Apps that support AppleScript by Category

The following is a list of Apps that support AppleScript, sorted by Category. If there are any useful Scriptable Apps not found on this list, please add them below. Hopefully this list can approach being an exhaustive resource to aid in the discoverability of Apps with AppleScript support and lay the foundation to eventually get dedicated tab on latenightsw:

▾	Plain Text Editor
	•	Xcode
	•	CotEditor
	•	BBEdit
	•	Coda 2
	•	TextEdit
	•	TextMate
	•	Tex-Edit Plus
▾	Activity Monitoring (CPU/Battery)
	•	App Tamer
▾	Ejector for External Disks
	•	Jettison
▾	Script Editor
	•	Script Debugger
	•	Script Editor
▾	Rich Text Editor
	•	Microsoft Word
	•Pages
	•	Nisus Writer Pro
▾	PDF Editor
	•	Skim
	•	Adobe Acrobat
	•	PDFpenPro
▾	Note Taking
	•	MacJournal
	•	Evernote
	•	Notes
	•	SideNotes
	•	Also see MarginNote
▾	E-Reader
	•	MarginNote
▾	Bibliography
	•	BibDesk
▾	Calculator
	•	PCalc
▾	Relational Database Editor
	•	FileMaker Pro Advanced
▾	Table Editor
	•	Microsoft Excel
	•	Numbers
	•	Database Events
▾	Outline Editor
	•	OmniOutliner
	•	Microsoft Word
▾	Slides Editor
	•	Microsoft PowerPoint
	•	Keynote
▾	MindMap Editor
	•	OmniGraffle
	•	Mindjet MindManager
▾	Graph Editor
	•	OmniGraffle
▾	Graphs / Plots (i.e. Line Graphs, etc)
	•	Smile
▾	Task Manager (To-Do list)
	•	OmniFocus
▾	Project Planner
	•	OmniPlan
	•	Merlin
▾	Photo Album
	•	Photos
	•	Photos Utilities.scptd
▾	Photo Processing (Batch)
	•	Retrobatch Pro
▾	Photo Editor
	•	Adobe Photoshop
	•	Pixelmator Pro
	•	Acorn
	•	Image Events
	•	Photos
	•	Photos Utilities.scptd
	•	GraphicConverter
	•	Retrobatch Pro
▾	Vector/Graphics Editor
	•	Adobe Illustrator
	•	Pixelmator Pro
▾	Contacts
	•	Contacts
▾	Dictation
	•	Dragon
	•	Voice Control
▾	Media Player
	•	VLC
	•	QuickTime Player
▾	Local Music Library
	•	Music
▾	Online Music Library
	•	Spotify
▾	Web
	•	Google Chrome Canary
	•	Fake
	•	Safari
	•	Cruz
	•	Fluid
	•	Google Chrome
▾	Web App -> Native Mac App
	•	Flotato
▾	Tags
	▾	Mail
		•	Mail
	▾	Files & Folders
		•	Finder
		•	DEVONthink
		•	EagleFiler
▾	Open / Save Dialog Windows 
	•	Default Folder X
▾	Everything Canvas
	•	Curio
▾	Bucket App (Project Files Organization)
	•	DEVONthink
	•	EagleFiler
▾	File Search
	•	HoudahSpot
	•	FoxTrot Professional Search
	•	DEVONthink
	•	DEVONsphere Express
	•	Finder
	•	Spotlight
	•	EasyFind
	•	Find Any File
	•	HoudahSpot
▾	Alarms
	•	FlexTime
	•	BreakTime
▾	Calendar
	•	Calendar
	•	CalendarLib EC.scptd
▾	Weather
	•	WeatherMan
▾	Script Triggers
	•	FastScripts
	•	Keyboard Maestro
▾	UI Scripting
	•	Keyboard Maestro
	•	UI Browser
▾	Email
	•	Mail
	•	Microsoft Outlook
▾	Texting
	•	Messages
▾	Typing / Text Expansion
	•	TypeIt4Me
▾	eBooks
	•	BookReader
▾	Archive/Unarchive
	•	The Unarchiver
▾	Screen Resolution/Orientation
	•	SwitchResX
▾	Notifications
	•	Growl
▾	Files
	•	Finder
	•	System Events
	•	FileManagerLib.scptd
▾	Event Handling
	•	EventScripts
	•	Butler
	•	UI Actions Setup
▾	Menu Bar Management
	•	Bartender
▾	Window Manager
	•	Moom
▾	System Status / System Preferences
	•	System Preferences
	•	Amphetamine
	•	System Events
▾	System / App Metadata
	•	Uni Detector
▾	Remote Desktop
	•	Remote Desktop
▾	Remote Control
	•	Remote Buddy
	•	Keyboard Maestro
3 Likes

