Automation in OmniFocus 2.14 (released 2016-04-26)

[Model6]

That, or Drafts uses a “key” parameter that has to be included in order to greenlight the bypass.

&autoadd=true&key=ABC123

Would love to see this added. Sample drafts action to turn a shopping list into multiple Omnifocus tasks for those interested:

omnifocus://x-callback-url/add?name=[[title]]&parallel=true&flag=false&project=Shopping&context=errands&defer=saturday%209am&due=sunday%204pm&x-success={{drafts4://x-callback-url/runAction?text=[[line|2…]]&allowEmpty=NO&action=Shopping%20List}}&x-cancel={{drafts4://}}

Would be nice to add an auto complete flag to allow this to be 100% automated with drafts.

[sebnoumea]

I confirm that it works with top level project but not when the project is nested in one or more folders.

Create one folder named Test then inside a project named Test and run the following :
omnifocus://x-callback-url/add?name=Test%20action&parallel=true&project=Test%20:%20Test

The project won’t be set.

[Aeppli]

Have to tried omitting the path name and just calling the project itself?

&project=ProjectName instead of &project=FolderName:ProjectName

[Model6]

I can assign contexts by using the Editorial workflow. However, if I copy / paste the same taskpaper code from Editorial (or Drafts) into Omnifocus directly, my contexts will not be assigned (they vanish). Is it me or is @context(myassignedcontext) disappearing when doing a copy / paste of taskpaper text into Omnifocus?

[sebnoumea]

Have to tried omitting the path name and just calling the project itself

It kinda works. But it has its limitations :

• if you have two projects with the same name under different folders, which one will be set ?
• when you copy an action from an existing project and analyze the url generated, you have something like this :
  &project=folder%20:%20projectName

What is generated is what we should be able to do : specify the full path of the project in my opinion.

[kcase]

FYI, I’ve posted implementation details for the URL Scheme and TaskPaper format over here:

Implementation Details for OmniFocus 2.14 Automation

Automation in OmniFocus 2.14 OmniFocus 2.14 improves automation by adding support for two-way communication with other iOS apps. In iOS, the primary way that apps talk to each other is through URLs. These are much like the URLs you enter into a web browser (in fact, you can enter these exact URLs into a web browser if you wish) and provide a mechanism for an app to transmit information to another app. OmniFocus included support for automation through URLs on the day the App Store first laun…

Questions and feedback welcome!

[kcase]

What is generated is what we should be able to do : specify the full path of the project in my opinion.

Being able to specify the full path was certainly the intent! We’ll try to get this fixed soon. (If not for 2.14, then for the inevitable 2.14.1.)

[Teiki]

found my mistake. only works with toplevel contexts

[Humsweet]

I have 2 questions here:

1. Why the duration and repeat parameters are not supported?
2. What’s the usage of parallel parameters in this URL:

omnifocus://x-callback-url/add?name=some%20name&note=some%20note&parallel=true

I believe that parallel is just one type of project. Since the URL still couldn’t create a new project that doesn’t exist in OF, set parallel true or false in the URL seems doesn’t matter at all.

[sebnoumea]

found my mistake. only works with toplevel contexts

As for projects, I hope this will be fixed so we can specify the full path for contexts.

[sebnoumea]

I believe that parallel is just one type of project

It can be used also for group action.

[bryan]

After running the “Follow Up” workflow from the Share screen, OF it no longer reverts me to the Inbox, but when I click on the original “NewAction” task for editing, it reverts me back to the “NewProject” screen. Strangely, I’m also unable to do a “Search” after running the workflow.

It seems as though the bug above has been fixed, although I’m still having issues creating a new action from the “Add While Busy” workflow. Worthy of mention – I appended a “Copy URL to clipboard” step to the end of the workflow, and the URL works fine when running from Safari but not when being passed back from Workflow to OF.

[kcase]

Why the duration and repeat parameters are not supported?

You can specify both the estimated duration (using estimate) and the repeat (using repeat-method and repeat-rule).

For more detail, please see the implementation details post:

Implementation Details for OmniFocus 2.14 Automation

Automation in OmniFocus 2.14 OmniFocus 2.14 improves automation by adding support for two-way communication with other iOS apps. In iOS, the primary way that apps talk to each other is through URLs. These are much like the URLs you enter into a web browser (in fact, you can enter these exact URLs into a web browser if you wish) and provide a mechanism for an app to transmit information to another app. OmniFocus included support for automation through URLs on the day the App Store first laun…

What’s the usage of parallel parameters in this URL:

The parallel and autocomplete settings have no effect when a task is first created. But if you ever break this task down into subtasks, these settings will become active.

