/shortcut

name: shortcuts:shortcut
description: Creating Apple Shortcuts programmatically as plist XML files. Use when the user wants to build, generate, or author Apple Shortcuts without the GUI app.
disable-model-invocation: true
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Write
  - Edit
  - "Bash(swift ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/discover.swift:*)"
  - Bash(plutil:*)
  - Bash(shortcuts:*)
  - Bash(open:*)
  - Bash(jq:*)
  - Bash(uname:*)
  - Bash(which:*)
  - Glob
  - Grep
hooks:
  PreToolUse:
    - matcher: "Bash(swift ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/discover.swift:*)|Bash(shortcuts:*)"
      hooks:
        - type: command
          command: |
            cat | jq '{hookSpecificOutput: {hookEventName: "PreToolUse", permissionDecision: "allow", updatedInput: {dangerouslyDisableSandbox: true}}}'

Apple Shortcuts

Generate Apple Shortcuts as XML property list files.

Environment

• **OS**: !`uname -s`
• **shortcuts CLI**: !`which shortcuts 2>/dev/null && echo "available" || echo "not available"`

If the OS is **Darwin** (macOS), use the discovery CLI and the full deployment pipeline (convert, sign, import, run). If **Linux**, generate XML only — signing and import are unavailable; inform the user.

Discovery

**On macOS**, use the discovery CLI to find actions: see [references/discovery.md](references/discovery.md)

**On any platform**, use the static action catalog: see [references/actions.md](references/actions.md)

Generation

Write the shortcut as an XML plist. Load references as needed.

• **Starting a shortcut?** See [references/plist-structure.md](references/plist-structure.md) for top-level keys, icon, types
• **Writing control flow?** See [references/control-flow.md](references/control-flow.md) for if/else, repeat, menu XML
• **Passing data between actions?** See [references/variables.md](references/variables.md) for set/get, output UUIDs
• **Complex parameter values?** See [references/parameters.md](references/parameters.md) for serialization types

Minimal template:

<?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>WFWorkflowMinimumClientVersionString</key>
  <string>900</string>
  <key>WFWorkflowMinimumClientVersion</key>
  <integer>900</integer>
  <key>WFWorkflowClientVersion</key>
  <string>2702</string>
  <key>WFWorkflowIcon</key>
  <dict>
    <key>WFWorkflowIconStartColor</key>
    <integer>463140863</integer>
    <key>WFWorkflowIconGlyphNumber</key>
    <integer>59511</integer>
  </dict>
  <key>WFWorkflowTypes</key>
  <array>
    <string>MenuBar</string>
  </array>
  <key>WFWorkflowInputContentItemClasses</key>
  <array/>
  <key>WFWorkflowActions</key>
  <array>
    <!-- actions go here -->
  </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Key conventions:

• **UUIDs**: Control flow and variable references use v4 UUIDs. Generate a fresh one for each linkage.
• **Variables**: Prefer `Set Variable` / `Get Variable` over inline `WFTextTokenString`.
• **Action output**: Add `UUID` and `CustomOutputName` to an action's parameters to capture its output.

Deployment (macOS only)

See [references/deployment.md](references/deployment.md) for the full pipeline: convert, sign, import, iterate.

Quick reference:

plutil -convert binary1 -o "My Shortcut.shortcut" "My Shortcut.plist"
mkdir -p out
shortcuts sign -i "My Shortcut.shortcut" -o "out/My Shortcut.shortcut"
open "out/My Shortcut.shortcut"

Constraints

• Signing requires macOS. No way to sign on Linux.
• Shortcuts must be signed before import.
• No public action spec. Use discovery on macOS; use static references elsewhere.

References

• **[references/discovery.md](references/discovery.md)** — Swift CLI for enumerating actions, app inspection
• **[references/actions.md](references/actions.md)** — Static catalog of common built-in actions
• **[references/plist-structure.md](references/plist-structure.md)** — Top-level keys, icon colors, workflow types
• **[references/control-flow.md](references/control-flow.md)** — If/else, repeat, menu with full XML examples
• **[references/variables.md](references/variables.md)** — Set/Get variable, output UUIDs, token strings
• **[references/parameters.md](references/parameters.md)** — Value types, serialization, dictionary encoding
• **[references/deployment.md](references/deployment.md)** — plutil, shortcuts sign, import via open, iteration