This is very useful. May also help to add some kind of indication of how well AppleScript is supported?

▾	FTP
	•	Transmit
▾	Notarizing Apps
	•	SDNotary
▾	Page layout
	•	inDesign
	•	Pages


1 Like

I have no idea of how to format this, unfortunately:

▾ Media Players
• Menu Bar Controller for Sonos
▾ Graphic Editor
• ABBYY FineReader PDF
▾ Archive/Unarchive
• BetterZip
▾ Plain Text Editor
• Atom
▾ RSS Editor
• Feeder
▾ Printer Utility
• HP Utility

Great idea, I added a scoring system to the list:

As suggested, a scoring system is added to the list reflecting the scriptability that has been implemented:

5: Gold Standard; Nearly all of the app UI, settings, and beyond is scriptable (i.e. app can be nearly fully controlled via AppleScript alone) OR an Extensively large scripting library.
4: Excellent; Most app functions are scriptable
3: Very Good; Many app functions are scriptable
2: Ok; Some app functions are scriptable, but many/most app functions remain un-scriptable.
1: Low; Very few functions/uses of the app can be scripted compared to the overall app feature set via the GUI.

▾	Plain Text Editor
	•	Xcode						1
	•	CotEditor					4
	•	BBEdit						4
	•	Coda 2						3
	•	TextEdit					2
	•	TextMate					1
	•	Tex-Edit Plus				5
	•	Atom
▾	Activity Monitoring (CPU/Battery)
	•	App Tamer					3
▾	Ejector for External Disks
	•	Jettison					5
▾	Script Editor
	•	Script Debugger				4
	•	Script Editor				3
▾	Rich Text Editor
	•	Microsoft Word				5
	•Pages
	•	Nisus Writer Pro			3
▾	PDF Editor
	•	Skim						3
	•	Adobe Acrobat				3
	•	PDFpenPro					3
▾	Note Taking
	•	MacJournal				
	•	Evernote Legacy				3
	•	Notes						3
	•	SideNotes					4
	•	MarginNote					2
▾	E-Reader
	•	MarginNote					2
▾	Bibliography
	•	BibDesk						5
▾	Calculator
	•	PCalc						4
▾	Relational Database Editor
	•	FileMaker Pro Advanced		3
▾	Table Editor
	•	Microsoft Excel				5
	•	Numbers						4
	•	Database Events				5
▾	Outline Editor
	•	OmniOutliner				5
	•	Microsoft Word				5
▾	Slides Editor
	•	Microsoft PowerPoint		4
	•	Keynote						4
▾	MindMap Editor
	•	OmniGraffle					5
	•	Mindjet MindManager			2
▾	Graph Editor
	•	OmniGraffle					5
▾	Graphs / Plots (i.e. Line Graphs, etc)
	•	Smile						5
▾	Task Manager (To-Do list)
	•	OmniFocus					5
▾	Project Planner
	•	OmniPlan					5
	•	Merlin						3
▾	Photo Album
	•	Photos						4
	•	Photos Utilities.scptd		5
▾	Photo Processing (Batch)
	•	Retrobatch Pro				3
▾	Photo Editor
	•	Adobe Photoshop				4
	•	Pixelmator Pro				4
	•	Acorn						4
	•	Image Events				5
	•	Photos						4
	•	Photos Utilities.scptd		5
	•	GraphicConverter			1
	•	Retrobatch Pro				3
▾	Vector/Graphics Editor
	•	Adobe Illustrator			4
	•	Pixelmator Pro				4
▾	Contacts
	•	Contacts					5
▾	Dictation
	•	Dragon						5
▾	Media Player
	•	VLC							4
	•	QuickTime Player			3
▾	Media Editing
	•	Final Cut Pro				1
▾	Local Music Library
	•	Music						4
▾	Online Music Library
