Ask AI to choose
Asks a model to pick one option from a list based on your prompt.
Ask AI to choose from options
Details #
Gives the model your prompt and a list of options. It answers with exactly one of them, matched without regard to case and returned as you wrote it. Store it in into and branch on it with If.
Parameters #
| Parameter | Type | Required | Values | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
options | list of text | Yes | Required. The allowed answers. At least two non-empty ones, or the step fails. | |
prompt | text | Yes | Required. What to decide. Supports {{ }} values. | |
dryRunUsesModel | yes / no | true lets a dry run call a cloud model. | ||
hud | yes / no | false turns off the "Thinking…" HUD with the AI badge that shows while the model works. On by default; a dry run never shows it. | ||
into | text | The variable for the chosen option. | ||
model | text | haiku or sonnet, for the cloud; or a model name when provider is a provider id. | ||
preset | text | An AI preset from Settings › AI (its id), or default for the default preset. Pick one in the Inspector's Model menu; renaming a preset changes nothing here, and a deleted one runs on the default preset with a warning. Without it the step behaves as before. | ||
provider | text | auto, device or cloud; or a provider id (anthropic, openai, gemini, or an OpenAI-compatible server's id) together with model. | ||
sample | any value | What a dry run answers when no model runs. |
Every step also accepts label, onFailure, timeout and dryRunSafe.
Examples #
- Ask AI to choose: “Is this message urgent? {{message}}”
Gotchas #
Where it runs.
providerisauto(the default),deviceorcloud.autouses Apple Intelligence on this Mac when it is on and the request fits its small window (about 4,000 tokens), otherwise your cloud model (your own Anthropic key first, then your Switchboard plan).devicenever leaves the Mac and fails if it is off or the text is too long.cloudneeds a model set up in Settings > AI. model (haiku, the default, orsonnet) only matters for the cloud.Output. The answer goes into
into. The step's own output also carriesvalue,provider(device,own-keyorplan),model,ms,tokensIn,tokensOutandcents, plusrepaired: truewhen the first answer was rejected.A bad answer. If the answer does not fit, the model gets one second try with the errors. If that fails too, the step fails and follows its
onFailure.Time limit. These steps get 60 s by default, not 10 s.
Dry run. These steps are safe in a dry run. The on-device model runs for real. A cloud model does not (it costs money): the step answers with
sample, or an empty string, unless you setdryRunUsesModeltotrue. If no model is set up, a dry run usessampletoo.Text you send to a cloud model leaves your Mac. Do not send secrets or private data to it.