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https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfy

Create Alfred workflows with ease
https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfy

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Create Alfred workflows with ease

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README 

        
# ![Alfy](media/header.svg)



> Create [Alfred workflows](https://www.alfredapp.com/workflows/) with ease



## Highlights



- Easy input↔output.

- Config and [cache](#caching) handling built-in.

- Fetching remote files with optional caching.

- Publish your workflow to npm.

- Automatic [update notifications](#update-notifications).

- Easily [testable workflows](#testing).

- [Finds the `node` binary.](run-node.sh)

- Support for top-level `await`.

- Presents uncaught exceptions and unhandled Promise rejections to the user.\

  *No need to manually `.catch()` top-level promises.*



## Prerequisites



You need [Node.js 18+](https://nodejs.org) and [Alfred 4 or later](https://www.alfredapp.com) with the paid [Powerpack](https://www.alfredapp.com/powerpack/) upgrade.



## Install



```sh

npm install alfy

```



## Usage



**IMPORTANT:** Your script will be run as [ESM](https://nodejs.org/api/esm.html).



1. Create a new blank Alfred workflow.



2. Add a `Script Filter` (right-click the canvas → `Inputs` → `Script Filter`), set `Language` to `/bin/bash`, and add the following script:



```

./node_modules/.bin/run-node index.js "$1"

```



*We can't call `node` directly as GUI apps on macOS doesn't inherit the $PATH.*



> Tip: You can use [generator-alfred](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/generator-alfred) to scaffold out an `alfy` based workflow. If so, you can skip the rest of the steps, go straight to the `index.js` and do your thing.



3. Set the `Keyword` by which you want to invoke your workflow.



4. Go to your new workflow directory (right-click on the workflow in the sidebar → `Open in Finder`).



5. Initialize a repo with `npm init`.



6. Add `"type": "module"` to package.json.



7. Install Alfy with `npm install alfy`.



8. In the workflow directory, create a `index.js` file, import `alfy`, and do your thing.



## Example



Here we fetch some JSON from a placeholder API and present matching items to the user:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const data = await alfy.fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts');



const items = alfy

	.inputMatches(data, 'title')

	.map(element => ({

		title: element.title,

		subtitle: element.body,

		arg: element.id

	}));



alfy.output(items);

```






###### More



Some example usage in the wild: [`alfred-npms`](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-npms), [`alfred-emoj`](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-emoj), [`alfred-ng`](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-ng).



## Update notifications



Alfy uses [alfred-notifier](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-notifier) in the background to show a notification when an update for your workflow is available.






## Caching



Alfy offers the possibility of caching data, either with the [fetch](#fetchurl-options) or directly through the [cache](#cache) object.



An important thing to note is that the cached data gets invalidated automatically when you update your workflow. This offers the flexibility for developers to change the structure of the cached data between workflows without having to worry about invalid older data.



## Publish to npm



By adding `alfy-init` as `postinstall` and `alfy-cleanup` as `preuninstall` script, you can publish your package to [npm](https://npmjs.org) instead of to [Packal](http://www.packal.org). This way, your packages are only one simple `npm install` command away.



```json

{

	"name": "alfred-unicorn",

	"version": "1.0.0",

	"description": "My awesome unicorn workflow",

	"author": {

		"name": "Sindre Sorhus",

		"email": "[email protected]",

		"url": "sindresorhus.com"

	},

	"scripts": {

		"postinstall": "alfy-init",

		"preuninstall": "alfy-cleanup"

	},

	"dependencies": {

		"alfy": "*"

	}

}

```



> Tip: Prefix your workflow with `alfred-` to make them easy searchable through npm.



You can remove [these](https://github.com/samverschueren/alfred-link#infoplist) properties from your `info.plist` file as they are being added automatically at install time.



After publishing your workflow to npm, your users can easily install or update the workflow.



```sh

npm install --global alfred-unicorn

```



> Tip: instead of manually updating every workflow yourself, use the [alfred-updater](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-updater) workflow to do that for you.



## Testing



Workflows can easily be tested with [alfy-test](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfy-test). Here is a small example.