	•	Spotify						2
▾	Web
	•	Google Chrome Canary		3
	•	Fake						5
	•	Safari						3
	•	Cruz						5
	•	Fluid						5
	•	Google Chrome				3				
▾	Tags
	▾	Mail						
		•	SmallCubed MailSuite	3
	▾	Files & Folders
		•	Finder					5
		•	DEVONthink				5
		•	EagleFiler				5
▾	Open / Save Dialog Windows 
	•	Default Folder X			5
▾	Everything Canvas
	•	Curio						5
▾	Bucket App (Project Files Organization)
	•	DEVONthink					5
	•	EagleFiler					5
▾	File Search / File Management
	•	HoudahSpot					2
	•	FoxTrot Professional Search	3
	•	DEVONthink					5
	•	Finder						5
	•	Hook						4
▾	Alarms
	•	FlexTime					4
	•	BreakTime					5
▾	Calendar
	•	Calendar					5
	•	CalendarLib EC.scptd		5
▾	Weather
	•	WeatherMan					4
▾	Script Triggers
	•	FastScripts					4
	•	Keyboard Maestro			5
▾	UI Scripting
	•	Keyboard Maestro			5
	•	UI Browser (no library but entirely AppleScript oriented)				
▾	Email
	•	Mail						4
	•	Microsoft Outlook			3
▾	Texting
	•	Messages					5
▾	Typing / Text Expansion
	•	TypeIt4Me (no library but optionally uses AppleScript)				
▾	eBooks
	•	BookReader					1
▾	Archive/Unarchive
	•	The Unarchiver				4
	•	BetterZip
▾	Screen Resolution/Orientation
	•	SwitchResX					5
▾	Notifications
	•	Growl						2
▾	Files
	•	Finder						5
	•	System Events				5
	•	FileManagerLib.scptd		
▾	Event Handling
	•	EventScripts				1
	•	Butler						2
	•	UI Actions Setup			2
▾	Menu Bar Management
	•	Bartender					4
▾	Window Manager
	•	Moom						3
▾	System Status / System Preferences
	•	System Preferences			3
	•	Amphetamine					5
	•	System Events				5
▾	System / App Metadata
	•	Uni Detector				5
▾	Remote Desktop
	•	Remote Desktop				1
▾	Remote Control
	•	Remote Buddy				2
	•	Keyboard Maestro			5
▾	FTP
	•	Transmit
▾	Notarizing Apps
	•	SDNotary
▾	Page layout
	•	inDesign
	•	Pages
▾ Audio Systems
	•	Menu Bar Controller for Sonos
▾ Graphic Editor
	•	ABBYY FineReader PDF
▾ RSS Editor
	•	Feeder
▾ Printer Utility
	•	HP Utility
1 Like

Thank you, added to the list. If you can add a scriptability score according to the legend above, that would help as I don’t have some of these apps.

@alldritt Would it be possible to unlock editing to the original post above so the updated list can remain at the top of the thread?

@lite - I wish I could add scriptability scores, but I’ve never scripted the apps I listed: I only opened their dictionaries in SD.

A great idea. Here are some that I think aren’t mentioned above.

Outliner:

  • Bike [4]

Automation:

  • BetterTouchTool [4]
  • Hazel [2]
  • Bunch [4]

Browser:

  • Orion [3]
  • DEVONagent Pro [5]

Reference manager:

  • Bookends [4]

Backup:

  • Chronosync [1]
  • SuperDuper [2]

Presentation:

  • Deckset [2]

Download manager:

  • Downie [2]
  • Leech [2]

Device switching:

  • Ears [3]
  • Display Menu [3]
  • ToothFairy [3]

Wallpaper changing:

  • Irvue [2]

RSS:

  • NetNewsWire [4]

Media processing:

  • Permute [1]

