AppleScript

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AppleScript allows users to directly control scriptable Macintosh applications as well as parts of macOS itself.

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Apple Script for Music app no longer supports current track event
AppleScript for the Music app no longer supports the current track event. Before macOS Tahoe, running the following script in Script Editor would return the current track information: tell application "Music" return name of current track end tell However, when I run this script on a device with macOS 26 Tahoe, I receive this error: "Result: error "Music got an error: Can’t get name of current track." number -1728 from name of current track” I've tested this extensively, and here are my findings: Going to the “songs” tab and playing something from there makes everything work. Playing any song directly will make it work with current track UNLESS this song is NOT in your Music library (either added through Apple Music or uploaded). If you play a song not in your library, current track is not updated even if you clicked on it specifically. Playing an album (in your library obviously) makes all the tracks within it appear in current track until autoplay takes over. Any autoplayed track won’t appear in current track even if in your library (unless: see the last bulletpoint) Music played through the “songs” tab all appear in current track even if autoplay kicks in. I assume this is because this tab is an iTunes legacy (visually and under the hood) and doesn’t use the modern autoplay. This tab also won’t play non-library songs unlike the “albums” tab which seems to use the correct autoplay and suffers the same symptoms as the “recently added”, “home”, “radio”, etc… tabs. Is this a bug, or has Apple simply deprecated this functionality?
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How to configure com.apple.security.scripting-targets in .entitlements file?
I use NSUserAppleScriptTask in my app to call Apple Script method to send Apple Events to Finder and System Events. The script has been deployed in the folder ~/Library/Application Scripts/{app bundle id}/ I have configured the com.apple.security.automation.apple-events in the .entitlements file, but how to configure com.apple.security.scripting-targets to meet the AppStore review requirements The existing official documentation is too incomplete to be of much use. If anyone has had similar experience, could you please share?
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Implementing Script Attachment in a Sandboxed App
Script attachment enables advanced users to create powerful workflows that start in your app. NSUserScriptTask lets you implement script attachment even if your app is sandboxed. This post explains how to set that up. IMPORTANT Most sandboxed apps are sandboxed because they ship on the Mac App Store [1]. While I don’t work for App Review, and thus can’t make definitive statements on their behalf, I want to be clear that NSUserScriptTask is intended to be used to implement script attachment, not as a general-purpose sandbox bypass mechanism. If you have questions or comments, please put them in a new thread. Place it in the Privacy & Security > General subtopic, and tag it with App Sandbox. Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com" [1] Most but not all. There are good reasons to sandbox your app even if you distribute it directly. See The Case for Sandboxing a Directly Distributed App. Implementing Script Attachment in a Sandboxed App Some apps support script attachment, that is, they allow a user to configure the app to run a script when a particular event occurs. For example: A productivity app might let a user automate repetitive tasks by configuring a toolbar button to run a script. A mail client might let a user add a script that processes incoming mail. When adding script attachment to your app, consider whether your scripting mechanism is internal or external: An internal script is one that only affects the state of the app. A user script is one that operates as the user, that is, it can change the state of other apps or the system as a whole. Supporting user scripts in a sandboxed app is a conundrum. The App Sandbox prevents your app from changing the state of other apps, but that’s exactly what your app needs to do to support user scripts. NSUserScriptTask resolves this conundrum. Use it to run scripts that the user has placed in your app’s Script folder. Because these scripts were specifically installed by the user, their presence indicates user intent and the system runs them outside of your app’s sandbox. Provide easy access to your app’s Script folder Your application’s Scripts folder is hidden within ~/Library. To make it easier for the user to add scripts, add a button or menu item that uses NSWorkspace to show it in the Finder: let scriptsDir = try FileManager.default.url(for: .applicationScriptsDirectory, in: .userDomainMask, appropriateFor: nil, create: true) NSWorkspace.shared.activateFileViewerSelecting([scriptsDir]) Enumerate the available scripts To show a list of scripts to the user, enumerate the Scripts folder: let scriptsDir = try FileManager.default.url(for: .applicationScriptsDirectory, in: .userDomainMask, appropriateFor: nil, create: true) let scriptURLs = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: scriptsDir, includingPropertiesForKeys: [.localizedNameKey]) let scriptNames = try scriptURLs.map { url in return try url.resourceValues(forKeys: [.localizedNameKey]).localizedName! } This uses .localizedNameKey to get the name to display to the user. This takes care of various edge cases, for example, it removes the file name extension if it’s hidden. Run a script To run a script, instantiate an NSUserScriptTask object and call its execute() method: let script = try NSUserScriptTask(url: url) try await script.execute() Run a script with arguments NSUserScriptTask has three subclasses that support additional functionality depending on the type of the script. Use the NSUserUnixTask subsclass to run a Unix script and: Supply command-line arguments. Connect pipes to stdin, stdout, and stderr. Get the termination status. Use the NSUserAppleScriptTask subclass to run an AppleScript, executing either the run handler or a custom Apple event. Use the NSUserAutomatorTask subclass to run an Automator workflow, supplying an optional input. To determine what type of script you have, try casting it to each of the subclasses: let script: NSUserScriptTask = … switch script { case let script as NSUserUnixTask: … use Unix-specific functionality … case let script as NSUserAppleScriptTask: … use AppleScript-specific functionality … case let script as NSUserAutomatorTask: … use Automatic-specific functionality … default: … use generic functionality … }
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I want the "Folder" property of a folder not it's class.
