automate-jw: Automate jwhitlock
This project is a set of scripts and documentation for automating my task workflow. My goal is to have a keyboard shortcut that says:
"Do what I normally do with what I'm currently seeing"
Often, "what I see" is a webpage in Safari or Firefox, and "what I normally do" is add a task to OmniFocus, which I use for personal project management. I use Apple stuff (macOS, iPhone, etc.), which includes automation tools like Shortcuts, so it should be possible to encode the rules for what I'd like to do.
Status
I've got a "read later" workflow for Substack article:
- Open the article on substack
- Copy the URL to the clipboard
- Run "Send Article to Omnifocus" shortcut
- "Get A URL" gets URL from Clipboard
- URL is passed to
automate-jw-process-urlscript, installed in virtual environment. - Script returns base64-encoded JSON
- Omni Automation decodes to JSON, creates a task
To Do
- Add tests to
automate-jw-process-url - Sketch the planned workflow
- Split out Omnifocus task creation as own Shortcut
- Sketch semantic scraper ideas
- Implement semantic scraper
Documentation
- Overview - Overview of the workflow
- Shortcuts
- Get a URL - Gets a URL from Safari or the Clipboard
- Send URL to Omnifocus - Processes a URL, creates an OmniFocus task
References
- Take Control of Shortcuts by Rosemary Orchard - A great introduction to the tool
- Shortcuts User Guide for Mac - Apple's documentation, not as good. I'm using features like running a shell script that only work on the Mac
- Omni-Automation: OmniFocus - Detailed guide for using OmniScript. The Big Picture is a decent starting place.