spb/tools-spboucher-ai

1{2  "slug": "applescript",3  "name": "AppleScript",4  "aliases": ["osascript", "Script Editor"],5  "vendor": { "name": "Apple Inc.", "slug": "apple", "website": "https://developer.apple.com/" },6  "homepage_url": "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptLangGuide/introduction/ASLR_intro.html",7  "docs_url": "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptX/AppleScriptX.html",8  "product_type": "language",9  "product_status": "maintenance",10  "summary": "Apple's English-like scripting language that drives scriptable macOS applications through Apple events, run from Script Editor, osascript or other automation tools",11  "description": "AppleScript is Apple's scripting language for controlling scriptable Macintosh applications and parts of macOS. Introduced in 1993 and still included in every macOS release, it sends Apple events, the inter-application messages of the Mac, to applications such as Finder, Mail, Safari, Numbers or any third-party app that publishes a scripting dictionary. The language has a small core and an English-like syntax; most vocabulary comes from the terminology each application defines.\n\nScripts are written and tested in the bundled Script Editor, run from the command line with `osascript` (which also executes JavaScript for Automation), embedded in Automator and Shortcuts steps, or triggered by tools like Keyboard Maestro and Hammerspoon. GUI scripting through System Events can click menus and buttons in apps that lack a dictionary, subject to Accessibility permission.\n\nApple's AppleScript Language Guide lives in the Documentation Archive and was last revised in 2016, and the language has seen few changes since; it is best treated as stable, maintained infrastructure. Its verbose syntax, inconsistent application dictionaries and macOS-only scope are the usual complaints.",12  "capabilities": ["Control of scriptable applications via Apple events", "GUI scripting through System Events and Accessibility", "Command-line execution with osascript", "Embedding in Automator, Shortcuts and third-party automation tools", "Script bundles and applets with persistent properties"],13  "workflows": ["Export data from Numbers or Mail on a schedule", "Automate a legacy app that has no API but has a scripting dictionary", "Call AppleScript from a shell or Python script via osascript"],14  "advantages": ["Available on every Mac without installation", "Deep hooks into Apple's own apps", "Works from any tool that can shell out"],15  "limitations": ["macOS only", "Verbose, idiosyncratic syntax and uneven app dictionaries", "Official documentation is archived and dated"],16  "prerequisites": ["macOS", "Automation and Accessibility permissions for target apps"],17  "audiences": ["Mac power users and administrators", "Developers gluing macOS apps into pipelines"],18  "alternatives": ["shortcuts", "hammerspoon", "automator", "python"],19  "categories": [{ "slug": "macos-automation", "primary": true }, { "slug": "programming-languages" }],20  "tags": ["macos", "automation", "scripting", "apple"],21  "use_cases": ["automate-desktop-tasks"],22  "operating_systems": ["macos"],23  "execution_modes": ["local"],24  "interfaces": ["cli", "desktop"],25  "deployment_models": ["desktop"],26  "integrations": ["Script Editor", "Automator", "Shortcuts", "Keyboard Maestro", "Hammerspoon", "System Events"],27  "data_formats": [".scpt / .applescript files", "Script bundles and applets"],28  "languages": ["AppleScript"],29  "source_model": "proprietary",30  "pricing_model": ["free"],31  "self_hostable": false,32  "sources": [33    { "url": "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptLangGuide/introduction/ASLR_intro.html", "type": "official_site", "title": "AppleScript Language Guide – Introduction", "supports": ["name", "summary", "description"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02", "note": "Documentation Archive; updated 2016" },34    { "url": "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/AppleScript/Conceptual/AppleScriptX/AppleScriptX.html", "type": "official_docs", "title": "AppleScript Overview", "supports": ["capabilities"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" },35    { "url": "https://support.apple.com/guide/script-editor/welcome/mac", "type": "official_docs", "title": "Script Editor User Guide", "supports": ["capabilities", "integrations"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" }36  ],37  "confidence": "high",38  "discovery_method": "editorial-research",39  "depth": "standard",40  "editorial_status": "reviewed",41  "visibility": "public",42  "featured": false,43  "author": "batch-C"44}45