```js

import test from 'ava';

import alfyTest from 'alfy-test';



test('main', async t => {

	const alfy = alfyTest();



	const result = await alfy('workflow input');



	t.deepEqual(result, [

		{

			title: 'foo',

			subtitle: 'bar'

		}

	]);

});

```



## Debugging



When developing your workflow it can be useful to be able to debug it when something is not working. This is when the [workflow debugger](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/advanced/debugger/) comes in handy. You can find it in your workflow view in Alfred. Press the insect icon to open it. It will show you the plain text output of `alfy.output()` and anything you log with `alfy.log()`:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const unicorn = getUnicorn();

alfy.log(unicorn);

```



## Environment variables



Alfred lets users set [environment variables for a workflow](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/advanced/variables/) which can then be used by that workflow. This can be useful if you, for example, need the user to specify an API token for a service. You can access the workflow environment variables from [`process.env`](https://nodejs.org/api/process.html#process_process_env). For example `process.env.apiToken`.



## API



### alfy



#### input



Type: `string`



Input from Alfred. What the user wrote in the input box.



#### output(list, options?)



Return output to Alfred.



##### list



Type: `object[]`



List of `object` with any of the [supported properties](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/inputs/script-filter/json/).



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.output([

	{

		title: 'Unicorn'

	},

	{

		title: 'Rainbow'

	}

]);

```



##### options



Type: `object`



###### rerunInterval



Type: `number` *(seconds)*\

Values: `0.1...5.0`



A script can be set to re-run automatically after some interval. The script will only be re-run if the script filter is still active and the user hasn't changed the state of the filter by typing and triggering a re-run. [More info.](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/inputs/script-filter/json/)



For example, it could be used to update the progress of a particular task:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.output(

	[

		{

			title: 'Downloading Unicorns…',

			subtitle: `${progress}%`,

		}

	],

	{

		// Re-run and update progress every 3 seconds.

		rerunInterval: 3

	}

);

```






#### log(value)



Log `value` to the [Alfred workflow debugger](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/advanced/debugger/).



#### matches(input, list, item?)



Returns an `string[]` of items in `list` that case-insensitively contains `input`.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.matches('Corn', ['foo', 'unicorn']);

//=> ['unicorn']

```



##### input



Type: `string`



Text to match against the `list` items.



##### list



Type: `string[]`



List to be matched against.



##### item



Type: `string | Function`



By default, it will match against the `list` items.



Specify a string to match against an object property:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const list = [

	{

		title: 'foo'

	},

	{

		title: 'unicorn'

	}

];



alfy.matches('Unicorn', list, 'title');

//=> [{title: 'unicorn'}]

```



Or [nested property](https://github.com/sindresorhus/dot-prop):



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const list = [

	{

		name: {

			first: 'John',

			last: 'Doe'

		}

	},

	{

		name: {

			first: 'Sindre',

			last: 'Sorhus'

		}

	}

];



alfy.matches('sindre', list, 'name.first');

//=> [{name: {first: 'Sindre', last: 'Sorhus'}}]

```



Specify a function to handle the matching yourself. The function receives the list item and input, both lowercased, as arguments, and is expected to return a boolean of whether it matches:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const list = ['foo', 'unicorn'];



// Here we do an exact match.

// `Foo` matches the item since it's lowercased for you.

alfy.matches('Foo', list, (item, input) => item === input);

//=> ['foo']

```



#### inputMatches(list, item?)



Same as `matches()`, but with `alfy.input` as `input`.



If you want to match against multiple items, you must define your own matching function ([as shown here](#item)). Let’s extend the [example from the beginning](#example) to search for a keyword that appears either within the `title` or `body` property or both.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



const data = await alfy.fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts');



const items = alfy

	.inputMatches(

		data,

		(item, input) =>

			item.title?.toLowerCase().includes(input) ||

			item.body?.toLowerCase().includes(input)

	)