I'm trying to set a boolean value to myVariable using the "Folder" property, but the Applescript editor keeps interpreting it as a class. Here is a shorted code. this is part of a bigger code to identify files dropped into a folder and create a new folder which it renames based on the date of the file that is dropped into the folder. Unfortunately, it keeps making folders every time it makes a new folder. Resalting in continuous loop of folders being created and renamed to "2025". The plan is to us an IF condition to prevent the creation of folders when a folder/s are dropped into my folder with my Folder Action. property directory : "Catalina:Users:Username:Desktop:Folder:File.pdf tell application "Finder" set pathname to POSIX path of directory set item_info to the info for directory set myVariable to Folder of item_info return myVariable end tell I noticed the following when I compile the script The color of the "Folder" is blue. I believe this means it's a class. Normally when I call a property, the color turns pink. it does it correctly when I use "set the file_name to the "name" of this_file". I also tried declaring the "Folder" property in brackets "Folder". did not help I noticed the following when I run the script: It returns ---error number -10004 "A privilege violation occurred. When it runs the "info for" command. I gave the Script Editor Full File access, Full Accessibility access and the FolderActionsDispatcher has full Finder access. Can anyone point me in the right direction! What is the cause of the privilege violation or how would I find what the cause is? How do I force the Script Editor to get the "Folder" property of a folder?
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Jul ’25
App doesn't trigger Privacy Apple Events prompt after a while.
I've developed a Mac app distributed through the App Store that uses NSAppleScript to control Spotify and Apple Music. I'm experiencing inconsistent behavior with automation permission prompts that's affecting user experience. Expected Behavior: When my app first attempts to send Apple Events to Spotify or Apple Music, macOS should display the automation permission prompt, and upon user approval, the app should appear in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Automation. Actual Behavior: Initial permission prompts work correctly when both apps are actively used after my app download. If a user hasn't launched Spotify/Apple Music for an extended period, the permission prompt fails to appear when they later open the music app. The music app doesn't appear in the Automation privacy pane too. Once this happens, permission prompts never trigger again for that app Steps to Reproduce: Fresh install of my app Don't use Spotify for several days/weeks Launch Spotify Trigger Apple Events from my app to Spotify No permission prompt appears, app doesn't show in Automation settings If you're using Apple Music during this time it runs without any problems. Troubleshooting Attempted: Used tccutil reset AppleEvents [bundle-identifier] - no effect Verified target apps are fully launched before sending Apple Events Tried different AppleScript commands to trigger permissions Problem occurs inconsistently across different Macs Technical Details: macOS 13+ support Using standard NSAppleScript with simple commands like "tell application 'Spotify' to playpause" App Store distribution (no private APIs) Issue affects both Spotify and Apple Music but seems more prevalent with Apple Music Questions: Is there a reliable way to programmatically trigger the automation permission prompt? Are there timing dependencies for when macOS decides to show permission prompts? Could app priority/usage patterns affect permission prompt behavior? I use MediaManager to run the functions and initialize it on AppDidFinishLaunching method and start monitoring there. Any insights or workarounds would be greatly appreciated. This inconsistency is affecting user onboarding and app functionality.
