Shortcuts Bridge runs an Apple Shortcut from Obsidian with your text

Name: Shortcuts Bridge
Author: theluckystrike

Run a named Apple Shortcut from a command, with your selection, line, note, title or path as its input.

MIT · no telemetry · core features free

The Run a shortcut list over the note Meeting notes, with four favourites and the input of each one. — Open larger

version: 1.0.0
released: 2026-10-11
downloads: 1
review: Passed
health: Excellent
license: MIT
listed for: Desktop, Mobile
obsidian: 1.13.4 or later

The end-to-end tests run in the desktop app with a recorder in place of the link opener, so no test started the Shortcuts app. No test ran on an iPhone or an iPad, and the output in the screenshots is a stand-in answer.

Directory facts fetched 2026-10-11 06:19 UTC from community.obsidian.md/users/theluckystrike.

About Shortcuts Bridge

You use Obsidian on an iPhone, an iPad or a Mac and want a command that sends note text to one of your shortcuts.

Shortcuts Bridge builds a shortcuts:// link from the name of a shortcut and the text that you choose, and then opens it. The text is the selection, the current line, the whole note, the title or the path. With Pro, the link also asks Shortcuts to send the output back, and the plugin writes it into the note.

The code runs a shortcut on iPhone, iPad and Mac only. On Windows, Linux and Android it sends nothing and shows a notice. The tests put a recorder in place of the link opener. No test started the Shortcuts app, and none ran on an iPhone or iPad.

The settings with four favourite shortcuts, then the Run a shortcut list. Next come the notice Inserted the output of Summarise and a note with two shortcut buttons.

Free features

Run a shortcut with your text

Run the command Run a shortcut, then pick a favourite, or type the name of a shortcut and press Enter. The input is the selection, the line, the note, the title, the path, the clipboard or none. With the favourite Summarise, a selection of Hello, world opens shortcuts://run-shortcut?name=Summarise&input=text&text=Hello%2C%20world.

Favourites as commands

In the settings, write one favourite on each line as Name | input | output | command name. Only the name is needed, and each favourite becomes a command that you can give a hotkey. A line with an unknown input or output shows as a problem with its line number, while the other lines still work.

The settings tab with the Pro section, the platform line, four favourite shortcuts, the input for other shortcuts and the longest text to send. — Open larger

A clear notice on other platforms

Apple Shortcuts exists on iPhone, iPad and Mac only. On Windows, Linux and Android a run stops before it opens a link, and a notice says why. The settings show the same message on the Platform line.

The note Meeting notes with a notice that says Apple Shortcuts does not exist on Windows. — Open larger

A limit on the text that leaves Obsidian

The setting Longest text to send takes 1,000 to 100,000 characters, and the default is 20,000. A longer text is not cut and not sent, and a notice gives both numbers. An empty note or an empty line is not sent either.

The free version runs a shortcut and passes text to it, and a favourite with an output runs without the output.

Pro features

Pro costs $5 a month or $15 one time through GitHub Sponsors. One sponsorship turns on Pro in every plugin that has it.

Output at the cursor, over the selection or at the end Pro

Add an output to a favourite, cursor, replace or append, and the plugin uses the x-callback-url form of the link. The link carries three obsidian://shortcuts-bridge addresses, and the plugin reads the output from the success one. replace writes over a selection that is still there, and append adds the text on a new line at the end.

The note Meeting notes with a stand-in summary below the first paragraph and the notice Inserted the output of Summarise. — Open larger

Output in a note property Pro

Use property:summary as the output, and the trimmed text goes into the property summary. The plugin writes to the note that you started from, by its path. The new text replaces a value that the property had.

The note Article with the property filed set to Reading list/2026 and a notice that says the output was saved. — Open larger

A default shortcut for each folder Pro

Write one rule on each line of the settings, as Folder | Name | input | output. The command Run the default shortcut of this folder uses the rule with the longest folder that holds the open note. A folder matches whole names, so Projects does not match Projects2/Plan.md, and / matches the whole vault.

