Comprehensive AppleScript expertise for enterprise-grade macOS automation including multi-display management, URL scheme handling, deep linking, and complex workflow orchestration
Comprehensive AppleScript expertise for enterprise-grade macOS automation including multi-display management, URL scheme handling, deep linking, and complex workflow orchestration
allowed-tools
macos_control workflow_automation bash
metadata
{"legacy_slug":"applescript_automation","legacy_summary":"Advanced macOS automation with AppleScript, multi-screen management, URL schemes, and workflow orchestration","legacy_version":"1.0","legacy_author":"FF-Terminal","legacy_priority":"high","legacy_tags":"[\"applescript\",\"macos\",\"automation\",\"multi-screen\",\"url-schemes\",\"workflow\"]","legacy_triggers":"[\"applescript\",\"macos automation\",\"multi-screen\",\"url scheme\",\"deep linking\",\"window management\",\"system control\",\"automate.*mac\",\"control.*app\",\"position.*window\",\"url.*handler\",\"open.*app.*position\",\"arrange.*windows\",\"create.*url.*scheme\",\"multi.*display\",\"screen.*layout\"]","legacy_assets":"[\"templates/app_control.applescript\",\"templates/multi_screen_layout.applescript\",\"templates/url_scheme_handler.applescript\",\"templates/system_automation.applescript\",\"templates/finder_operations.applescript\",\"templates/browser_automation.applescript\",\"workflows/development_setup.applescript\",\"workflows/research_automation.applescript\",\"workflows/meeting_preparation.applescript\",\"workflows/content_creation.applescript\"]","legacy_recommended_tools":"[\"macos_control\",\"workflow_automation\",\"bash\"]","legacy_capabilities":"{\"multi_screen_management\":\"Advanced multi-display automation\",\"url_scheme_handling\":\"Custom URL scheme creation and handling\",\"workflow_orchestration\":\"Complex multi-app workflow automation\",\"system_integration\":\"Deep macOS system integration\"}"}
AppleScript Automation Mastery
When to use this skill
Use when the user request matches this skill's domain and capabilities.
Use when this workflow or toolchain is explicitly requested.
When not to use this skill
Do not use when another skill is a better direct match for the task.
Do not use when the request is outside this skill's scope.
You are an expert AppleScript automation specialist with deep knowledge of macOS system architecture, multi-display management, URL scheme implementation, and complex workflow orchestration. When this skill is activated, provide enterprise-grade macOS automation solutions.
Quick Reference - Immediate Patterns
Application Launch & Position
-- Launch app and position on specific display
tell application "System Events"
set screenWidth to item 1 of (size of main screen)
set screenHeight to item 2 of (size of main screen)
end tell
tell application "Terminal"
activate
if (count of windows) = 0 then make new document
set bounds of window 1 to {0, 0, screenWidth/2, screenHeight}
end tell
Multi-Screen Window Management
-- Get information about all displays
tell application "System Events"
set allDisplays to every display
repeat with i from 1 to count of allDisplays
set displayBounds to bounds of display i
set displayResolution to size of display i
log ("Display " & i & ": " & displayResolution)
end repeat
end tell
URL Scheme Registration
-- Register custom URL scheme handler
tell application "System Events"
make new preference pane at end of preference panes with properties {name:"URL Handlers"}
tell preference pane "URL Handlers"
make new URL handler with properties {scheme:"ff-terminal", handler:"/Applications/FF-Terminal.app"}
end tell
end tell
Multi-Screen Mastery
Display Detection & Analysis
-- Comprehensive multi-display information
on getDisplayInfo()
tell application "System Events"
set displayList to {}
set allDisplays to every display
repeat with i from 1 to count of allDisplays
set currentDisplay to display i
set displayBounds to bounds of currentDisplay
set displayResolution to size of currentDisplay
set displayPosition to position of currentDisplay
set displayInfo to {
id:i,
bounds:displayBounds,
resolution:displayResolution,
position:displayPosition,
isMain:(i = 1)
}
set end of displayList to displayInfo
end repeat
end tell
return displayList
end getDisplayInfo
Cross-Display Window Positioning
-- Position window across multiple displays
on positionWindowAcrossDisplays(appName, windowIndex, displayLayout)
tell application "System Events"
set displayInfo to getDisplayInfo()
set targetDisplay to item displayLayout of displayInfo
set displayBounds to bounds of targetDisplay
tell application appName
activate
if (count of windows) ≥ windowIndex then
set windowBounds to {
item 1 of displayBounds,
item 2 of displayBounds,
item 1 of displayBounds + (item 3 of displayBounds - item 1 of displayBounds),
item 2 of displayBounds + (item 4 of displayBounds - item 2 of displayBounds)
}
set bounds of window windowIndex to windowBounds
end if
end tell
end tell
end positionWindowAcrossDisplays
Layout Templates
-- Predefined layout templates for different workflows
on applyLayoutTemplate(templateName)
tell application "System Events"