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Jul ’25
MacOS Sequoia support for VoiceOver AppleScript automation
We are unable to programmatically enable AppleScript automation for VoiceOver on macOS 15 (Sequoia) In macOS 15, Apple moved the VoiceOver configuration from: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.VoiceOver4/default.plist to a sandboxed path: ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.VoiceOver/Library/Preferences/com.apple.VoiceOver4/default.plist Steps to Reproduce: Use a macOS 15 (ARM64) machine (or GitHub Actions runner image with macOS 15 ARM). Open VoiceOver: open /System/Library/CoreServices/VoiceOver.app Set the SCREnableAppleScript flag to true in the new sandboxed .plist: plutil -replace SCREnableAppleScript -bool true ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.apple.VoiceOver/Library/Preferences/com.apple.VoiceOver4/default.plist Confirm csrutil status is either disabled or not enforced. Attempt to control VoiceOver via AppleScript (e.g., using osascript voiceOverPerform.applescript). Observe that the AppleScript command fails with no useful output (exit code 1), and VoiceOver does not respond to automation.
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Jun ’25
Getting a List of Notes for the terminal
Hello Shortcuts community! I want to obtain a list of my notes, and well, update them, delete them if needed, and so on. These are simple actions that I can already do. For this, I saw that shortcuts was pretty simple, and I could get what I wanted and pipe it through the terminal. However, even though I'm a programmer, there's a lot that I'm missing since I cannot pipe anything to the terminal. I made a simple shortcut to give me some text, and I could obtain it via -shortcuts run "Example" | cat-, which well, gave me the output but with a %. aaa**%** Now, I guess this works, the important thing is for me to obtain something from shortcuts so that I can configure simple things like obtaining a note, a mail, run some javascript in the browser and so on while obtaining some output via the terminal. So, I configured something like this: While I do get a dictionary (only in the shortcuts app, not in the terminal) like: { "Title": "Some title" } And actually a list of them, I don't have them in an array that I would have for my command. And for some reason I've only been able to obtain either the name or the body. Now, I put them into a text with get text from Repeated results, but I don't think I have a valid Dictionary (JSON) array that I can use, since the terminal doesn't obtain nothing. So far I've tried: echo $(shortcuts run "Find Notes") echo $(shortcuts run "Find Notes" --output-type public.utf8-plain-text -o -) shortcuts run "Find Notes" | xargs I wonder what am I missing. I'm not creating the array of dictionaries like I'd like, nor outputting it. On the other hand, I have some AppleScripts that work, however, given that I cannot find munch information about the support status of AppleScript, I though to update to Shortcuts which is obtaining updates, and then I'm trying to do this simple example on shortcuts. Thanks for taking a look!
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Jun ’25
Creating codesigned AppleScript apps
In the past it was relatively easy to download from the developer portal both the app signing and installer signing certs so that I could sign AppleScripts from Script Editor when exporting them and when building packages in Jamf Composer. I went to set that up today and it seems things have changed in the last few years since I've had to set this up. I've been unable to sort this out and would love some help. I'm looking for a tutorial on doing this that walks someone step-by-step through the process for obtaining the certs (yes, I have dev account) and setting them up in keychain and then making use of them. Thanks!
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Jun ’25
osascript System Events Failed to list Processes That Have The Same Name
I ran the following script while both VSCode and Windsurf were open. tell application "System Events" set electronProcesses to every application process whose name is "Electron" set outputText to "" repeat with p in electronProcesses set outputText to outputText & "Process: " & name of p set outputText to outputText & ", Displayed name: " & displayed name of p set outputText to outputText & ", Frontmost: " & frontmost of p & " " end repeat return outputText end tell The script incorrectly returned two Electron processes, where both were showing Windsurf as the displayed name. The output of the above script is: Process: Electron, Displayed name: Windsurf, Frontmost: false Process: Electron, Displayed name: Windsurf, Frontmost: false Separately, both Windsurf and VSCode share the same process name (Electron) but have different displayed names. This issue appears to affect how the frontmost application is detected, when using the following script: set frontApp to first application process whose frontmost is true The frontApp is incorrectly returned when switching between VSCode and Windsurf.
