Pass input files and capture output from a macOS Shortcuts automation using the shortcuts command-line tool's -i/-o flags
domain: desktop-automation · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Run a shortcut by name from Terminal or a script with `shortcuts run "Combine Images"` (quote or escape names containing spaces)
Feed files into the shortcut with `-i`/`--input-path`, which accepts space-delimited absolute or relative paths or wildcards, e.g. `shortcuts run "Combine Images" -i ~/Desktop/*.jpg`
Capture the shortcut's result to disk with `-o`/`--output-path`, e.g. `shortcuts run "Combine Images" -i ~/Desktop/*.jpg -o ~/Desktop/combined.png`
Control the output's file type explicitly with `--output-type` (a Uniform Type Identifier) when piping output onward instead of writing to a named file
Check the process exit code — `shortcuts` exits `0` on success and `1` on error — to drive branching logic in wrapper scripts
Discover and preview automations before scripting them with `shortcuts list` (optionally `-f <folder>` or `--folders`) and `shortcuts view "Name"`, which opens the shortcut in the editor
Known gotchas
`shortcuts list` only shows shortcuts in custom folders, not system-generated groupings like "Quick Actions" — an automation not appearing in `list` doesn't mean it doesn't exist
There is no officially web-hosted man page for the CLI; confirm edge-case flag behavior with `man shortcuts` locally rather than relying solely on third-party write-ups
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