Automation & Scripting

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Automation & Scripting Documentation

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osascript System Events Failed to list Processes That Have The Same Name
I ran the following script while both VSCode and Windsurf were open. tell application "System Events" set electronProcesses to every application process whose name is "Electron" set outputText to "" repeat with p in electronProcesses set outputText to outputText & "Process: " & name of p set outputText to outputText & ", Displayed name: " & displayed name of p set outputText to outputText & ", Frontmost: " & frontmost of p & " " end repeat return outputText end tell The script incorrectly returned two Electron processes, where both were showing Windsurf as the displayed name. The output of the above script is: Process: Electron, Displayed name: Windsurf, Frontmost: false Process: Electron, Displayed name: Windsurf, Frontmost: false Separately, both Windsurf and VSCode share the same process name (Electron) but have different displayed names. This issue appears to affect how the frontmost application is detected, when using the following script: set frontApp to first application process whose frontmost is true The frontApp is incorrectly returned when switching between VSCode and Windsurf.
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May ’25
macOS 26: Automator 3rd party actions cannot be configured
After installing my notarized 3rd party app in a Tahoe VM, its embedded Automator actions can not be configured in Automator while defining a workflow: After adding the actions (enabling 3rd party extensions), their views / UI elements do not respond to any mouse event. When enabling „show this action when running“, the options can be changed during execution of the workflow. Needless to say: Adjusting these action settings in Automator was working for years, macOS 12 - 15 and before. Reported via Feedback Assistent (FB19015185). Can anybody confirm this issue with Automator actions?
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Sep ’25
Debugging updateAppShortcutParameters not adding shortcuts to Shortcuts App
So I'm developing an ios application which should be showing shortcuts, but its not. I'm not sure how to debug why the functionality isnt working. Believe I'm correctly calling AppShortcutsProvider's updateAppShortcutParameters, but I dont see any errors in the console showing me a problem. And in fact, I made a simplified just swift version that works before I tried to integrate it into a more complex project. But now I'm at a loss as to what is going wrong or what debug tools I can use to figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. When building my project I see: 025-08-18 14:07:49.371 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Starting appintentsmetadataprocessor export 2025-08-18 14:07:49.414 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Writing Metadata.appintents 2025-08-18 14:07:49.414 appintentsmetadataprocessor[57506:35387547] Metadata root: /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents AppIntentsSSUTraining (in target 'UnityFramework' from project 'Unity-iPhone') cd /Users/jpetersen/no_doc_repos/payments_ios_investigation/SpotlightSearch/client/Build /Applications/Xcode_16.1.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/appintentsnltrainingprocessor --infoplist-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Info.plist --temp-dir-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Unity-iPhone.build/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.build/ssu --bundle-id com.unity3d.framework --product-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework --extracted-metadata-path /Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents --archive-ssu-assets 2025-08-18 14:07:49.436 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Parsing options for appintentsnltrainingprocessor 2025-08-18 14:07:49.437 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Starting AppIntents SSU YAML Generation 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training 'Start ${+applicationName}' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training 'Play ${ShortcutEntity}|Play ${ShortcutEntity} on ${+applicationName}' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Training Negative Phrases '' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.444 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Application name 'UnityFramework' for English 2025-08-18 14:07:49.449 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Generated AppIntents SSU YAML files in file:///Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Intermediates.noindex/Unity-iPhone.build/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.build/ssu/ 2025-08-18 14:07:49.449 appintentsnltrainingprocessor[57507:35387550] Copied AppIntents SSU YAML files to file:///Users/jpetersen/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Unity-iPhone-dtnhxevagfkzsjdavesziaqrwisr/Build/Products/ReleaseForRunning-iphoneos/UnityFramework.framework/Metadata.appintents/ So I think it should be making the required app intent data :shrug:
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Sep ’25
App Automatically Deleted from Applications Folder - OSX