It seems as though the bug above has been fixed, although I’m still having issues creating a new action from the “Add While Busy” workflow. Worthy of mention – I appended a “Copy URL to clipboard” step to the end of the workflow, and the URL works fine when running from Safari but not when being passed back from Workflow to OF.

If you share an updated copy of the workflow you’re using, I’d be happy to investigate!

[bryan]

If you share an updated copy of the workflow you’re using, I’d be happy to investigate!

Here is the workflow: https://workflow.is/workflows/ff246e32c85b452d85e7b259c02d6e3f

On second glance, it actually looks like the two bugs I mentioned previously are still an issue:

1. After running the workflow, OF doesn’t allow editing of any actions. It instead reverts back to the project view of the action selected for editing.
2. Also, when going to “Search” after the workflow, the magnifying glass icon in the search bar moves to the middle of the search input and doesn’t allow any typing.

These two bugs are in addition to the URL not launching correctly from the Workflow app to OF (although it works from Safari to OF).

[kcase]

On second glance, it actually looks like the two bugs I mentioned previously are still an issue:

Hmm, that workflow worked just fine for me just now. But maybe it’s a device-specific issue? I’m using an iPad, what device are you using?

Oh, and I guess I’m also using a test build of Workflow. Ari and I worked on solving some issues and it’s possible that you’re running into one of the things he fixed in these builds.

[bryan]

Hmm, that workflow worked just fine for me just now. But maybe it’s a device-specific issue? I’m using an iPad, what device are you using?

I’m using an iPhone with iOS 9.3.1.

[frevo]

Just because it has not been mentioned yet: if you use Drafts with OmniFocus and also have TextExpander installed, you can prepare project templates with fill-in snipptes. One made-up example:

- %filltext:name=Workgroup%: Introduce %filltext:name=App% @parallel(false) @autodone(true)
    - Install %filltext:name=App% @context(%filltext:name=Workgroup%)
    - Received questions about %filltext:name=App%? @context(Waiting) @defer(next Friday)
    - Prepare FAQ for %filltext:name=App% @context(Office)

You have to enter Workgroup and App only once, Textexpander will then paste the complete project into Drafts. In Drafts, you just have to create the following URL action to send it to OmniFocus:

omnifocus://x-callback-url/paste?target=projects&content=[[draft]]

You can of course tweak the URL to your liking.

[Jono]

Just because it has not been mentioned yet: if you use Drafts with OmniFocus and also have TextExpander installed, you can prepare project templates with fill-in snipptes. One made-up example:

• %filltext:name=Workgroup%: Introduce %filltext:name=App% @parallel(false) @autodone(true)
  • Install %filltext:name=App% @context(%filltext:name=Workgroup%)
  • Received questions about %filltext:name=App%? @context(Waiting) @defer(next Friday)
  • Prepare FAQ for %filltext:name=App% @context(Office)

You have to enter Workgroup and App only once, Textexpander will then paste the complete project into Drafts. In Drafts, you just have to create the following URL action to send it to OmniFocus:

omnifocus://x-callback-url/paste?target=projects&content=[[draft]]

You can of course tweak the URL to your liking.

Excellent idea, I’d not thought of doing it like that through Drafts 👍🏼

[kcase]

Being able to specify the full path was certainly the intent! We’ll try to get this fixed soon. (If not for 2.14, then for the inevitable 2.14.1.)

The latest TestFlight build fixes this: you should now be able to specify the full path to a project or context in the /add URL action.

[kcase]

On second glance, it actually looks like the two bugs I mentioned previously are still an issue: 1) After running the workflow, OF doesn’t allow editing of any actions. It instead reverts back to the project view of the action selected for editing.2) Also, when going to “Search” after the workflow, the magnifying glass icon in the search bar moves to the middle of the search input and doesn’t allow any typing.

These two bugs are in addition to the URL not launching correctly from the Workflow app to OF (although it works from Safari to OF).

I just tested on my iPhone, and was able to reproduce the problem when using the shipping build of Workflow. The good news is that it’s fixed when using the test build of Workflow.