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May ’25
AppleScript access to "Show on all Spaces" Wallpaper setting
I am creating scripts to automatically switch the wallpapers on my multiple displays. System Events exposes almost all of the options accessible in the Wallpapers pane of system settings, but not the option to "Show on all Spaces". I want to add that option to the following script: tell application "System Events" set intervalSeconds to 900.0 set wpDir to POSIX file "/Path/to/Folder/" set picture rotation of every desktop to 1 set random order of every desktop to true set pictures folder of every desktop to wpDir set change interval of every desktop to intervalSeconds do shell script ("killall Dock") end tell Also, the foregoing script does not seem to successfully set the interval value, although it does not throw an error. Not sure why that does not work. Any thoughts or insights would be welcome. Thank you
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May ’25
Proper way to create an AppleEvent record descriptor from NSDictionary
When using NSScriptCommand, is there any way to create an NSAppleEventDescriptor from an NSDictionary with arbitrary keys without using keyASUserRecordFields? Am I correct in thinking that this constant is deprecated? I ask because there is still active documentation using it. Is there another way to return a record where the keys aren't known at compile-time?
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Apr ’25
Cannot instantiate VIP object/property out of mail app
Is VIP an object contained in the mail or contacts apps/objects? Or is it just a property somewhere? Or is it an independent object? Where is the VIP object? Is it still managed in the mail app or is it just hidden because the design is changing at Apple? The following AppleScript is failing: tell application "Mail" set theVIPs to VIPs with the error: error "Die Variable „VIPs“ ist nicht definiert." number -2753 from "VIPs" (The variable "VIPs" is not defined.". In Mail.sdef documentation and in Contacts.sdef documentation I cannot find any documentation of VIP object or VIP property.
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May ’25
Applications Scripts denied
Hi all, I'm developing a sandboxed Mac OS app that generates and compiles AppleScript files to automate tasks in Pages (and other iWork apps). The app creates an AppleScript file and writes it to the NSApplicationScriptsDirectory (i.e., ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.example.app), then compiles and executes it via NSUserAppleScriptTask. On Mac OS Ventura, however, I get the following error in the console when trying to write the file: [PagesModifier] Error creating or compiling the script: You are not allowed to save the file "PagesModifier_...applescript" in the folder "com.example.app" Here are my current entitlements: <?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>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key> <array/> <key>com.apple.security.automation.apple-events</key> <array> <string>com.apple.iWork.Pages</string> <string>com.apple.iWork.Numbers</string> <string>com.apple.iWork.Keynote</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.scripting-targets</key> <dict> <key>com.apple.iWork.Keynote</key> <array> <string>com.apple.iWork.Keynote</string> </array> <key>com.apple.iWork.Numbers</key> <array> <string>com.apple.iWork.Numbers</string> </array> <key>com.apple.iWork.Pages</key> <array> <string>com.apple.iWork.Pages</string> </array> </dict> <key>com.apple.security.temporary-exception.apple-events</key> <array> <string>com.apple.iWork.Pages</string> <string>com.apple.iWork.Numbers</string> <string>com.apple.iWork.Keynote</string> </array> <key>com.apple.security.temporary-exception.files.home-relative-path.read-write</key> <array> <string>Library/Application Scripts/com.example.app</string> </array> </dict> </plist> I suspect the issue might be due to sandbox restrictions on dynamically creating or modifying the Application Scripts directory on Ventura. Has anyone experienced something similar or have any suggestions on how to work around this? Thanks in advance for your help!
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Mar ’25
Displaying an email in mail preview pane by message ID
Hi, I want to open an email message with AppleScript. Everything is working correctly, but in the Mail app, instead of focusing on targetMessage, it highlights the email after the target message. When I use: tell targetMessage to open the correct email opens in new window but the wrong email is highlighted in the Mail app list. tell application "Mail" activate set targetAccount to missing value repeat with anAccount in every account if name of anAccount is "AccountName" then set targetAccount to anAccount exit repeat end if end repeat if targetAccount is not missing value then set targetBox to missing value repeat with aBox in mailboxes of targetAccount if name of aBox is "MailboxName" then set targetBox to aBox exit repeat end if end repeat if targetBox is not missing value then set targetMessage to missing value set oneWeekAgo to (current date) - (7 * days) set filteredMessages to (every message of targetBox whose date received ≥ oneWeekAgo) repeat with aMessage in filteredMessages try if message id of aMessage is "MessageID" then set targetMessage to aMessage exit repeat end if end try end repeat if targetMessage is not missing value then if (count of message viewers) > 0 then set mailViewer to message viewer 1 else set mailViewer to make new message viewer end if tell mailViewer set selected mailboxes to {targetBox} delay 0.2 set selected messages to {targetMessage} end tell return "Found" else return "Message Not found" end if else return "Folder Not found" end if else return "Account Not found" end if end tell Why is this behavior happening?
