alfred-workflow

name	alfred-workflow
description	Create or modify Alfred workflows by writing info.plist files directly

Workflow location

Alfred workflows live in ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/Alfred.alfredpreferences/workflows/. Each workflow is a directory named user.workflow.<UUID> containing an info.plist.

Creating a workflow

1. Generate a UUID for the directory name: uuidgen
2. Generate a UUID for each object (keyword input, script action, notification output, etc.)
3. Write info.plist with the structure below
4. Validate with plutil -lint <path>
5. Alfred picks up new workflows automatically (may need to close/reopen preferences)

Plist structure

An info.plist defines:

• objects: Array of workflow nodes, each with a type, uid, config, and version
• connections: Dict mapping source UIDs to arrays of {destinationuid, modifiers, modifiersubtext, vitoclose} dicts
• uidata: Dict mapping UIDs to {xpos, ypos} for canvas layout (space nodes ~230px apart horizontally)
• name, description, bundleid: Workflow metadata

Common object types

Keyword input (alfred.workflow.input.keyword, version 1):

• keyword: the trigger word
• argumenttype: 0 = required, 1 = optional, 2 = none
• text: display title in Alfred results
• subtext: subtitle text
• withspace: true to allow space before argument

Run Script (alfred.workflow.action.script, version 2):

• script: the script body (XML-escaped)
• type: 0 = bash, 5 = zsh
• scriptargtype: 0 = input as {query} in script, 1 = input as argv ($1 in bash, $argv in zsh)
• escaping: bitmask (102 = spaces+tilde+backslashes+double quotes, does not escape $)
• concurrently: false for sequential execution
• scriptfile: empty string for inline scripts

Post Notification (alfred.workflow.output.notification, version 1):

• title: notification title
• text: notification body (use {query} for script output)
• lastpathcomponent: false
• removeextension: false

Clipboard (alfred.workflow.output.clipboard, version 3):

• clipboardtext: text to copy (use {query})
• autopaste: true to paste immediately
• transient: true to not save in clipboard history

Open URL (alfred.workflow.action.openurl, version 1):

• url: the URL to open
• browser: bundle ID (e.g., com.google.Chrome) or empty for default

Reference workflows

Existing workflows to study for patterns:

• user.workflow.CF67E427-2764-4E80-8A14-50E9E23CAC2A — Google Meet (simple keyword → open URL)
• user.workflow.A0DC9B64-8694-4A42-B13B-15D6EEDD9691 — Transform selected text (hotkey + keyword → script → clipboard, uses variables)
• user.workflow.FE496108-4453-4225-87DD-C457FD27420C — Details Wrap (keyword → script → notification)

Tips

• List existing workflows: for d in ~/Library/Application\ Support/Alfred/Alfred.alfredpreferences/workflows/*/; do /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :name" "$d/info.plist" 2>/dev/null; done
• Read a workflow's script: /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy or just Read the info.plist
• XML-escape < and > in script bodies as < and >