set displayInfo to getDisplayInfo()
if templateName = "coding" then
-- Terminal left 50%, Browser right 50% on main display
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Terminal", 1, 1)
delay 1
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Google Chrome", 1, 1)
-- Resize Chrome to right half
tell application "Google Chrome"
set mainBounds to bounds of display 1
set chromeBounds to {
(item 1 of mainBounds) + ((item 3 of mainBounds - item 1 of mainBounds) / 2),
item 2 of mainBounds,
item 3 of mainBounds,
item 4 of mainBounds
}
set bounds of window 1 to chromeBounds
end tell
else if templateName = "research" then
-- Browser center 60%, Notes right 40%, Terminal bottom strip
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Google Chrome", 1, 1)
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Notes", 1, 1)
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Terminal", 1, 1)
else if templateName = "data_analysis" then
-- Terminal left 33%, Data tools right 67%
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Terminal", 1, 1)
positionWindowAcrossDisplays("Numbers", 1, 1)
end if
end tell
end applyLayoutTemplate
Application Control & Orchestration
Advanced App Launching
-- Intelligent application launching with state management
on launchAppWithConfiguration(appName, config)
tell application "System Events"
-- Check if app is already running
set appProcess to (first process whose name is appName)
if appProcess exists then
-- App is running, bring to front
tell application appName to activate
else
-- App not running, launch it
tell application appName to launch
delay 3 -- Wait for app to fully load
end if
-- Apply configuration if provided
if config contains "position" then
set targetPosition to position of config
tell application appName
if (count of windows) > 0 then
set position of window 1 to targetPosition
end if
end tell
end if
if config contains "size" then
set targetSize to size of config
tell application appName
if (count of windows) > 0 then
set size of window 1 to targetSize
end if
end tell
end if
if config contains "fullscreen" then
tell application appName
if (count of windows) > 0 then
set fullscreen of window 1 to true
end if
end tell
end if
end tell
end launchAppWithConfiguration
Multi-App Workflow Orchestration
-- Coordinate multiple applications in a workflow
on orchestrateWorkflow(workflowSteps)
repeat with step in workflowSteps
set stepType to type of step
set stepApp to application of step
set stepConfig to configuration of step
if stepType = "launch" then
launchAppWithConfiguration(stepApp, stepConfig)
else if stepType = "configure" then
configureApplication(stepApp, stepConfig)
else if stepType = "communicate" then
set sourceApp to source of step
set targetApp to target of step
set dataTransfer to data of step
transferDataBetweenApps(sourceApp, targetApp, dataTransfer)
end if
-- Add delay between steps for stability
delay 1
end repeat
end orchestrateWorkflow
URL Schemes & Deep Linking
Custom URL Scheme Registration
-- Register custom URL schemes for deep linking
on registerURLScheme(schemeName, handlerApp, handlerScript)
tell application "System Events"
-- Create URL scheme registration
set schemeInfo to {
scheme:schemeName,
handler:handlerApp,
script:handlerScript
}
-- Write to Launch Services database
do shell script "defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices/com.apple.launchservices.secure LSHandlers -array-add '{\"LSHandlerURLScheme\":\"" & schemeName & "\",\"LSHandlerRoleAll\":\"" & handlerApp & "\"}'"
-- Refresh Launch Services
do shell script "/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user"
end tell
end registerURLScheme
URL Handler Implementation
-- Handle incoming URL scheme requests
on handleURLRequest(scheme, data)
if scheme = "ff-terminal" then
-- Parse URL data
set urlComponents to splitString(data, "/")
set command to item 1 of urlComponents
if command = "automate" then
set automationTask to item 2 of urlComponents
executeAutomationTask(automationTask)
else if command = "workflow" then
set workflowName to item 2 of urlComponents
runWorkflow(workflowName)
else if command = "layout" then
set layoutName to item 2 of urlComponents
applyLayoutTemplate(layoutName)
end if
else if scheme = "automation" then
-- Handle automation-specific URLs
processAutomationURL(data)
end if
end handleURLRequest
Cross-Application Communication
-- Enable apps to communicate via URL schemes
on enableAppCommunication(sourceApp, targetApp, messageFormat)
-- Register URL scheme in target app
registerURLScheme(targetApp & "://", sourceApp, "")
-- Configure source app to generate appropriate URLs
tell application sourceApp
-- Implementation depends on source app capabilities
-- Example for browser-based automation:
set communicationURL to targetApp & "://message/" & urlEncode(messageFormat)
open location communicationURL
end tell
end enableAppCommunication
System Integration & Control
System Preferences Automation
-- Automated system preferences configuration
on configureSystemPreference(pane, setting, value)
tell application "System Preferences"
activate
set current pane to pane pane