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Mar ’25
syntax errors when working with folders that have “‘“ in it such as “greg’s folder"
I'm unable to fix syntax errors when using folders such as “greg’s folder" error "86:87: syntax error: Expected “"” but found unknown token. (-2741)" number 1 i’ve created an apple script to run python tool to extract “.rpa” files. the script works well except to selecting games that are in a folder with “‘". any ideas to properly to this? thank you. -- Function to escape special characters in POSIX paths for safe shell execution on escapePOSIXPath(originalPath) set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "'" set pathParts to text items of originalPath set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "'\\''" set escapedPath to pathParts as text set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "" -- Reset delimiters -- Wrap in single quotes return "'" & escapedPath & "'" end escapePOSIXPath -- Get the current app's POSIX path set currentAppPath to POSIX path of (path to me) -- Construct the expected path for rpatool.py set scriptPath to currentAppPath & "Contents/Resources/Scripts/rpatool.py" -- Check if rpatool.py exists set scriptExists to do shell script "test -e " & quoted form of scriptPath & " && echo true || echo false" if scriptExists is "false" then -- Ask user to select the rpatool.py file display dialog "rpatool.py was not found. Please select its location." set rpaToolFile to choose file with prompt "Select the rpatool.py script" of type {"public.python-script"} set scriptPath to POSIX path of rpaToolFile end if -- Escape the path for safe execution set scriptPath to escapePOSIXPath(scriptPath) -- Prompt user to select the game application set appFile to choose file with prompt "Select the Game app with RPA files" of type {"com.apple.application"} set appPath to POSIX path of appFile set gameFolderPath to appPath & "/Contents/Resources/autorun/game" -- Check if the 'game' folder exists set gameFolderExists to do shell script "test -d " & quoted form of gameFolderPath & " && echo true || echo false" if gameFolderExists is "false" then display dialog "The 'game' folder was not found in the selected app's directory. Exiting..." return end if -- Find all .rpa files in the game folder set fileList to paragraphs of (do shell script "find " & quoted form of gameFolderPath & " -name '*.rpa' -type f") -- Check if .rpa files exist if fileList is {} then display dialog "No .rpa files found in the 'game' folder. Exiting..." return end if -- Open Terminal and change directory set firstCommand to "cd " & quoted form of gameFolderPath do shell script "osascript -e " & quoted form of ("tell application \"Terminal\" to do script \"" & firstCommand & "\"") -- Process each .rpa file in Terminal display dialog "Extraction will start in Terminal and will process " & (count of fileList) & " .rpa files." repeat with aFile in fileList set aFile to escapePOSIXPath(aFile) set extractionCommand to "python3 " & scriptPath & " -x " & aFile -- Execute in Terminal try do shell script "osascript -e " & quoted form of ("tell application \"Terminal\" to do script \"" & extractionCommand & "\" in front window") delay 0.5 do shell script "osascript -e " & quoted form of "tell application \"Terminal\" to activate" on error errMsg display dialog "Error executing command: " & errMsg end try end repeat Test Run with error: tell current application path to current application --> alias "Macintosh HD:Users:Greg:Downloads:Ren'Py:RPA Extractor Mac 2.9.scpt" do shell script "test -e '/Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'\\''Py/RPA Extractor Mac 2.9.scptContents/Resources/Scripts/rpatool.py' && echo true || echo false" --> "false" end tell tell application "Script Editor" display dialog "rpatool.py was not found. Please select its location." --> {button returned:"OK"} choose file with prompt "Select the rpatool.py script" of type {"public.python-script"} --> alias "Macintosh HD:Users:Greg:Downloads:Ren'Py:Test Game:rpatool.py" choose file with prompt "Select the Game app with RPA files" of type {"com.apple.application"} --> alias "Macintosh HD:Users:Greg:Downloads:Ren'Py:Test Game:Test Game.app:" end tell tell current application do shell script "test -d '/Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'\\''Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game' && echo true || echo false" --> "true" do shell script "find '/Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'\\''Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game' -name '*.rpa' -type f" --> "/Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game/code.rpa /Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game/fonts.rpa /Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game/sounds.rpa" do shell script "osascript -e 'tell application \"Terminal\" to do script \"cd '\\''/Users/Greg/Downloads/Ren'\\''\\'\\'''\\''Py/Test Game/Test Game.app//Contents/Resources/autorun/game'\\''\"'" --> error "73:74: syntax error: Expected “\"” but found unknown token. (-2741)" number 1 Result: error "73:74: syntax error: Expected “\"” but found unknown token. (-2741)" number 1