	.map((element) => ({

		title: element.title,

		subtitle: element.body,

		arg: element.id,

	}));



alfy.output(items);

```



#### error(error)



Display an error or error message in Alfred.



**Note:** You don't need to `.catch()` top-level promises. Alfy handles that for you.



##### error



Type: `Error | string`



Error or error message to be displayed.






#### fetch(url, options?)



Returns a `Promise` that returns the body of the response.



##### url



Type: `string`



URL to fetch.



##### options



Type: `object`



Any of the [`got` options](https://github.com/sindresorhus/got/tree/v12.0.3#api) and the below options.



###### json



Type: `boolean`\

Default: `true`



Parse response body with `JSON.parse` and set `accept` header to `application/json`.



###### maxAge



Type: `number`



Number of milliseconds this request should be cached.



###### resolveBodyOnly



Type: `boolean`\

Default: `true`



Whether to resolve with only body or a full response.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



await alfy.fetch('https://api.foo.com');

//=> {foo: 'bar'}



await alfy.fetch('https://api.foo.com', {

	resolveBodyOnly: false 

});

/*

{

	body: {

		foo: 'bar'

	},

	headers: {

		'content-type': 'application/json'

	}

}

*/

```



###### transform



Type: `Function`



Transform the response body before it gets cached.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



await alfy.fetch('https://api.foo.com', {

	transform: body => {

		body.foo = 'bar';

		return body;

	}

})

```



Transform the response.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



await alfy.fetch('https://api.foo.com', {

	resolveBodyOnly: false,

	transform: response => {

		response.body.foo = 'bar';

		return response;

	}

})

```



You can also return a Promise.



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';

import xml2js from 'xml2js';

import pify from 'pify';



const parseString = pify(xml2js.parseString);



await alfy.fetch('https://api.foo.com', {

	transform: body => parseString(body)

})

```



#### config



Type: `object`



Persist config data.



Exports a [`conf` instance](https://github.com/sindresorhus/conf#instance) with the correct config path set.



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.config.set('unicorn', '🦄');



alfy.config.get('unicorn');

//=> '🦄'

```



#### userConfig



Type: `Map`



Exports a [Map](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Map) with the user workflow configuration. A workflow configuration allows your users to provide configuration information for the workflow. For instance, if you are developing a GitHub workflow, you could let your users provide their own API tokens.



See [`alfred-config`](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-config#workflow-configuration) for more details.



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.userConfig.get('apiKey');

//=> '16811cad1b8547478b3e53eae2e0f083'

```



#### cache



Type: `object`



Persist cache data.



Exports a modified [`conf` instance](https://github.com/sindresorhus/conf#instance) with the correct cache path set.



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



alfy.cache.set('unicorn', '🦄');



alfy.cache.get('unicorn');

//=> '🦄'

```



##### maxAge



The `set` method of this instance accepts an optional third argument where you can provide a `maxAge` option. `maxAge` is

the number of milliseconds the value is valid in the cache.



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';

import delay from 'delay';



alfy.cache.set('foo', 'bar', {maxAge: 5000});



alfy.cache.get('foo');

//=> 'bar'



// Wait 5 seconds

await delay(5000);



alfy.cache.get('foo');

//=> undefined

```



#### debug



Type: `boolean`



Whether the user currently has the [workflow debugger](https://www.alfredapp.com/help/workflows/advanced/debugger/) open.



#### icon



Type: `object`\

Keys: `'info' | 'warning' | 'error' | 'alert' | 'like' | 'delete'`



Get various default system icons.



The most useful ones are included as keys. The rest you can get with `icon.get()`. Go to `/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources` in Finder to see them all.



Example:



```js

import alfy from 'alfy';



console.log(alfy.icon.error);

//=> '/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/AlertStopIcon.icns'



console.log(alfy.icon.get('Clock'));

//=> '/System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/Clock.icns'

```



#### meta



Type: `object`



Example:



```js

{

	name: 'Emoj',

	version: '0.2.5',

	uid: 'user.workflow.B0AC54EC-601C-479A-9428-01F9FD732959',

	bundleId: 'com.sindresorhus.emoj'