I made an application in Script Editor and it works as expected. But the app seems to be getting automatically deleted at random times. For example, I made it a few days ago, tested it successfully, then went back today to look for it and it was gone. Tested this multiple times. I bit more detail about my process: I wrote the app in Script editor, exported it as an Application with run-only checked and no code signing after manipulating a few things (.plist file, .icns file), I then remove extended attributes and code-sign using terminal. I have an Apple developer account that I use to code-sign: xattr -cr <path_to_app> codesign -s <my_developer_account> <path_to_app_bundle> then I copy the app into my Applications folder and test it successfully a day or more later, the app is gone (and I haven't even opened it again) Ventura 13.1, Mac Book Pro 2021
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Feb ’25
'openAppWhenRun' property causing AppIntentsExtension to fail
I have added an "App Intents Extension" target to my main application in macOS. This generated the below two files: TWAppIntent.swift import AppIntents struct TWAppIntent: AppIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "TWAppIntentExtension" static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary { Summary("Get information on \(\.$TWType)") } //launch app on running action static var openAppWhenRun: Bool = true // we can have multiple parameter of diff types @Parameter(title: "TWType") var TWType: String func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<String> & ProvidesDialog { return .result(value: TWType, dialog: "Logged break.") } } TWAppIntentExtension.swift import AppIntents @main struct TWAppIntentExtension: AppIntentsExtension { } I m able to build the extension target and I my intent action is available in the shortcuts app. However, on launching a shortcut with the above created intent action. I m getting the below popups: I have identified what is causing this error. Setting the openAppWhenRun to true is causing this error. I don't get this when it is set to false. This property is supposed to launch the application, but can someone help me understand why is it happening? This is only causing the error when using this property for AppIntent Extension and not for In app handling for the AppIntent. Can we not launch our application from AppIntent extension?
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Oct ’25
How to access comments and their associated text in iWork documents via AppleScript/ScriptingBridge?
Hi all, I’m developing a Mac OS application with XCode that interacts with iWork documents (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) using ScriptingBridge (and maybe AppleScript). Right now I started with Pages, assuming if it works for Pages, it will likely be similar for Numbers and Keynote. While I can successfully access and modify the main body text (e.g. the “body text” property in a Pages document), I’m having major difficulties accessing the comments (or annotations) within these documents. There are many aspects, but right now what I’m trying to achieve: For a Pages document, I need to scan the document and extract, for each comment: The content of the comment (i.e. the comment’s text). The text that is being commented on. For Numbers, similarly, I need to retrieve the commented cell’s content and the associated comment. For Keynote, the same as Pages, except I manage to get the Presenter Notes. Once done, I could replace the content accordingly. What I’ve tried: Using AppleScript commands such as: every comment of document "Test" Accessing properties like content or range of a comment. Attempting various syntaxes (including using class specifiers) to force AppleScript to recognize comments. Using ScriptingBridge in my Swift code, but I couldn’t find any mapping for a “comment” object in the Pages dictionary. However, all these attempts result in errors such as “cannot convert …” or “this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key …” which leads me to believe that the iWork scripting dictionaries may not expose comments (or annotations) in a scriptable way. Questions: Is there a supported way to access the comments (and the associated commented text) in an iWork document via AppleScript or ScriptingBridge? If so, what is the proper syntax or property name to use? (For example, should I be looking for a class named “comment”, “annotation”, or perhaps something else?) If direct access via AppleScript/ScriptingBridge is not possible, what alternative approaches would you recommend for programmatically extracting comment data from iWork documents? I apologize if my post isn't clear, it is translated from French. Any insights or examples would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Feb ’25
Language choice sometimes pops up during Recovery
Sometimes, during Recovery, when choosing "Options" I'm presented with the Language chooser before going into the Recovery options. Other times the process moves directly into Recovery options, without any language choice. I'm running in recovery mode, after completing a fresh installation of macOS (including setting a language) and fully shutting down the OS via the menu. This happens seemingly randomly, which affects the ability to automate the process. So far I've only seen it on macOS 15. Is there some logic to why this language chooser pops up, and any way I can make it consistent (in either direction)?