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Mar ’25
A script to open files from Finder in Vim
Here is an AppleScript script to make it possible double-click files in Finder so that they will be opened in Vim, by Normen Hansen: https://github.com/normen/vim-macos-scripts/blob/master/open-file-in-vim.applescript (it must be used from Automator). I try to simplify it and also to make it possible to use it without Automator. To use my own version, you only need to save it as application instead, like this: osacompile -o open-with-vim.app open-with-vim.applescript and then copy it to /Applications and set your .txt files to be opened using this app. Here it is, it alsmost works: -- https://github.com/normen/vim-macos-scripts/blob/master/open-file-in-vim.applescript -- opens Vim with file or file list -- sets current folder to parent folder of first file on open theFiles set command to {} if input is null or input is {} or ((item 1 in input) as string) is "" then -- no files, open vim without parameters set end of command to "vim;exit" else set firstFile to (item 1 of theFiles) as string tell application "Finder" to set pathFolderParent to quoted form of (POSIX path of ((folder of item firstFile) as string)) set end of command to "cd" & space & (pathFolderParent as string) set end of command to ";hx" -- e.g. vi or any other command-line text editor set fileList to {} repeat with i from 1 to (theFiles count) set end of fileList to space & quoted form of (POSIX path of (item i of theFiles as string)) end repeat set end of command to (fileList as string) set end of command to ";exit" -- if Terminal > Settings > Profiles > Shell > When the shell exits != Don't close the window end if set command to command as string set myTab to null tell application "Terminal" if it is not running then set myTab to (do script command in window 1) else set myTab to (do script command) end if activate end tell return end open The only problem is the if block in the very beginning: if input is null or input is {} or ((item 1 in input) as string) is "" then What is wrong here? How to make it work? (Assuming it already works fine if AppleScript is used using Automator.)
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193
Mar ’25
Interacting with the Notes application
Hello, Relatively new to AppleScripts in current gen (I've used it back in 2010s) and would like some help if someone can point me in the right direction. Is AppleScript the best/only way to interact with Notes application? (I'm on Sequioa) 1.1 I've tried to use LLM to generate a Swift app, but it still calls out to AppleScripts, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something. 1.2 If I'm going down a rabbit hole, I'd like to stop since I want to finish this quick task and move on and or fall deeply in love with AppleScripts... whichever comes first. Is There a better way to write notes? Script Editor is still a minimal IDE, I'd love to find something that will do some auto completion/suggestions because the documentation in the Script Editor is still a tad weak. (I'm used to interpreted languages like bash, ruby, etc...) where if I don't understand something I just dig into the code instead of turse documentation that just exposes public end points and does not tell you much more :( My problem: I'd like to set up a cron that periodically checks my notes, and cleans up the shared notes. Basically it's a shared set of notes that have checklist on it and cleans up. (weekly chores etc...) I want to read the notes, find out which ones have been marked checked. Reset the ones that are done, leave unfinished ones alone and reset the old ones. This is how far I've gotten: let appleScript = """``` tell application "Notes" set targetNote to note "\Test" of default account return body of targetNote end tell That works like a charm, Kind of dumb because I rather use and ID of the note not the name :( It returns the following <div><b><span style=\\"font-size: 24px\\">Test</span></b></div> <div><br></div> <ul> <li> Not Done</li> <li>Done</li> <li>Not Done yet</li> </ul> <div><br></div> <div>Single line</div> Which is a good start! Issues: There is no way to tell which Item is marked "Checked" and which one is not :( Any helps is greatly appreciated!
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Mar ’25
How to access comments and their associated text in iWork documents via AppleScript/ScriptingBridge?
