Shortcuts in macOS Monterey
Shortcuts allow you to create customizable actions for Contacts Journal (like adding a Log or a Todo), and you can run these actions from the Shortcuts app, from the Services menu (available from the right-click menu), or invoke them from Siri's voice interface.
- Shortcuts on the Mac can work like the Share menu works on iOS, so you can select text from an email or from a website, right-click and select the shortcut you want from the Services menu
- Shortcuts can be triggered by voice, so you can say "Hey Siri, <custom phrase>" to start adding a Log or a ToDo
- Shortcuts are 'interactive', so you can complete the task of adding a Log or ToDo by just talking to Siri, without typing anything, and without opening the Contacts Journal app!
- Shortcuts are customizable, so you can configure their default values. For e.g. you want to always add a Log to the same contact, title or location)
- You can create multiple Shortcuts from the same base shortcut. For e.g. you can have different shortcuts for "Add a Log for John" and "Add a Log for Anna".
- The shortcuts are also available in the Apple Shortcuts app, and support input/output parameters, so they can integrate with other apps in the Shortcuts app.
- You can also have the shortcuts available to run from the menu bar, so it's even easier to access.
Getting Started
Here is a video with detailed instructions on how to add a shortcut using the Shortcuts app which takes in text input, and saves that text as a Log against a contact that you specify:
Shortcuts List
- Add Log: create a new Log, with a given contact name. You can also specify the title, log note, and location.
- Add ToDo: create a new ToDo, with a given contact name and due date. For 'due date', you can use natural language like "Tomorrow at 5pm", or give it an explicit date and time. You can also specify the title, note, and location.
- Get Logs: shows a list of Logs, for a contact (or for all contacts). You can limit the results to see only "last 7 days", or "last 30 days". This is a great option to access via Siri, to review a contact's Logs without having to open the app!
- Get ToDos: shows a list of ToDos, for a contact (or for all contacts). You can limit the results to see only "due today", "due next 7 days", "due next month", or "overdue". This is a great option to access via Siri, especially if you want to quickly see all ToDos for today.
- Add Contact: add a new contact into CJournal, with a given name and company name. You can also optionally add a phone number, emails address, and/or home address, and also specify if the contact is Private or not. You can also add text for the contact's notes field.
- Get Contacts: search for contacts using the contact name. You can also search by phone number, email address, company name, or address fields. This shortcut returns a list of contacts, with their contact information, which you can use to either link to the other CJournal shortcuts, or with other shortcuts from other apps.