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Feb ’25
Duration type parameter in AppIntent
I'm developing an AppIntent with a Duration parameter, the definition looks like this: @Parameter(title: "Duration", description: "Time entry duration") var duration: Measurement<UnitDuration> When I run this AppIntent using Siri voice command (by a shortcut) the system asks for the duration value, however when I try to say "1 hour 10 minutes" the "hour" component is ignored, in the AppIntent's perform() method I see only the minutes set (so in this case only 10 minutes). Is there any way to use the Duration type for this type of natural language input? When I try to set only 10 minutues, or 1 hour separately it works, just the combination of these two fails. Thank you
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Apr ’25
iOS 18.4 - HomeKit actions from AppIntent fail when triggered from Widget
Hi all, Since updating to iOS 18.4, I'm experiencing a regression with AppIntents triggered from Widgets. In my app, I use AppIntents inside a WidgetKit extension to control HomeKit devices. This setup was working perfectly up to iOS 18.3. However, starting with iOS 18.4, when the AppIntent is triggered from the widget and the main app is not running, the action fails with this error: Error Domain=HMErrorDomain Code=80 "Missing entitlement for API." UserInfo={ NSLocalizedFailureReason=Handler does not support background access, NSLocalizedDescription=Missing entitlement for API. } Interestingly, the exact same AppIntent works fine if the app is still alive in the background — it seems like the failure only occurs when the intent is handled by the widget process. This looks like a behavior change or new restriction introduced in iOS 18.4. Has anyone experienced the same? Is there a new entitlement needed, or a recommended workaround? Thanks in advance!
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Jun ’25
/usr/bin/shortcuts no longer works in 14.7.5 (23H527) ?
I've been using /usr/bin/shortcuts for various tasks (eg. Quicksilver uses it to list and run shortcuts), and after updating from 14.7.4 to 14.7.5 the tool gets killed on startup. Eg. here is what it looks like in my shell: ❯ shortcuts list zsh: killed shortcuts list (And this is regardless of whether I have "full disk access" or "developer tools" toggled on or off for iTerm.) Looking at system logs it seems like the binary is missing an entitlement, which causes MACF / Gatekeeper to throw a fit: 2025-04-12 18:38:48.847576 kernel: mac_vnode_check_signature: /usr/bin/shortcuts: code signature validation failed fatally: When validating /usr/bin/shortcuts: in-kernel: com.apple.shortcuts.ShortcutsCommandLine disallowed without com.apple.private.security.restricted-application-groups 2025-04-12 18:38:48.847582 kernel: validation of code signature failed through MACF policy: 1 2025-04-12 18:38:48.847583 kernel: check_signature[pid: 2475]: error = 1 2025-04-12 18:38:48.847587 kernel: proc 95761: load code signature error 4 for file "shortcuts" 2025-04-12 18:38:48.847613 kernel: exec_mach_imgact: not running binary "shortcuts" built against preview arm64e ABI 2025-04-12 18:38:48.855481 syspolicyd: (Security) SecTrustEvaluateIfNecessary 2025-04-12 18:38:48.857970 syspolicyd: [com.apple.syspolicy.exec:default] GK evaluateScanResult: 2, PST: (path: /usr/bin/shortcuts), (team: (null)), (id: (null)), (bundle_id: (null)), 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0evaluateScanResult: 2, PST: (path: /usr/bin/shortcuts), (team: (null)), (id: (null)), (bundle_id: (null)), 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0 I used Time Machine to compare the binary's entitlements between 14.7.4 and 14.7.5, and looks like in 14.7.5 /usr/bin/shortcuts indeed is missing the com.apple.private.security.restricted-application-groups entitlement that 14.7.4 had. The old binary had these two entitlements that the new one doesn't: [Key] com.apple.private.security.restricted-application-groups [Value] [Array] [String] group.com.apple.shortcuts [String] group.is.workflow.my.app [String] group.is.workflow.shortcuts [Key] com.apple.security.application-groups [Value] [Array] [String] group.com.apple.shortcuts [String] group.is.workflow.my.app [String] group.is.workflow.shortcuts Is there a sensible workaround for this (and by "sensible" I mean something that'd allow me to keep using the tool)? (I already asked this on the support forums but I figured I might as well ask here too)
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Apr ’25
Array of AppEnum in a Parameter will always be empty
Consider the following in an AppIntent: struct TestIntent: AppIntent { static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "Test Intent" static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary { Summary("Test") { \.$options } } enum Option: Int, CaseIterable, AppEnum { case one case two case three case four case five case six static let typeDisplayRepresentation: TypeDisplayRepresentation = TypeDisplayRepresentation( name: "Options" ) static let caseDisplayRepresentations: [Option: DisplayRepresentation] = [ .one: DisplayRepresentation(title: "One"), .two: DisplayRepresentation(title: "Two"), .three: DisplayRepresentation(title: "Three"), .four: DisplayRepresentation(title: "Four"), .five: DisplayRepresentation(title: "Five"), .six: DisplayRepresentation(title: "Six"), ] } @Parameter(title: "Options", default: []) var options: [Option] @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { print(options) return .result() } } In Shortcuts, this will turn into a dropdown where you can check multiple Option values. However, when perform() is called, options will be an empty array regardless of what the user selects. This is observed on both iOS 18.5 and macOS 15.5. However, on iOS 26.0 beta and macOS 26.0 beta, the issue seems to be resolved and options contains all the checked options. However, we do back deploy to current/previous iOS/macOS versions. How can we provide a multiple choice selection of fixed values on these older versions?