delay 1 -- Wait for pane to load
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
-- Navigate to specific setting
click UI element setting of group 1 of window pane
-- Set the value
set value of UI element setting of group 1 of window pane to value
end tell
end tell
quit
end tell
end configureSystemPreference
Notification Center Integration
-- System notifications with advanced options
on showNotification(title, subtitle, message, soundName)
tell application "System Events"
-- Create notification
set notification to {
title:title,
subtitle:subtitle,
informativeText:message,
soundName:soundName,
hasActionButton:true,
actionButtonTitle:"Open"
}
-- Display notification
display notification message with title title subtitle subtitle sound name soundName
end tell
end showNotification
Finder Operations
-- Advanced Finder automation
on automateFinderOperation(operation, source, destination)
tell application "Finder"
if operation = "move" then
move source to destination
else if operation = "copy" then
duplicate source to destination
else if operation = "organize" then
-- Organize files by type
set sourceFolder to folder source
set filesInFolder to every file of sourceFolder
repeat with fileItem in filesInFolder
set fileType to file type of fileItem
set targetFolder to folder fileType of destination
if not (exists targetFolder) then
make new folder at destination with properties {name:fileType}
set targetFolder to folder fileType of destination
end if
move fileItem to targetFolder
end repeat
end if
end tell
end automateFinderOperation
Error Handling & Recovery
Robust Error Management
-- Comprehensive error handling with recovery
on executeWithErrorRecovery(scriptBlock, recoveryBlock)
try
-- Execute main script block
execute script scriptBlock
on error errMsg number errNum
-- Log error details
log "AppleScript Error: " & errMsg & " (Error " & errNum & ")"
-- Attempt recovery
if recoveryBlock is not missing then
try
execute script recoveryBlock
on error recoveryErr
log "Recovery failed: " & recoveryErr
end try
end if
-- Return error information
return {
success:false,
error:errMsg,
errorNumber:errNum
}
end try
return {success:true}
end executeWithErrorRecovery
Application State Validation
-- Validate application state before operations
on validateApplicationState(appName, requiredState)
tell application "System Events"
set appProcess to first process whose name is appName
if not (appProcess exists) then
return {valid:false, reason:"Application not running"}
end if
tell application appName
if requiredState contains "window" then
if (count of windows) = 0 then
return {valid:false, reason:"No windows open"}
end if
end if
if requiredState contains "frontmost" then
if not frontmost then
return {valid:false, reason:"Application not frontmost"}
end if
end if
end tell
end tell
return {valid:true}
end validateApplicationState
Performance Optimization
Template Caching System
-- Cache frequently used AppleScript templates
property scriptCache : {}
on getCachedScript(templateName)
if scriptCache contains templateName then
return scriptCache's item templateName
else
-- Load script from file
set scriptPath to "/path/to/templates/" & templateName & ".applescript"
set scriptContent to read file scriptPath
-- Cache for future use
set scriptCache's item templateName to scriptContent
return scriptContent
end if
end getCachedScript
Batch Operations
-- Execute multiple operations efficiently
on executeBatchOperation(operations)
tell application "System Events"
-- Group similar operations
set appOperations to {}
set systemOperations to {}
repeat with operation in operations
set operationType to type of operation
if operationType = "application" then
set end of appOperations to operation
else if operationType = "system" then
set end of systemOperations to operation
end if
end repeat
-- Execute application operations
repeat with appOp in appOperations
executeApplicationOperation(appOp)
end repeat
-- Execute system operations
repeat with sysOp in systemOperations
executeSystemOperation(sysOp)
end repeat
end tell
end executeBatchOperation
Best Practices for Agents
1. Always Validate Before Execution
Check application availability and state
Verify screen configurations
Test URL scheme registration
2. Use Progressive Disclosure
Start with simple operations
Build complexity gradually
Provide clear feedback at each step
3. Implement Robust Error Handling
Always include try-catch blocks
Provide meaningful error messages
Include recovery mechanisms
4. Optimize for Performance
Cache frequently used scripts
Batch operations when possible
Minimize delays between operations
5. Maintain Security
Request permissions before sensitive operations
Validate user input and parameters
Use secure communication methods
Integration with FF-Terminal Tools
This skill integrates seamlessly with existing FF-Terminal tools:
macos_control: Use for direct AppleScript execution
workflow_automation: Combine with workflow orchestration
bash: Use for system-level operations alongside AppleScript
When implementing AppleScript solutions, always consider how they can be enhanced through FF-Terminal's broader automation ecosystem.
