app-open-clean

name	app_open_clean
description	Open a macOS app AND dismiss any blocking welcome / "What's New" / setup-prompt sheet that appeared on launch. Returns the app name and whether a modal was dismissed. Use this INSTEAD of `shell open -a X` when first opening an app you haven't driven before — saves the agent from the common failure mode of typing into a welcome modal instead of the actual UI. Looks for these dismiss buttons in priority order across any sheet or window of the frontmost app: Continue · Get Started · Skip · Later · Not Now · Got It · Maybe Later · Done · Cancel Generic — works for first-launch Apple apps (Reminders, Mail, Calendar, Photos, Maps, Music) and third-party apps that follow the same modal pattern.
command	["sh","-c","APP=\"$1\"\n[ -z \"$APP\" ] && { echo \"app name required\" >&2; exit 1; }\n\nopen -a \"$APP\"\n# Most welcome sheets appear within 1.5s of launch. Sleep more on\n# slow boots — better to be late than to dismiss-before-render.\nsleep 1.5\n\n# Walk the frontmost app's sheets + windows; click the first\n# matching dismiss button by priority. Errors silenced — if the\n# app has no modal, we just exit with no-op success.\nDISMISSED=$(osascript 2>/dev/null <<'APPLESCRIPT'\nset dismissBtns to {\"Continue\", \"Get Started\", \"Skip\", \"Later\", \"Not Now\", \"Got It\", \"Maybe Later\", \"Done\", \"Cancel\"}\nset didClick to \"\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n try\n set frontProc to first application process whose frontmost is true\n tell frontProc\n repeat with w in windows\n -- Sheets (attached modal dialogs)\n try\n repeat with s in sheets of w\n repeat with btnName in dismissBtns\n if exists (button btnName of s) then\n click button btnName of s\n set didClick to btnName as string\n exit repeat\n end if\n end repeat\n if didClick is not \"\" then exit repeat\n end repeat\n end try\n if didClick is not \"\" then exit repeat\n -- Standalone window that looks like welcome (has Continue/Get Started)\n try\n repeat with btnName in {\"Continue\", \"Get Started\", \"Got It\"}\n if exists (button btnName of w) then\n click button btnName of w\n set didClick to btnName as string\n exit repeat\n end if\n end repeat\n end try\n if didClick is not \"\" then exit repeat\n end repeat\n end tell\n end try\nend tell\nreturn didClick\nAPPLESCRIPT\n)\n\n# Some welcome flows are multi-step. Run a second pass to catch\n# the next sheet (e.g. Reminders has \"What's New\" → may auto-open\n# iCloud sync prompt). Quick second pass, no sleep needed.\nif [ -n \"$DISMISSED\" ]; then\n sleep 0.4\n DISMISSED2=$(osascript 2>/dev/null <<'APPLESCRIPT'\nset dismissBtns to {\"Continue\", \"Get Started\", \"Skip\", \"Later\", \"Not Now\", \"Got It\", \"Maybe Later\", \"Done\", \"Cancel\"}\nset didClick to \"\"\ntell application \"System Events\"\n try\n set frontProc to first application process whose frontmost is true\n tell frontProc\n repeat with w in windows\n try\n repeat with s in sheets of w\n repeat with btnName in dismissBtns\n if exists (button btnName of s) then\n click button btnName of s\n set didClick to btnName as string\n exit repeat\n end if\n end repeat\n if didClick is not \"\" then exit repeat\n end repeat\n end try\n if didClick is not \"\" then exit repeat\n end repeat\n end tell\n end try\nend tell\nreturn didClick\nAPPLESCRIPT\n)\nfi\n\nif [ -n \"$DISMISSED\" ]; then\n printf 'opened: %s\\ndismissed: %s' \"$APP\" \"$DISMISSED\"\n [ -n \"$DISMISSED2\" ] && printf ' → %s' \"$DISMISSED2\"\n printf '\\n'\nelse\n printf 'opened: %s\\ndismissed: (no modal found)\\n' \"$APP\"\nfi\n","_"]
args	["{{app}}"]
schema	{"app":{"type":"string","description":"App name (e.g. \"Reminders\", \"Mail\", \"Calendar\") or bundle ID. Whatever `open -a` accepts.","required":true}}
timeout	15

app_open_clean — open + dismiss welcome modal

A common failure pattern when an LLM agent first drives a Mac app: launch the app → start typing or clicking → realize too late that a "What's New" or "Welcome" sheet was sitting on top of the real UI the whole time. The keystrokes go nowhere or hit the wrong target. The app looks unresponsive but is actually working fine; the modal is invisible to the AX-walk because it's a separate sheet.

This skill handles both phases in a single tool call:

1. open -a <app> — launches via Launch Services
2. osascript walks the frontmost process's windows + sheets, clicks the highest-priority dismiss button it finds, repeats once for stacked welcome flows.

If the app has no modal (already dismissed, or never had one), the script exits clean and reports "no modal found" — completely safe to call on already-open apps.

When to use

• You're driving a built-in macOS app you haven't touched in this session: Reminders, Mail, Calendar, Photos, Maps, Music, etc.
• You just upgraded macOS — every app's "What's New" fires once.
• A third-party app you've never opened on this machine (Bear, Slack, Notion, etc.).

When NOT to use

• App is already running and you've already used it — shell open -a is enough, no modal will appear.
• The "modal" you want to keep — e.g. you opened Mail to use the Add Account flow on purpose. (Use shell open -a Mail directly then.)

Examples

app_open_clean app=Reminders
  → opened: Reminders
    dismissed: Continue → Got It

app_open_clean app=Calculator
  → opened: Calculator
    dismissed: (no modal found)

Why a SKILL.md and not native

Pure shell + osascript. No Go state, no AX walking via kinax that this skill doesn't already get from the standard ui tool. Sticks to the "thin kernel + fat skill" thesis — apps come and go, modal shapes evolve, this is exactly what forge should be writing.

Override / extend

If your installed app has a different dismiss button label not in the priority list (e.g. "Begin", "OK, got it", "下一步"), edit this SKILL.md and add it to dismissBtns. Or forge a sibling skill named after the specific app.