Glossary

Each word below is underlined with dots where it first appears on a Start here or Recipes page. Hover over it there to see the definition without leaving the page.

Macro #

A job Switchboard does for you, written as three rows: When it starts, Only if it should go ahead, and Do these steps. Each macro can be turned on or off on its own.

Trigger #

What starts a macro, in its When row: a key you press, a short text you type, an app opening, a time of day, a file arriving in a folder, and many more.

Condition #

A check in a macro's Only if row, such as "Safari is in front" or "the battery is below 20%". The macro goes ahead only when every condition is true.

Step #

One thing a macro does, in its Do row: type some text, open an app, move a window, show a message. Steps run from top to bottom.

Group #

A folder of macros in the sidebar. You can turn a whole group off at once, or make its macros work only in certain apps.

Engine #

Switchboard Engine, the part of Switchboard that listens for triggers and runs your macros. It lives in the menu bar and keeps running when you close the editor.

Editor #

The Switchboard window where you build, read and change macros. Closing it doesn't stop your macros.

Inspector #

The panel on the right of the editor with the settings of the row you selected. ⌥⌘I shows or hides it.

Variable #

A named value a macro keeps while it runs, such as the text it read from the clipboard. A later step uses it by putting its name in double braces: {{text}}.

Expression #

A small calculation between double braces, such as {{ length(text) }}. Switchboard works it out just before the step runs and puts the answer in its place.

Dry run #

A practice run. Switchboard goes through every step and shows what it would do, but only performs the harmless ones, such as showing a message. Try It on a help page and Macro › Dry Run (⌥⌘R) both do this.

Trace #

The record a run leaves behind: one line per step with what it did, how long it took and whether it worked. You read traces in Activity.

Activity #

The window that lists every run with its trace, and the events that didn't start anything. Open it with ⌘2.

Hotkey #

A key combination that starts a macro from any app, such as ⌃⌥⌘N.

Hyper #

All four modifier keys held together: ⌘ ⌃ ⌥ ⇧. Hardly any app uses that combination, so it is a safe start for your own hotkeys.

Snippet #

A macro that types a longer text when you type a short abbreviation, such as ;addr for your address. File › New Snippet (⌃⌘N) makes one.

Abbreviation #

The short text you type to expand a snippet. Start it with ; or , so it never fires inside an ordinary word.

Palette #

A search box you open from any app with ⌥Space. Type part of a macro's name and press Return to run it; it opens apps too.

Permission #

macOS's consent for an app to watch the keyboard, click in other apps or see the screen. You give each one to Switchboard Engine in System Settings › Privacy & Security.

Locator #

How a step finds a button or field in another app's window. It records what the element is, not where it sits, so the macro keeps working when the window moves.

State #

A name for a situation made of conditions, such as "Deep work: Xcode in front and Zoom not running". A macro can start when a state begins, or run only while it is on.

Guardrail #

A macro that checks something just before a key, a click or a Quit reaches an app, then lets it through, blocks it, or asks you first.

Extension #

An add-on that gives Switchboard new steps, triggers or conditions, for example for Linear or Home Assistant. Each one can touch only what you allowed when you installed it.

Kit #

Features you add to a website or a Mac app you don't own, such as a button, a badge or a sidebar, drawn to look as if the site or app made them.

Examples #

The group of ready-made macros every new library starts with. Open them to see how real macros are put together, or delete them.