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Buried deep inside Everything was announced at WWDC this year It was something I, and Passionate about Apple shortcutsI can’t wait to try: The ability to create Apple Shortcuts using generative AI. In macOS 27, you’ll just be able to type what you want the shortcut to do, and the app will create it.
Anyone who creates shortcuts on a regular basis knows that the process of doing so can be tedious, even if the end results save you a lot of time. So I’m excited about the idea of describing what you want in plain language and it ends up being practical. Even if it doesn’t work perfectly (let’s face it, AI-based things rarely work), it’s a starting point that you can tweak to meet your needs.
The only downside: This feature doesn’t launch until the fall, when version 27 of Apple’s operating systems is released.
What if you want to try it now? It turns out that Federico Vitici is the one who founded and runs the amazing blog Mac StoriesHe also couldn’t wait, so much so that he went and built his own version. It’s called Playground of shortcutswhich runs in either Claude Code or OpenAI’s Codex. (OpenAI’s Codex is free at the moment; Claude Code requires at least the Pro planwhich starts at $20 per month.)
To get started, you first need to install the Shortcuts Playground agent; there Instructions on GitHub. Basically you will need to copy a command and paste it into the terminal. (I won’t include it here in case it changes.)
I tested this in Claude Code, but the tool works the same way in Codex. Once Shortcuts Playground is installed, you can launch it by typing / followed by “AbbreviationsYou will see a list of options:
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If you are starting from scratch, I advise you to use Pitch abbreviations: building option, followed by a rough description of what you want the shortcut to do. (The other option, Pitch Abbreviations: Remixintended for making changes to existing shortcuts.)
The agent will start building a shortcut for you. Occasionally, the program will stop to ask you for more information, or to explain what can and cannot be created in Apple Shortcuts.
While exploring this tool, I asked for a shortcut that collected the day’s weather, calendar appointments, and my to-do list for the day, and then read everything out loud. The agent happily went to work.