Email:

  • FMail [2]
  • SpamSieve [5]

VPN switching:

  • Tunnelblick [5]
1 Like

@p1r2c1 Thanks Philip, these are some nice additions. I reordered the list; categories in alphabetical order and apps sorted greatest to least scriptability score per category. There is some overlap where 1 app may appear in multiple categories according to the features offered by the app. Also, the list is now in HTML so it is interactive to help in navigating the list (just click the disclosure triangle to expand/collapse a category):

Activity Monitoring (CPU/Battery)
• App Tamer 3
Alarms
• BreakTime 5
• FlexTime 4
App Launcher
• Bunch 4
• HoudahSpot 2
• Alfred 1
Archive/Unarchive
• The Unarchiver 4
• BetterZip
Audio Systems
• Menu Bar Controller for Sonos
Backup
• SuperDuper 2
• Chronosync 1
Bibliography
• BibDesk 5
Bucket App (Project Files Organization)
• DEVONthink 5
• EagleFiler 5
Calculator
• PCalc 4
Calendar
• Calendar 5
• CalendarLib EC.scptd 5
Contacts
• Contacts 5
Device Switching
• Ears 3
• Display Menu 3
• ToothFairy 3
Dictation
• Dragon 5
Download manager
• Downie 2
• Leech 2
E-Reader
• MarginNote 2
eBooks
• BookReader 1
Ejector for External Disks
• Jettison 5
Email
• SpamSieve 5
• Mail 4
• Microsoft Outlook 3
• FMail 2
Event Handling
• Butler 2
• UI Actions Setup 2
• EventScripts 1
Everything Canvas
• Curio 5
File Search / File Management
• DEVONthink 5
• Finder 5
• Hook 4
• FoxTrot Professional Search 3
• Hazel 2
• HoudahSpot 2
Files
• Finder 5
• System Events 5
• FileManagerLib.scptd
FTP
• Transmit
Graph Editor
• OmniGraffle 5
Graphic Editor
• ABBYY FineReader PDF
Graphs / Plots (i.e. Line Graphs, etc)
• Smile 5
Local Music Library
• Music 4
Media Editing
• Final Cut Pro 1
• Permute 1
Media Player
• VLC 4
• QuickTime Player 3
Menu Bar Management
• Bartender 4
MindMap Editor
• OmniGraffle 5
• Mindjet MindManager 2
Notarizing / Packaging Apps
• SDNotary 5
• DropDMG 5
Note Taking
• SideNotes 4
• Evernote Legacy 3
• Notes 3
• MarginNote 2
• MacJournal
Notifications
• Growl 2
Online Music Library
• Spotify 2
Open / Save Dialog Windows
• Default Folder X 5
Outline Editor
• OmniOutliner 5
• Microsoft Word 5
• Bike 4
Page layout
• Pages 3
• inDesign 1
PDF Editor
• Skim 3
• Adobe Acrobat 3
• PDFpenPro 3
Photo Album
• Photos Utilities.scptd 5
• Photos 4
Photo Editor
• Image Events 5
• Photos Utilities.scptd 5
• Adobe Photoshop 4
• Pixelmator Pro 4
• Acorn 4
• Photos 4
• Retrobatch Pro 3
• GraphicConverter 1
Photo Processing (Batch)
• Retrobatch Pro 3
Plain Text Editor
• Tex-Edit Plus 5
• CotEditor 4
• BBEdit 4
• Coda 2 3
• TextEdit 2
• Xcode 1
• TextMate 1
• Atom
Presentation / Slides Editor
• Microsoft PowerPoint 4
• Keynote 4
• Deckset 2
Printer Utility
• HP Utility
Project Planner
• OmniPlan 5
• Merlin 3
Reference manager
• Bookends 4
Relational Database Editor
• FileMaker Pro Advanced 3
Remote Control
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• Remote Buddy 2
Remote Desktop
• Remote Desktop 1
Rich Text Editor
• Microsoft Word 5
• Nisus Writer Pro 3
• Pages 3
RSS
• NetNewsWire 4
• Feeder
Screen Resolution/Orientation
• SwitchResX 5
Script Editor
• Script Debugger 4
• Script Editor 3
Script Triggers
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• FastScripts 4
System / App Metadata
• Uni Detector 5
System Status / System Preferences
• Amphetamine 5
• System Events 5
• System Preferences 3
Table Editor
• Microsoft Excel 5
• Database Events 5
• Numbers 4
Tags
• Finder 5
• DEVONthink 5
• EagleFiler 5
• SmallCubed MailSuite 3
Task Manager (To-Do list)
• OmniFocus 5
Texting
• Messages 5
Typing / Text Expansion
• TypeIt4Me (no library but optionally uses AppleScript)
UI Scripting
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• UI Browser (no library but entirely AppleScript oriented)
User Interaction
• BetterTouchTool 4
Vector/Graphics Editor
• Adobe Illustrator 4
• Pixelmator Pro 4
VPN
• Tunnelblick 5
Wallpaper Setter
• Irvue 2
Weather
• WeatherMan 4
Web Browser
• Fake 5
• Cruz 5
• Fluid 5
• DEVONagent Pro 5
• Google Chrome Canary 3
• Safari 3
• Google Chrome 3
• Orion 3
Window Manager
• Moom 3
1 Like

