pro 4,1, Automator reliably crashes immediately upon startup.
It did this when I was running Catalina, too, but I didn't have a need for it until lately....
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How do I use Automator to quit Dropbox when a drive unmounts?
I have Dropbox on internal 12TB RAID'ed drives. It works pretty well. But recently one of the drives failed, which caused Dropbox to think I had deleted all my files. Dropbox started to delete all my ...
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Automator (Applescript) and Pages: "could not be interpreted as a file URL."
I have the following applescript as the sole component of an Automator app:
on run {input, parameters}
repeat with theFile in input
tell application "Pages"
set ...
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If statement not working properly in automator
I can run 2 separate chmod commands (1 for files & 1 for multiple folders) that work correctly in Apple's Automator, but when I introduce an if statement to run both commands, it doesn't include ...
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Copy and hightlight text passage in Preview [duplicate]
As I study academic texts in PDFs, I often find myself:
Selecting a text passage
Copying the text (using Cmd+C)
Highlighting the text passage (using Cmd+Shift+H).
I am looking for a way to automate ...
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Add custom right-click Desktop context action on Mac
I have seen variations of this question asked about 50 times, but never from the "Desktop". All are asking how to add right-click contextual actions from "Finder" or something else....
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Deal with email messages that aren't quite spam
The spam button is good for marking spam messages and banishing them to the spam folder.
I'm looking for a quick way to deal with messages that in my opinion are not quite spam. Mostly advertising ...
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How do I modify the folder screenshots are saved to in this AppleScript in Automator?
This apple script seems to be doing exactly what I wanted it to do, (save screenshots both to a file location and to the clipboard) but I can't for the life of me figure out how to change this script ...
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Possible to enable passwordless remote login without RSA keys?
I have a very short term need on my own home network that nobody else has any access to whatsoever, to allow one mac to SSH into another and issue a restart command. I want to script this so that it'...
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How to create shortcuts which only apply to a certain app?
I want to map Cmd+J/Cmd+K to Ctrl+Tab/Ctrl+Shift+Tab only when Chrome is active, in Windows, it's quite simple to implement by using AutoHotkey:
#IfWinActive ahk_exe chrome.exe
^j::Send ^+{Tab}
^k:...
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How to close an app with applescript or automator
I would like to close (not quit) a specific app using either applescript run in automator or in automator itself
My pitiful attempt:
tell application "lghub"
close
end tell
Its ...
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How to use Automator to send an email when the battery below 10%
All I want is to send an email when the battery is lower than 10% on my Mac.
I wonder if I can use the Automator app on my Mac to address this issue.
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a single keyboard shortcut that toggles between 2 resolutions on MacOS 12.6
My own answer at https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/436069/53510 does not work for me now that my MacBook Pro has 12.6, and neither does this answer: https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/448556/53510
What ...
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