}

```



#### alfred



Type: `object`



Alfred metadata.



##### version



Example: `'3.0.2'`



Find out which version the user is currently running. This may be useful if your workflow depends on a particular Alfred version's features.



##### theme



Example: `'alfred.theme.yosemite'`



Current theme used.



##### themeBackground



Example: `'rgba(255,255,255,0.98)'`



If you're creating icons on the fly, this allows you to find out the color of the theme background.



##### themeSelectionBackground



Example: `'rgba(255,255,255,0.98)'`



The color of the selected result.



##### themeSubtext



Example: `3`



Find out what subtext mode the user has selected in the Appearance preferences.



> Usability note: This is available so developers can tweak the result text based on the user's selected mode, but a workflow's result text should not be bloated unnecessarily based on this, as the main reason users generally hide the subtext is to make Alfred look cleaner.



##### data



Example: `'/Users/sindresorhus/Library/Application Support/Alfred/Workflow Data/com.sindresorhus.npms'`



Recommended location for non-volatile data. Just use `alfy.data` which uses this path.



##### cache



Example: `'/Users/sindresorhus/Library/Caches/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred/Workflow Data/com.sindresorhus.npms'`



Recommended location for volatile data. Just use `alfy.cache` which uses this path.



##### preferences



Example: `'/Users/sindresorhus/Dropbox/Alfred/Alfred.alfredpreferences'`



This is the location of the `Alfred.alfredpreferences`. If a user has synced their settings, this will allow you to find out where their settings are regardless of sync state.



##### preferencesLocalHash



Example: `'adbd4f66bc3ae8493832af61a41ee609b20d8705'`



Non-synced local preferences are stored within `Alfred.alfredpreferences` under `…/preferences/local/${preferencesLocalHash}/`.



## Users



*Alfred workflows using Alfy*



- [alfred-emoj](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-emoj) - Find relevant emoji from text

- [alfred-npms](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-npms) - Search for npm packages with npms.io

- [alfred-dark-mode](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-dark-mode) - Toggle the system dark mode

- [alfred-xcode](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-xcode) - Open Xcode projects and workspaces

- [alfred-lock](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-lock) - Lock your Mac

- [alfred-fkill](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-fkill) - Fabulously search and kill processes

- [alfred-ng](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-ng) - Search through the Angular documentation on angular.io

- [alfred-ionic](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-ionic) - Search through the Ionic documentation

- [alfred-react-native](https://github.com/ekonstantinidis/alfred-react-native) - Access the React Native documentation

- [alfred-hl](https://github.com/importre/alfred-hl) - Syntax highlight code in the clipboard

- [alfred-workflow-docs-elastic](https://github.com/spinscale/alfred-workflow-elastic-docs) - Search the Elastic.co documentation

- [alfredinary](https://github.com/urre/alfredinary) - Capture screenshots and upload to Cloudinary

- [alfred-keycode](https://github.com/radibit/alfred-keycode) - Get JavaScript keycodes

- [alfred-vue](https://github.com/radibit/alfred-vue) - Search the Vue.js API docs

- [alfred-meteor-docs](https://github.com/wolasss/alfred-meteor-docs) - Search the Meteor docs

- [alfred-meteor-packages](https://github.com/sasikanth513/alfred-meteor-packages) - Meteor package search

- [alfred-climbing-grades-converter](https://github.com/wolasss/alfred-climbing-grades-converter) - Convert between climbing grading systems

- [alfred-hotel](https://github.com/exah/alfred-hotel) - Quickly start, stop and open [Hotel](https://github.com/typicode/hotel) apps

- [alfred-coolors](https://github.com/radibit/alfred-coolors) - Find relevant color names

- [alfred-postico-favorites-workflow](https://github.com/payers1/alfred-postico-favorites-workflow) - Open postico favorites

- [alfred-messages](https://github.com/briangonzalez/alfred-messages) - Message your contacts through iMessage

- [alfred-bitbucket](https://github.com/nicklayb/alfred-bitbucket) - List you and your teams public and private Bitbucket repositories

- [alfred-asana](https://github.com/adriantoine/alfred-asana) - Search your Asana tasks

- [alfred-cacher](https://github.com/CacherApp/alfred-cacher) - Find a code snippet from [Cacher](https://www.cacher.io) and copy it to the clipboard

