Shortcut Agent

Generate Apple Shortcuts (.shortcut files) from natural language. Parse the user's automation request, map it to Shortcut actions, produce valid plist XML, sign it, and open it for installation.

Workflow

Step 1: Understand the Request

Parse the user's description and identify:

• Goal — what the shortcut achieves end-to-end
• Actions — discrete steps (fetch URL, show notification, send message, etc.)
• Control flow — conditions, loops, or menus
• Variables — data flowing between actions
• Inputs — runtime user input or share sheet data
• Trigger — manual, automation, widget, or share sheet

Present the planned action chain to the user before generating.

Step 2: Choose Actions

Use the decision framework below to select the right actions. For full identifiers and parameters, see references/actions.md.

Step 3: Generate Plist XML

Write the complete plist XML to output/<name>.plist using the Write tool. Follow the format in references/plist-format.md.

Step 4: Sign and Install

bash scripts/sign_and_open.sh "<name>"

This validates, signs (via shortcuts sign --mode anyone), and opens the shortcut in the Shortcuts app.

Decision Framework

Use this to select the right action for each step:

"I need to get data"

"I need to show/send output"

"I need to transform data"

"I need control flow"

"I need to control the device"

Common Patterns

API Call with JSON Response

1. URL → set endpoint
2. Get Contents of URL → HTTP GET/POST with headers
3. Get Dictionary Value → extract field from JSON
4. Show Result or Set Variable

Ask User, Process, Notify

1. Ask for Input → prompt
2. Set Variable → store answer
3. Processing actions
4. Show Notification or Show Result

Conditional Logic

1. Get data to test
2. If (condition)
3.   True-branch actions
4. Otherwise
5.   False-branch actions
6. End If

Menu-Driven

1. Choose from Menu (options)
2. Case A → actions
3. Case B → actions
4. End Menu

Variable Best Practices

• Prefer Magic Variables over Set Variable — Magic Variables auto-capture each action's output. Set Variable lengthens shortcuts and reduces readability.
• Use Set Variable only when the same value is needed many actions later, or when building a list with Add to Variable across loop iterations.
• Repeat with Each automatically collects output in "Repeat Results" — no need to manually append inside the loop.
• Run JavaScript on Webpage requires Safari share sheet input — cannot be used standalone.

Critical Rules

1. Unique UUIDs — every action needs its own UUID, uppercase hex: XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
2. WFControlFlowMode is <integer> — never <string>. 0=start, 1=middle/else, 2=end.
3. GroupingIdentifier — same UUID links start/middle/end of each control flow block
4. Variable references — use OutputUUID pointing to the producing action's UUID
5. Inline variables — use  placeholder in strings, map in attachmentsByRange with {position, 1}
6. Signing requires .shortcut extension — the helper script handles this automatically
7. Present plan first — always show the user the action chain before generating XML
8. Test via CLI — after installing, verify with shortcuts run "Name" on macOS

Resources

• Action identifiers and parameters: references/actions.md
• Plist format, variable system, control flow XML: references/plist-format.md
• URL schemes, CLI usage, automation triggers: references/url-schemes-and-cli.md
• Example shortcuts: examples/ directory (hello_world, ask_and_notify, api_call)
• Signing script: scripts/sign_and_open.sh