The settings tab scrolled to Folder default shortcuts, with a rule for Projects and a rule for the whole vault. — Open larger

A button in the note Pro

Write a code block with the language shortcut, and put the name of the shortcut on the first line. The lines input:, output: and label: are optional, and the input is the note unless you set another. A button can't send the selection or the line, and without Pro the block shows one line of text.

The note Button in Reading view with two buttons, File this note and Remind me about this note. — Open larger

See how Pro works

Set up Shortcuts Bridge

needs

Obsidian 1.13.4 or later
An iPhone, an iPad or a Mac with the Shortcuts app and one shortcut or more.
The exact name of each shortcut, because the plugin can't list your shortcuts.

steps

Install Shortcuts Bridge from Community plugins and enable it.
Open Settings, then Shortcuts Bridge. Write one favourite on each line, for example Summarise | selection.
Type each name as the Shortcuts app shows it. The plugin can't list or check your shortcuts.
Open a note and select some text.
Run your favourite from the command palette, or run Run a shortcut and pick it.

If the app can't find a new plugin yet, try again later. Obsidian says a plugin that passes the review shows in the app within 24 hours.

Why this exists

Shortcut Launcher by MacStories did this job from January 2022, and the Obsidian plugin list on GitHub no longer holds it. Two requests on its repository to get the output of a shortcut back are open since 2022.

How to run an Apple Shortcut from Obsidian

How it compares

Shortcut Launcher: Shortcut Launcher by MacStories runs shortcuts from commands too, and its last release is from April 2024. The README of Shortcuts Bridge says it shares no code with any other plugin.
Actions URI: Actions URI works the other way, because it adds addresses that let Shortcuts call Obsidian. Shortcuts Bridge starts in Obsidian and calls Shortcuts.
Shell commands: Shell commands is desktop only in the directory, and on a Mac it can run the shortcuts command line tool. Shortcuts Bridge uses the link scheme, which its code allows on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Known limits of Shortcuts Bridge

With the output cursor, the text goes in where the cursor is when the answer arrives, because a request saves no position.
A request saves the path of the note, so the output is lost when you rename, move or delete the note before the shortcut ends.
A name that you type in the Run a shortcut list gets no output, so with Pro too it brings nothing back.
Favourites whose names have no letter from a to z and no digit get numbered command ids, so a reorder swaps their hotkeys.
The output property:summary writes one text value and replaces what the property summary held, a list included.

Questions about Shortcuts Bridge

Does Shortcuts Bridge work on iPhone and iPad?

The manifest allows mobile, and the code opens the link when Obsidian reports the iOS app or a Mac. The tests ran in the desktop app with a recorder in place of the link opener. No test started the Shortcuts app, and none ran on an iPhone or an iPad, so treat the mobile run as untested.

What happens on Windows, Linux or Android?

Nothing is sent. A run stops before it opens a link, and a notice says that Apple Shortcuts does not exist on that platform. The plugin still loads, and its settings show the same message.

What leaves Obsidian when I run a shortcut?

The link hands the Shortcuts app the name of the shortcut and the text that you chose. With a Pro output it also carries your vault name and a one-time request id, so the answer can come back. The plugin sends nothing over the network for a run, and it has no say in what the shortcut then does with the text.

Can another link write into my notes?

A callback writes only when its id matches a request that this plugin made and saved. A request works once and for 30 minutes, and an unknown, used or older id writes nothing and shows a notice. The end-to-end tests cover these cases.

How do I get Pro, and what does the check send?

Sponsor on GitHub Sponsors for $5 a month or $15 once, then select Sign in with GitHub in the settings. Pro stays on once GitHub reports $15 paid in total. The check asks GitHub about your sponsorship and sends no note text.

Network use

The plugin code contacts only github.com and api.github.com, after you select Sign in with GitHub, and sends them no vault data. A run opens a shortcuts:// link, not a network request, and that link hands the shortcut name and your text to the Shortcuts app. With a Pro output, the link also carries the vault name and a one-time request id.

Read the full network disclosure

Shortcuts Bridge 1.0.0, MIT license

Install in Obsidian

Directory page Source on GitHub