One more that I somehow forgot about: the venerable Typinator (text expansion).

1 Like

I think Terminal should be in there for shell scripting, and BBEdit listed again for the same thing.

1 Like

@p1r2c1 @estockly Thanks for the additions, added to the list:

Activity Monitoring (CPU/Battery)
• App Tamer 3
Alarms
• BreakTime 5
• FlexTime 4
App Launcher
• Bunch 4
• HoudahSpot 2
• Alfred 1
Archive/Unarchive
• The Unarchiver 4
• BetterZip
Audio Systems
• Menu Bar Controller for Sonos
Backup
• SuperDuper 2
• Chronosync 1
Bibliography
• BibDesk 5
Bucket App (Project Files Organization)
• DEVONthink 5
• EagleFiler 5
Calculator
• PCalc 4
Calendar
• Calendar 5
• CalendarLib EC.scptd 5
Contacts
• Contacts 5
Device Switching
• Ears 3
• Display Menu 3
• ToothFairy 3
Dictation
• Dragon 5
Download manager
• Downie 2
• Leech 2
E-Reader
• MarginNote 2
eBooks
• BookReader 1
Ejector for External Disks
• Jettison 5
Email
• SpamSieve 5
• Mail 4
• Microsoft Outlook 3
• FMail 2
Event Handling
• Butler 2
• UI Actions Setup 2
• EventScripts 1
Everything Canvas
• Curio 5
File Search / File Management
• DEVONthink 5
• Finder 5
• Hook 4
• FoxTrot Professional Search 3
• Hazel 2
• HoudahSpot 2
Files
• Finder 5
• System Events 5
• FileManagerLib.scptd
FTP
• Transmit
Graph Editor
• OmniGraffle 5
Graphic Editor
• ABBYY FineReader PDF
Graphs / Plots (i.e. Line Graphs, etc)
• Smile 5
Local Music Library
• Music 4
Media Editing
• Final Cut Pro 1
• Permute 1
Media Player
• VLC 4
• QuickTime Player 3
Menu Bar Management
• Bartender 4
MindMap Editor
• OmniGraffle 5
• Mindjet MindManager 2
Notarizing / Packaging Apps
• SDNotary 5
• DropDMG 5
Note Taking
• SideNotes 4
• Evernote Legacy 3
• Notes 3
• MarginNote 2
• MacJournal
Notifications
• Growl 2
Online Music Library
• Spotify 2
Open / Save Dialog Windows
• Default Folder X 5
Outline Editor
• OmniOutliner 5
• Microsoft Word 5
• Bike 4
Page layout
• Pages 3
• inDesign 1
PDF Editor
• Skim 3
• Adobe Acrobat 3
• PDFpenPro 3
Photo Album
• Photos Utilities.scptd 5
• Photos 4
Photo Editor
• Image Events 5
• Photos Utilities.scptd 5
• Adobe Photoshop 4
• Pixelmator Pro 4
• Acorn 4
• Photos 4
• Retrobatch Pro 3
• GraphicConverter 1
Photo Processing (Batch)
• Retrobatch Pro 3
Plain Text Editor
• Tex-Edit Plus 5
• CotEditor 4
• BBEdit 4
• Coda 2 3
• TextEdit 2
• Xcode 1
• TextMate 1
• Atom
Presentation / Slides Editor
• Microsoft PowerPoint 4
• Keynote 4
• Deckset 2
Printer Utility
• HP Utility
Project Planner
• OmniPlan 5
• Merlin 3
Reference manager
• Bookends 4
Relational Database Editor
• FileMaker Pro Advanced 3
Remote Control
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• Remote Buddy 2
Remote Desktop
• Remote Desktop 1
Rich Text Editor
• Microsoft Word 5
• Nisus Writer Pro 3
• Pages 3
RSS
• NetNewsWire 4
• Feeder
Screen Resolution/Orientation
• SwitchResX 5
Script Editor
• Script Debugger 4
• Script Editor 3
Script Triggers
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• FastScripts 4
Shell Scripting
• Terminal 3
• BBEdit
System / App Metadata
• Uni Detector 5
System Status / System Preferences
• Amphetamine 5
• System Events 5
• System Preferences 3
Table Editor
• Microsoft Excel 5
• Database Events 5
• Numbers 4
Tags
• Finder 5
• DEVONthink 5
• EagleFiler 5
• SmallCubed MailSuite 3
Task Manager (To-Do list)
• OmniFocus 5
Text Expansion
• Typinator
Texting
• Messages 5
Typing / Text Expansion
• TypeIt4Me (no library but optionally uses AppleScript)
UI Scripting
• Keyboard Maestro 5
• UI Browser (no library but entirely AppleScript oriented)
User Interaction
• BetterTouchTool 4
Vector/Graphics Editor
• Adobe Illustrator 4
• Pixelmator Pro 4
VPN
• Tunnelblick 5
Wallpaper Setter
• Irvue 2
Weather
• WeatherMan 4
Web Browser
• Fake 5
• Cruz 5
• Fluid 5
• DEVONagent Pro 5
• Google Chrome Canary 3
• Safari 3
• Google Chrome 3
• Orion 3
Window Manager
• Moom 3
1 Like

