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

On any platform, use the static action catalog: see references/actions.md

Generation

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

Starting a shortcut? See references/plist-structure.md for top-level keys, icon, types
Writing control flow? See references/control-flow.md for if/else, repeat, menu XML
Passing data between actions? See references/variables.md for set/get, output UUIDs
Complex parameter values? See 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 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 — Swift CLI for enumerating actions, app inspection
references/actions.md — Static catalog of common built-in actions
references/plist-structure.md — Top-level keys, icon colors, workflow types
references/control-flow.md — If/else, repeat, menu with full XML examples
references/variables.md — Set/Get variable, output UUIDs, token strings
references/parameters.md — Value types, serialization, dictionary encoding
references/deployment.md — plutil, shortcuts sign, import via open, iteration