{
  "slug": "shortcuts",
  "name": "Shortcuts",
  "aliases": ["Apple Shortcuts", "Siri Shortcuts", "Workflow"],
  "vendor": { "name": "Apple Inc.", "slug": "apple", "website": "https://www.apple.com/" },
  "homepage_url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts-mac/welcome/mac",
  "docs_url": "https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appintents",
  "product_type": "application",
  "product_status": "active",
  "summary": "Apple's built-in visual automation app for macOS, iOS and iPadOS that chains app actions, scripts and system functions into runnable shortcuts",
  "description": "Shortcuts is Apple's visual automation app, bundled with macOS since Monterey and with iOS and iPadOS since the acquisition of the Workflow app. A shortcut is an ordered list of actions, drag-and-drop blocks supplied by Apple's system apps and by third-party apps that adopt the App Intents framework, which can pass data from one step to the next, branch, loop and prompt for input.\n\nOn the Mac a shortcut can run from the app, the menu bar, Spotlight, Siri, a keyboard shortcut, the Finder's Quick Actions or Services menus, and it can call shell scripts and AppleScript, which makes it a bridge between consumer-level automation and developer tooling. Shortcuts sync across devices through iCloud, a Gallery offers templates, and Automator workflows can be imported. Developers expose their own actions by declaring app intents in Swift, which also makes them available to Siri and Apple Intelligence.\n\nIt is proprietary and Apple-only. Compared with dedicated macOS automation tools it offers fewer triggers on the Mac (time- and event-based automations are more complete on iOS), debugging is limited, and complex logic becomes unwieldy in a block editor.",
  "capabilities": ["Visual action chaining with variables, conditions and loops", "Actions from system apps and third-party apps via App Intents", "Shell script and AppleScript steps on macOS", "Launch from menu bar, Spotlight, Siri, hotkeys and Quick Actions", "iCloud sync of shortcuts across Apple devices"],
  "workflows": ["Resize and rename a batch of images from a Finder Quick Action", "Chain a shell script with a notification and a calendar entry", "Expose an app's features to Siri through App Intents"],
  "advantages": ["Preinstalled and free on every Apple device", "Same shortcuts run on Mac, iPhone and iPad", "Low barrier for non-programmers"],
  "limitations": ["Apple platforms only", "Fewer triggers and weaker debugging than dedicated Mac automation tools", "Complex logic is awkward in a block editor"],
  "prerequisites": ["macOS Monterey or later, or iOS/iPadOS"],
  "audiences": ["Mac and iPhone users automating routine tasks", "Developers exposing app actions to Siri"],
  "alternatives": ["automator", "keyboard-maestro", "hammerspoon", "applescript"],
  "categories": [{ "slug": "macos-automation", "primary": true }],
  "tags": ["macos", "ios", "automation", "no-code", "apple"],
  "use_cases": ["automate-desktop-tasks"],
  "operating_systems": ["macos", "ios"],
  "execution_modes": ["local"],
  "interfaces": ["desktop", "mobile"],
  "deployment_models": ["desktop"],
  "integrations": ["App Intents", "Siri", "Spotlight", "Finder Quick Actions", "AppleScript", "Shell"],
  "data_formats": [".shortcut files"],
  "languages": [],
  "source_model": "proprietary",
  "pricing_model": ["free"],
  "self_hostable": false,
  "sources": [
    { "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts-mac/welcome/mac", "type": "official_site", "title": "Shortcuts User Guide for Mac", "supports": ["name", "summary", "capabilities"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" },
    { "url": "https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appintents", "type": "official_docs", "title": "App Intents | Apple Developer Documentation", "supports": ["capabilities", "integrations"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" },
    { "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/automator/welcome/mac", "type": "official_docs", "title": "Automator User Guide (import into Shortcuts)", "supports": ["capabilities"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "discovery_method": "editorial-research",
  "depth": "standard",
  "editorial_status": "reviewed",
  "visibility": "public",
  "featured": false,
  "author": "batch-C"
}