⚡ Productivity
Apple Shortcuts Automation Builder: Action by Action Recipes, Personal Automation Triggers, Variables, and Focus Filters for an iPhone Daily Routine
Describe a repetitive iPhone or Mac chore in plain words and get a Shortcuts recipe you can build in minutes: every action in order with its exact settings, the magic variables that connect them, the Personal Automation trigger and whether it can run without asking, Focus filter pairing, and a test plan that catches the steps Shortcuts silently skips.
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Prompt
Act as an Apple Shortcuts power user who builds automations for busy professionals on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and writes recipes that someone can follow tap by tap in the Shortcuts app without guessing. Inputs: - The chore in plain words, including when it happens and what the finished result looks like: [Chore] - Devices and OS versions (for example iPhone on iOS 18, Mac on macOS 15): [Devices] - Apps and data involved (Calendar, Reminders, Notes, Messages, Files, Health, a third party app with Shortcuts actions): [AppsData] - Desired trigger (time of day, arrive or leave a place, Wi-Fi, CarPlay, Focus on, app opened, NFC tag, battery level, manual from the Home Screen): [Trigger] - Things that must never happen automatically (sending messages, deleting, spending money): [HardLimits] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. Feasibility check: say whether Shortcuts can do the Chore with built in actions and the listed AppsData, which parts need a third party app's actions, and what cannot be automated. 2. The shortcut recipe as a numbered action list. For each action give the exact action name as it appears in the Shortcuts action search, every parameter setting, and which magic variable or named variable feeds it. Use Set Variable when a value is reused, and If, Choose from Menu, or Repeat with Each where logic is needed. 3. Personal Automation setup for Trigger: the trigger screen settings, and whether to choose Run Immediately or Run After Confirmation. Anything in HardLimits stays behind Run After Confirmation or an Ask for Input step. 4. Focus filter or Home Screen pairing if it helps, for example a Work Focus that runs the shortcut and filters Calendar to work calendars. 5. Edge cases for this Chore: empty results (no events today), permissions prompts on first run, notifications that only appear when the phone is unlocked, and what the shortcut does in each case. 6. A test plan of three runs with expected results, plus the Show Result or Quick Look steps to add temporarily while debugging and remove after. Constraints: - Use only action names you are confident exist on the listed Devices. If an action name or option may differ by OS version, mark it VERIFY. - No scripts that require jailbreaking or unsupported profiles. Keep everything on device unless the user asked for a web service. No em dashes.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
Chore: every weekday at 7:30 am I want a note listing today's meetings with times and locations, plus any reminders due today, and a text to my partner if my first meeting starts before 8:30 Devices: iPhone 15 on iOS 18 AppsData: Calendar (Work and Personal calendars), Reminders, Notes, Messages Trigger: time of day, weekdays only HardLimits: never send the text without me confirming Format: recipe plus automation settings
Example Output
Feasibility: Fully possible with built in actions. The text to your partner can be prepared automatically but will wait for your tap, which matches HardLimits. Shortcut name: Morning Brief 1. Find Calendar Events where Start Date is today, Calendar is Work or Personal. Sort by Start Date, Oldest First. Limit off. 2. Set Variable: Events = Calendar Events. 3. Repeat with Each item in Events: Text: [Repeat Item Start Date, format Time only] [Repeat Item Title] at [Repeat Item Location] End Repeat. Combine Text with New Lines. Set Variable: MeetingLines. 4. Find Reminders where Due Date is today and Is Not Completed. Set Variable: DueToday. 5. Text block: Morning Brief [Current Date, format Long] Meetings: [MeetingLines] Due today: [DueToday] 6. Create Note with the Text in folder Daily, title Morning Brief [Current Date, Short]. 7. Get First Item from Events. Get Details of Calendar Events: Start Date. 8. If Start Date is before Today at 8:30 AM: Send Message: "First meeting at [Start Date, Time only] today, heading out early." Recipients: [partner]. Show When Run on. End If. Personal Automation Automation tab, New Automation, Time of Day, 7:30 AM, Repeat Weekly with Monday to Friday selected. Run: Morning Brief. Choose Run Immediately so the note is ready, and Notify When Run on. The Send Message step keeps Show When Run on, so the text opens as a draft for you to tap Send. VERIFY this behavior on your iOS 18 build in the test runs. Focus pairing (optional) Work Focus, Focus Filters, Calendar: show Work only during work hours, so the brief and your calendar match. Edge cases - No events: step 3 produces empty text. Add If Events has no value, Text No meetings today, before step 5. - No reminders: DueToday is empty. The note shows the heading with nothing under it, which is fine. - First run: Shortcuts asks for Calendar, Reminders, and Notes access. Run it once by hand and allow all three. - All day events: they appear at 12:00 AM. Add a filter Is All Day is false in step 1 if you do not want them. Test plan 1. Day with an 8:00 meeting: note created, message draft appears. 2. Day starting at 10:00: note created, no message. 3. Empty calendar: note says No meetings today. While testing, add Quick Look after steps 3 and 4, then delete them.