sf-symbols

description	Use when looking up or verifying SF Symbol names for macOS Automator workflow icons. Covers the hard lookup rule, authoritative sources, and how to grep the bundled symbol list.
name	sf-symbols

SF Symbol names for Automator workflow icons

Hard rule: always look up from an authoritative source

Every SF Symbol name must be verified against the macOS SFSymbols private framework, not third-party lists (e.g. sam4096/apple-sf-symbols-list), which are often incomplete and can falsely label valid symbols as missing.

Authoritative sources

Source	Location	Best for
SF Symbols app	Free download from Apple Developer	Visual browsing, search, copy name
macOS private framework	/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SFSymbols.framework/	Authoritative; source for the local list
Local extracted list	symbols.txt (extracted from macOS framework, in this skill directory)	Quick grep-based lookup

The HIG page on developer.apple.com is a design guide, not a catalog — it does not list symbol names. There is no web-based catalog.

symbols.txt is extracted from the CoreGlyphs and CoreGlyphsPrivate bundles inside the macOS SFSymbols framework. It is not downloaded from a third-party source.

How to look up a symbol name

Quickest: grep the local list

grep -i 'keyword' .agents/skills/sf-symbols/symbols.txt

Visual: SF Symbols app

1. Download and open the SF Symbols app from Apple Developer.
2. Search or browse categories.
3. Select a symbol — its name appears at the bottom.
4. Right-click → "Copy Name".

Regenerate the local list from framework (when macOS updates SF Symbols)

plutil -p /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SFSymbols.framework/Versions/A/Resources/CoreGlyphs.bundle/Contents/Resources/name_availability.plist | grep '=>' | sed 's/^[[:space:]]*"//;s/"[[:space:]]*=>.*//' > symbols_raw_a.txt
plutil -p /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SFSymbols.framework/Versions/A/Resources/CoreGlyphsPrivate.bundle/Contents/Resources/name_availability.plist | python3 -c "
import sys, re
data = sys.stdin.read()
for m in re.finditer(r'\"([a-zA-Z0-9._]+)\"', data.split('{',1)[1] if '{' in data else data):
    name = m.group(1)
    if not name.startswith('_') and not (len(name) == 32 and re.match(r'^[0-9A-F]+$', name)):
        print(name)
" > symbols_raw_b.txt
cat symbols_raw_a.txt symbols_raw_b.txt | sort -u > symbols.txt
rm symbols_raw_a.txt symbols_raw_b.txt

Policy reference

The icon convention policy for this project's Automator workflows is documented in src/hosts/MacBook/services/automator-workflows.nix (header comment section "SF Symbol icon policy").

macOS version floor

Symbols from SF Symbols 3 require macOS 12 Monterey+. Always check the SF Symbols version in which a symbol was introduced and verify against the host's minimum macOS version.