Shortcuts, Siri and Spotlight

Run, rehearse and manage your macros from the Shortcuts app, Siri and Spotlight on the Mac, including an extension's own actions.

Switchboard adds actions to the Shortcuts app on your Mac. They also answer Siri and show up in Spotlight, so a macro can start from a voice command, a menu bar shortcut, a Focus automation or a typed name.

The actions only ask Switchboard Engine to do the work. If the engine isn't running, the action says so and offers to start it.

The actions #

Action	Does
Run Macro	Runs a macro, waits for it and hands back what it returned.
Dry Run Macro	Rehearses a macro: every step is checked, nothing is clicked, typed or changed.
Open Macro	Opens the macro in the editor (Spotlight's Open).
Pause Switchboard	Stops every trigger for 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 1 day or until you resume.
Resume Switchboard	Lets triggers run again.
Turn Macro Group On or Off	Turns a group on, off or flips it.
Run Extension Action	Runs an action an installed extension offers.

Run a macro #

Pick the macro in Run Macro. Its group, description and inputs show in the picker, and typing part of a name or a word from its description finds it. Say it to Siri as "Run Shout in Switchboard".

What the macro returns (a Return step) is the action's result, so the next Shortcuts action can use it. A record or a list comes back as JSON text. A macro that returns nothing gives an empty result.

A run that fails stops the shortcut with a sentence saying which step failed and why, for example Shout failed at Type "hello": Accessibility isn't granted. A macro that cancels itself is not an error.

Inputs #

Shortcuts can't give each macro its own fields, so a macro's inputs go in one Inputs box, a line each:

title: Weekly report
count: 3
loud: yes

Names match the macro's inputs, ignoring case. A number input needs a number; a yes/no input takes yes, no, on, off, true or false.
A macro with a single input also takes just the value: Hello there.
You can also give one JSON object.
An input the macro needs and the box leaves out is asked for, one question each. Siri reads the input's prompt.

A macro's Inputs property in Shortcuts lists the names it takes.

Spotlight #

Switchboard puts your macros in Spotlight. Type a macro's name, a word from what it does, its group or its trigger, then choose Run, Dry Run or Open. Changes you make to a macro update the index on their own; nothing about a macro leaves your Mac.

Extension actions #

An extension can declare intents. Run Extension Action lists the ones installed; Parameters takes name: value lines (typed by the extension's own schema) or a JSON object. The same action runs from a link, switchboard://intent?ext=<extension>&id=<intent>, from switchboard ext intent, and as POST /extensions/<extension>/intent/<id> on the local API.

If an action does nothing #

"Switchboard Engine isn't running." Confirm the prompt to start it, or turn on Open at login in Settings › General.
The macro isn't in the picker. The picker reads your library folder. Run the action once more after saving the macro.
A step needs a permission. The failure sentence names it. See permissions.