Keyboard Cowboy For Mac

Apple’s Shortcuts app is an amazing tool, but it lacks the ability to automate actions based on certain triggers. The good thing is that third-party applications exist that can either replace Shortcuts or just extend its functionality.

Keyboard Cowboy lets you do some of the things Shortcuts is capable of, but most importantly, it allows you to define triggers that launch actions automatically, even commands from the Shortcuts app. Together, the two utilities make for a powerful combination.

You can open or close applications, open URLs, trigger a key combination, run an action from Shortcuts, launch a script, type text, or just initiate a system command. Multiple actions can be run as part of a single workflow, either concurrently or sequentially.

The simplest way to trigger any of these workflows is via a keyboard shortcut. These are easily defined, and you can enable or disable any workflow, or certain commands in a workflow.

The app’s most important feature is its ability to run a workflow automatically when certain conditions are met. These are all linked to one or more applications, and can be triggered when the app is launched, closed, or switched to.

Keyboard Cowboy’s automation tools give you a fair degree of flexibility, though having triggers that aren’t app-related would also be helpful.

When creating a group, you can specify if the workflows it contains should only be active when a certain app is frontmost. This allows you to limit shortcuts to specific apps instead of making them global.

To quickly switch between sets of groups, you can create multiple configurations. At present, these cannot be renamed after they are set up.

Keyboard Cowboy is a very useful tool for automation and creating shortcuts, especially if you’re looking for a way to trigger actions based on app activity. It can be used together with Shortcuts, and it’s free and open-source.