Hi all, I’m developing a Mac OS application with XCode that interacts with iWork documents (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) using ScriptingBridge (and maybe AppleScript). Right now I started with Pages, assuming if it works for Pages, it will likely be similar for Numbers and Keynote. While I can successfully access and modify the main body text (e.g. the “body text” property in a Pages document), I’m having major difficulties accessing the comments (or annotations) within these documents. There are many aspects, but right now what I’m trying to achieve: For a Pages document, I need to scan the document and extract, for each comment: The content of the comment (i.e. the comment’s text). The text that is being commented on. For Numbers, similarly, I need to retrieve the commented cell’s content and the associated comment. For Keynote, the same as Pages, except I manage to get the Presenter Notes. Once done, I could replace the content accordingly. What I’ve tried: Using AppleScript commands such as: every comment of document "Test" Accessing properties like content or range of a comment. Attempting various syntaxes (including using class specifiers) to force AppleScript to recognize comments. Using ScriptingBridge in my Swift code, but I couldn’t find any mapping for a “comment” object in the Pages dictionary. However, all these attempts result in errors such as “cannot convert …” or “this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key …” which leads me to believe that the iWork scripting dictionaries may not expose comments (or annotations) in a scriptable way. Questions: Is there a supported way to access the comments (and the associated commented text) in an iWork document via AppleScript or ScriptingBridge? If so, what is the proper syntax or property name to use? (For example, should I be looking for a class named “comment”, “annotation”, or perhaps something else?) If direct access via AppleScript/ScriptingBridge is not possible, what alternative approaches would you recommend for programmatically extracting comment data from iWork documents? I apologize if my post isn't clear, it is translated from French. Any insights or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
3
0
285
Feb ’25
Automator error when running Watch Me Do-created script
Hi everyone, I'm trying to use Automator to batch process PDF files. I have hundreds of academic journal article PDFs whose page sizes vary from 5x7 inches to A4 format (8.27 x 11.69 inches). I want to scale all the PDFs to US Letter size (8.5 x 11.0 inches) such that smaller originals remain 100% scale but are centered on the larger page and larger originals are scaled down to fit the page. Manually opening a PDF in Preview.app, scaling it to US Letter paper, and using the Save as PDF option is producing the desired output for me. I captured my workflow using the Watch Me Do action in Automator, then adjusted it into the following AppleScript. -- a Get Specified Finder Items action to specify the input PDFs precedes this script on run {input, parameters} repeat with filePath in input -- Open the file in Preview tell application "Preview" open filePath activate end tell -- Give Preview some time to open the file delay 2.0 -- Press ⌘P set timeoutSeconds to 0.25 set uiScript to "keystroke \"p\" using command down" my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) -- Click the “Scale to Fit:” radio button. delay 2.0 set timeoutSeconds to 2.0 set uiScript to "click radio button \"Scale to Fit:\" of radio group 1 of group 1 of group 2 of scroll area 2 of splitter group 1 of sheet 1 of window 1 of application process \"Preview\"" my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) -- Click the “&lt;fill in title&gt;” menu button. delay 4.0 set timeoutSeconds to 2.000000 set uiScript to "click menu button 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of sheet 1 of window 1 of application process \"Preview\"" my doWithTimeout( uiScript, timeoutSeconds ) -- Save as PDF… delay 2.0 set timeoutSeconds to 2.0 set uiScript to "click menu item 2 of menu 1 of splitter group 1 of sheet 1 of window 1 of application process \"Preview\"" my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) -- Click the “Save” button. delay 8.0 set timeoutSeconds to 2.0 set uiScript to "click UI Element \"Save\" of sheet 1 of sheet 1 of window 1 of application process \"Preview\"" my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) -- Press ⌘W to close the file delay 0.25 set timeoutSeconds to 2.0 set uiScript to "keystroke \"w\" using command down" my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) end repeat return input end run on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds) set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds repeat try run script "tell application \"System Events\" " &amp; uiScript &amp; " end tell" exit repeat on error errorMessage if ((current date) &gt; endDate) then error "Can not " &amp; uiScript end if end try end repeat end doWithTimeout My problem arises at the Save as PDF step. When this action runs, I see the PDF menu pop open: but the Save as PDF... menu item doesn't get clicked. Instead, I get an error: Can anyone advise on how to overcome this error?
1
0
358
Feb ’25
"Not authorized to send Apple events to Terminal
We are trying to open an application "xyz.app" It worked fine until 15.1.1 versions. But facing issues with 15.2 and 15.3 The application is working fine when we navigate to xyz.app/Contents/MacOS/ and run applet in this directory. But the error "Not authorized to send Apple events to Terminal" occurs when we are trying to open the app directly. We have tried with all the available solutions like giving full disk access to terminal and application, adding my application to automation in privacy and security tabs in settings. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
1
0
400
Feb ’25