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Aug ’25
Siri Shortcut Passes NSUserActivity Object Twice
In my app, when invoking a Shortcut via Siri, the application(_:continueUserActivity:restorationHandler:) method in AppDelegate is called twice. When I debug, both NSUserActivity objects are identical. However, when I run the same Shortcut by tapping it manually, the method is only called once as expected. Has anyone experienced this issue? How can I prevent Siri Shortcuts from delivering the same NSUserActivity twice?
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Sep ’25
openAppWhenRun = true is wrong
import AppIntents struct MGIntents: AppIntent { static var title = LocalizedStringResource("open app") static var openAppWhenRun: Bool = true func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult & ProvidesDialog { return .result(dialog: "app open") } } struct AppItentsShortcuts:AppShortcutsProvider { static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] { AppShortcut(intent: MGIntents(), phrases: ["\(.applicationName) Open app"], shortTitle: "Open app", systemImageName: "fan.desk.fill") } } when use ,error more error。 when i delet openAppWhenRun ,is ok。why? how I can do it? thank you!
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276
Oct ’25
Siri AppIntent phrasing
When my AppShortcut phrase is: "Go (.$direction) with (.applicationName)" Then everything works correctly, the AppIntent correctly receives the parameter. But when my phrase is: "What is my game (.$direction) with (.applicationName)" The an alert dialog pops up saying: "Hey siri what is my game tomorrow with {app name} Do you want me to use ChatGPT to answer that?" The phrase is obviously heard correctly, and it's exactly what I've specified in the AppShortcut. Why isn't it being sent to my AppIntent? import Foundation import AppIntents @available(iOS 17.0, *) enum Direction: String, CaseIterable, AppEnum { case today, yesterday, tomorrow, next static var typeDisplayRepresentation: TypeDisplayRepresentation { TypeDisplayRepresentation(name: "Direction") } static var caseDisplayRepresentations: [Direction: DisplayRepresentation] = [ .today: DisplayRepresentation(title: "today", synonyms: []), .yesterday: DisplayRepresentation(title: "yesterday", synonyms: []), .tomorrow: DisplayRepresentation(title: "tomorrow", synonyms: []), .next: DisplayRepresentation(title: "next", synonyms: []) ] } @available(iOS 17.0, *) struct MoveItemIntent: AppIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Move Item" @Parameter(title: "Direction") var direction: Direction func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { // Logic to move item in the specified direction print("Moving item \(direction)") return .result() } } @available(iOS 17.0, *) final class MyShortcuts: AppShortcutsProvider { static let shortcutTileColor = ShortcutTileColor.navy static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] { AppShortcut( intent: MoveItemIntent() , phrases: [ "Go \(\.$direction) with \(.applicationName)" // "What is my game \(\.$direction) with \(.applicationName)" ] , shortTitle: "Test of direction parameter" , systemImageName: "soccerball" ) } }
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Oct ’25
Activating application from Terminal occasionally fails on macOS 26
On macOS Tahoe 26 activating GUI apps from command-line often fails. It launches the app but not brings to the foreground as expected. For example, running the following commands in Terminal is expected to launch Pages and bring it to the foreground. open /Applications/Pages.app or osascript -e `tell application "Pages" to activate` Moreover, they sometimes not return in Terminal. These commands worked as expected until macOS 15 but no more in macOS 26. The tricky part is that this failure doesn't happen 100% of the time; it occurs randomly. However, since multiple users of my app have reported the same symptoms, and I can reproduce it not only with my app but also with apps bundled to macOS, I don't believe this is an issue specific to my environment alone. I’ve already filed this issue: FB21087054 Open version: https://github.com/1024jp/AppleFeedback/issues/87 However, I’d like to know if any workaround exists or my understanding is wrong, especially for case with osascript.
