Automating Mac Apps

spillwavesolutions/automating-mac-apps-plugin

This is your foundation for controlling Mac apps through Apple Events, whether you're using AppleScript for quick discovery, JXA for data handling, or the modern PyXA Python library. The skill walks you through the full workflow from opening an app's dictionary in Script Editor to hardening production automation with error handling and permission checks. It includes warm-up scripts that surface macOS security prompts before you start automating. The honest truth is that JXA hasn't been updated since 2016, so the guide steers you toward PyXA for new work while keeping AppleScript around for prototyping and exploring what's possible in each app's dictionary.

skills.sh installs: 138
GitHub stars: 49
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add spillwavesolutions/automating-mac-apps-plugin --skill automating-mac-apps --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Automating macOS Apps (Apple Events, AppleScript, JXA)

Technology Status

JXA and AppleScript are legacy (last major updates: 2015-2016). Modern alternatives:

PyXA: Active Python automation (see installation below)
Shortcuts App: Visual workflow builder
Swift/Objective-C: Production-ready automation

macOS Sequoia 15 Notes

Test scripts on target macOS due to:

Stricter TCC permissions
Enhanced Apple Events security
Sandbox improvements

Core framing (use this mental model)

Apple Events: The underlying inter-process communication (IPC) transport for macOS automation.
AppleScript: The original DSL (Domain-Specific Language) for Apple Events: best for discovery, dictionaries, and quick prototypes.
JXA (JavaScript for Automation): A JavaScript binding to the Apple Events layer: best for data handling, JSON, and maintainable logic.
ObjC Bridge: JavaScript access to Objective-C frameworks (Foundation, AppKit) for advanced macOS capabilities beyond app dictionaries.

SKILL.md on GitHub