The workflows below are designed to work with Alfred v2, the latest version of a robust replacement for OS X’s Spotlight. Note that you’ll need the Alfred PowerPack to install and run workflows. For help and support, please get in touch with Daniel at or via Twitter.
Alleyoop is a workflow cribbed heavily from David Ferguson’s original v1 Alfred Extension updater that downloads and installs updates for properly-configured Alfred workflows. It’s easy for developers to implement and simple for users to use. Just install Alleyoop and a compatible workflow and enter the query oop to check for available updates. If updates are available, the new version and a brief description of what’s changed will be shown in Alfred’s feedback. Select a workflow and hit Return to download it. You can also enter oop? to see which of your installed workflows could be updated if there were updates available—that is, which are Alleyoop compatible.
Some Compatible Workflows: Everything on this page; “Airplane Mode,” “Browse Alfred Extensions,” “Date/Time Format Conversion,” “EverNote,” “Mount Network Shares,” “MPDControl,” “Process Management,” “(QuickGit)[http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/2453-quickgit-search-for-and-execute-commands-on-your-git-repos/],” “RealBasic Wiki Search,” “Screen Sharing,” “Toggle Caffeine,” “TuneFind,” “VPN Connect,” “WWDC Checker.”
Using Alfred’s new feedback system, this workflow searches the Kindle bookstore. Simply enter kindle followed by a query (or, for the UK version, kuk followed by a query) and wait for results to be returned. Select an item from the list and press “Return” to be taken to its purchase page.
This workflow, based on “Sending a Quick TXT Note to DEVONthink”, is designed to allow you to quickly save notes and thoughts to DEVON Technologies’ DEVONthink. Invoked with dtn, it allows you to navigate through your databases and groups, then create a simple plaintext note in any one of them.
Just use the feedback to navigate to one of your DEVONthink groups and start typing your note. Anything that’s typed before a colon will be recognized as the note’s title; if no title is given, a timestamp will be assigned.
Downer is a workflow for interacting with your Downloads folder. Currently, it lists recent downloads, allowing you to open them (press Return), delete them (press Ctrl+Return), set their OpenMeta tags (press ⌥+Return and enter a list separated by spaces), and set their Finder label colors (press ⌘+Return).
More or less just what it says on the can, Yourls Stats downloads and displays clickthrough data for your fifteen most recent Yourls shortlinks. To get started, copy your secret signature token from the “Tools” page of your Yourls site. Then, invoke the workflow by entering ystat and configure it by entering a query like this: url=myshorturl.ly signature=0123456789. You’ll note that the workflow will fill in a guess as to where your Yourls API page is, and that the feedback item won’t be valid till you’ve entered both values. Once you have, press Return. Your secret token will be stored securely in the Keychain, and Alfred will pop back up with your custom keyword preentered and start downloading your Yourls data. Enter a query to search through the links’ titles and shortcuts, and press Return to copy a short URL to the Clipboard.
Using the scp command, this workflow copies files over SSH to remote locations. Enter the query scp and choose from among the options presented:
A quick workflow to search and add tasks in Cultured Code’s Things app. Enter the query things to display a list of all areas, projects, and tasks. Keep typing to search through your tasks while preparing to input a new one using the syntax #tag1 #tag2 name [project/area] ::note >duedate. To view a task, select it from Alfred’s feedback list and press return. To add a new task, select “Add Task,” type your information, and press return.
Create a file in the frontmost Finder window. Enter touch followed by a filename to create a file. You can hold down “Command” while pressing “Return” to open the file after it’s created. This workflow also uses Alfred’s new feedback system: by selecting the options in the results list, you can store commonly-created filenames for faster access or store paths where you often create files, which can then be accessed by entering touch, a filename, and the keyword at. Hold down “Control” while pressing “Return” to delete files in the frontmost Finder window, or to forget saved paths and filenames.
A workflow for writing plain text to a scratch file. Invoke it by entering the keyword scratch. To add a scratch file, select “Add Scratch File” and enter a filename and a path where it should be saved. The next time you enter scratch, it will appear in the results list; select it, press return, and enter any text, and it’ll be written to the file you created. You can also remove a scratch file from the list and from your hard drive by selecting “Remove Scratch File” and choosing a file.
Like the “Scratch Files” workflow, this one stores simple strings. However, rather than requiring that you create a separate file, it stores them in its own database. To save a thought, enter think followed by some text. Entering think will also display a list of previous thoughts. Select one and press ⌘+Return to forget it.
This workflow searches the iTunes Music Store with keyword its, the iTunes Store’s iThing apps with iph, and the Mac App Store with keyword app, displaying the results in feedback to Alfred.
“Open in Sublime” enables five methods to open files in Sublime Text 3 or 2. It can be used as an Alfred file action on any file that you can search for with Alfred; it can be used as a file filter, carrying out a file search on its own; it can be used as a keyword without an argument to open the Finder selection or the folder of the frontmost Finder window; it can be used with a hotkey (try ⌘+⌥+↓) to open the selected file or files; or it can open a recent project from a list in Alfred’s feedback system. Any of the above methods will result in the file or files being opened in a new Sublime Text window. The workflow first checks to see if ST3 is installed; if it doesn’t find anything, it uses ST2.
The pertinent keywords are subl, which presents you with the option of opening the Finder selection or a project, and sub*, which carries out the file-filter search for all files.
Enter $ followed by a command—without a space—to run it without opening a Terminal window.
This workflow searches the Kobo bookstore. Enter kobo followed by a query, then wait for search results to be returned.
alp is not a workflow, but a Python module to help others build workflows. It undergirds most of the development on this page, by simplifying and automating a number of useful workflow-related tasks. Features include a simple class to generate feedback for Alfred, embedded versions of the requests and requests_cache modules, classes providing access to the Mac OS X Keychain and Notification Center, and more.
Developing these workflows and alp has been a labor of love. But you can always say thank-you by buying me a beer. Click the link below to throw some dollars my way. Donate now and receive a personal message of affection and gratitude from yours truly.