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4d
AppShortcutsProvider limitedAvailability in result builder crash
My team is preparing for iOS 18, and wanted to add intents using assistant schemas that are iOS 18 and above restricted. We noticed that the result builder for AppShortcuts added support for limitedAvailabilityCondition from iOS 17.4 so we marked the whole struct as available from it. The app compiles but writing a check like below inside appShortcuts property a crash will happen in iOS 17.5 runtime. (Removing the #available) is solving this problem. if #available(iOS 18, *) { AppShortcut( intent: SearchDonut(), phrases: [ "Search for a donut in \(.applicationName)" ], shortTitle: "search", systemImageName: "magnifyingglass" ) } We tried out putting the os check above and returning shortcuts in arrays and that both compiles and runs but then AppShortcuts.strings sends warnings that the phrases are not used (This phrase is not used in any App Shortcut or as a Negative Phrase.) because the script that extracts the phrases somehow fails to perform when shortcuts are written like below: static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] { if #available(iOS 18.0, *) { return [ AppShortcut( intent: CreateDonutIntent(), phrases: [ "Create Donut in \(.applicationName)", ], shortTitle: "Create Donut", systemImageName: "pencil" ) ] } else { return [ AppShortcut( intent: CreateDonutIntent(), phrases: [ "Create Donut in \(.applicationName)", ], shortTitle: "Create Donut", systemImageName: "pencil" ) ] } } This is very problematic because we can't test out on TF with external users new intents dedicated for iOS 18. We filed a radar under FB15010828
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EntityStringQuery does not show variable menu in Shortcuts app
(Public dupe of FB16477656) The Shortcuts app allows you to parameterise the input for an action using variables or allowing "Ask every time". This option DOES NOT show when conforming my AppEntity.defaultQuery Struct to EntityStringQuery: But it DOES shows when confirming to EntityQuery: As discussed on this forum post (or FB13253161) my AppEntity.defaultQuery HAS TO confirm to EntityStringQuery to allow for searching by String from Siri Voice input. To summarise: With EntityQuery: My Intent looks like it supports variables via the Shortcuts app. But will end up in an endless loop because there is no entities(matching string: String) function. This will allow me to choose an item via the Shorcuts.app UI With EntityStringQuery: My Intent does not support variables via the Shortcuts app. I am not allows to choose an item via the Shorcuts.app UI. Even weirder, if i set up the shortcut with using a build with EntityQuery and then do another build with EntityStringQuery it works as expected. Code: /* Works with Siri to find a match, doesn't show "Ask every time" */ public struct WidgetStationQuery: EntityStringQuery { public init() { } public func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [Station] { let stations = [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] return stations.filter { $0.id.lowercased() == string.lowercased() } } public func entities(for identifiers: [Station.ID]) async throws -> [Station] { let stations = [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] return stations.filter { identifiers.contains($0.id.lowercased()) } } public func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [Station] { return [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] } public func defaultResult() async -> Station? { try? await suggestedEntities().first } } /* DOES NOT work with Siri to find a match, but Shortcuts shows "Ask every time" */ public struct WidgetBrokenStationQuery: EntityQuery { public init() { } public func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [Station] { let stations = [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] return stations.filter { $0.id.lowercased() == string.lowercased() } } public func entities(for identifiers: [Station.ID]) async throws -> [Station] { let stations = [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] return stations.filter { identifiers.contains($0.id.lowercased()) } } public func suggestedEntities() async throws -> [Station] { return [Station(id: "car", name: "car"), Station(id: "bike", name: "bike")] } public func defaultResult() async -> Station? { try? await suggestedEntities().first } }```
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396
Jun ’25
Use UnionValue For AppIntent Parameter
I'm currently trying to use the new @UnionValue macro. From what I understood, it allows multiple types for a parameter. I created the following enum: @UnionValue enum IntentDuration { case int(Int) case duration(Measurement<UnitDuration>) } Then, I tried to use it in the following AppIntent: struct MyIntent: AppIntent { static let title: LocalizedStringResource = "intent.title" static let description = IntentDescription("intent.description") static let openAppWhenRun: Bool = true @Parameter var duration: IntentDuration @Dependency private var appManager: AppManager @MainActor func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { // My action return .result() } } However, I get the following error from Xcode at the @Parameter line: 'init()' is unavailable Did I wrongly understand how this works? Is there another way to accept multiple types for a parameter? I didn't manage to find any docs on this.
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Jun ’25