- [alfred-loremipsum](https://github.com/AntonNiklasson/alfred-loremipsum) - Generate placeholder text

- [alfred-packagist](https://github.com/vinkla/alfred-packagist) - Search for PHP packages with Packagist

- [alfred-vpn](https://github.com/stve/alfred-vpn) - Connect/disconnect from VPNs

- [alfred-yandex-translate](https://github.com/mkalygin/alfred-yandex-translate) - Translate words and text with Yandex Translate

- [alfred-now](https://github.com/lucaperret/alfred-now) - Use [Now](https://zeit.co/now) commands within Alfred to access deployments and aliases

- [alfred-chuck-norris-jokes](https://github.com/jeppestaerk/alfred-chuck-norris-jokes) - Get Chuck Norris jokes

- [alfred-show-network-info](https://github.com/jeppestaerk/alfred-show-network-info) - See network info and discover local devices

- [alfred-currency-conversion](https://github.com/jeppestaerk/alfred-currency-conversion) - See foreign exchange rates and currency conversion

- [alfred-polyglot](https://github.com/nikersify/alfred-polyglot) - Translate text with Google Translate

- [alfred-stock-price](https://github.com/Wei-Xia/alfred-stock-price-workflow) - Show real time stock price in US market

- [alfred-jira](https://github.com/colinf/alfred-jira) - Convert clipboard text between Markdown and Jira markup

- [alfred-network-location-switch](https://github.com/abdul/alfred-network-location-switch) - Switch macOS network location

- [alfred-cool](https://github.com/nguyenvanduocit/alfred-cool) - Find cool words

- [alfred-google-books](https://github.com/Dameck/alfred-google-books) - Search for Google Books

- [alfred-ip](https://github.com/calpa/alfy-ip) - Find your public IP

- [alfred-figma](https://github.com/jonrohan/alfred-figma) – Quick links and search Figma teams, projects and files

- [alfred-flutter-docs](https://github.com/Sh1d0w/alfred-flutter-docs) – Quickly search and preview Flutter docs

- [alfred-title](https://github.com/Kikobeats/alfred-title) – Capitalize your titles

- [alfred-trello](https://github.com/mblode/alfred-trello) - Search your boards, quickly add cards, and view list of cards for Trello

- [alfred-npm-versions](https://github.com/mrmartineau/alfred-npm-versions) - Lookup the latest 15 versions for an npm package

- [alfred-github-trending](https://github.com/mikqi/alfred-github-trending) - Search trending repositories on GitHub

- [alfred-elm](https://github.com/nicklayb/alfred-elm) - Browse Elm packages documentation

- [alfred-imagemin](https://github.com/kawamataryo/alfred-imagemin) - Minify images with Imagemin

- [alfred-evernote-workflow](https://github.com/jopemachine/alfred-evernote-workflow) - Search Evernote with keywords and tags

- [alfred-deno-doc](https://github.com/jopemachine/alfred-deno-doc) - Access the Deno documentation

- [alfred-fly](https://github.com/apollorion/fly) - Search Google Chrome bookmarks

- [alfred-simple-email-fetcher](https://github.com/jopemachine/alfred-simple-email-fetcher) - Show unseen emails from multiple accounts using IMAP

- [alfred-chrome-workflow](https://github.com/jopemachine/alfred-chrome-workflow) - Search Chrome's bookmarks, history and download logs

- [alfred-code](https://github.com/shaodahong/alfred-code) - Quickly open a file in Visual Studio Code

- [alfred-amphetamine](https://github.com/demartini/alfred-amphetamine) - Start and end sessions quickly in the Amphetamine app

- [alfred-ids](https://github.com/rizowski/alfred-ids) - Generate various types of IDs.

- [alfred-awesome-stars](https://github.com/jopemachine/alfred-awesome-stars) - Search starred GitHub repos through awesome-stars.

- [alfred-pwgen](https://github.com/olssonm/alfred-password-generator) - Generate random and secure passwords.

- [alfred-bear](https://github.com/jmeischner/alfred-bear) - Use dynamic templates with the Bear app.

- [alfred-color-converter](https://github.com/toFrankie/alfred-color-converter) - Convert colors between RGB and Hex.



## Related



- [alfred-simple](https://github.com/sindresorhus/alfred-simple) - Simple theme for Alfred *(Used in the screenshots)*

- [alfred-updater](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-updater) - Workflow updater

- [alfred-notifier](https://github.com/SamVerschueren/alfred-notifier) - Update notifications for your workflow

- [generator-alfred](https://github.com/samverschueren/generator-alfred) - Scaffold out an Alfred workflow



## Maintainers



- [Sindre Sorhus](https://github.com/sindresorhus)

- [Sam Verschueren](https://github.com/SamVerschueren)

- [@LitoMore](https://github.com/LitoMore)