Tinderbox, by Eastgate Systems offers Applescript support. It’s somewhat more robust, I think, than Mark Anderson describes here. And the Tinderbox Forum is an excellent resource for those who wish to automate aspects of note-taking with Tinderbox.

1 Like

I’m kind of digging this whole list. Would you mind if I tried to post it on the Wiki page for AppleScript?

(Note to @alldritt and @ShaneStanley, some Wiki editors are pretty fussy about sources for something like this, if it could become a page on the LNS and/or MacScripter sites that would be great)

@estockly Sure, no problem. I’m also hoping some form of it could get a dedicated tab on the LNS home page; it would benefit SD, help users, and encourage developers.

Just came across this: https://macvector.com

I remember seeing this years ago, but apparently it’s still going strong. Not sure what it’s category would be, maybe:
Microbiology Sequence Analysis
• MacVector 18

With Wikipedia, a new section like this could get rejected by just about anyone, but from what I can tell if does follow the wiki guidelines. (It would probably be better if it were a dedicated page on the site, but we shall see).

You’ve written that the apps are listed alongside their most recent version numbers. Those aren’t version numbers and should probably be removed.

I also suggest not trying to group applications by category on Wikipedia. It’s OK for a forum post, but as a general reference, its too haphazard: the categories are too ill-defined, and as such, most have one application per category. But it also leads to duplicate entries when applications can evidently be classified under more than one heading. It’s would be more conventional to list them alphabetically. You could feasibly do both alphabetical and categorical lists, as it’s not uncommon on Wikipedia (or in reference material in general) to present the same data in different ways. The alphabetical list should come first, followed by the categorical list if you think it’s worthwhile (it would be more worthwhile by limiting the categories to a small, fixed set have broad headings…perhaps lifting the same app categories that the Mac App Store uses would be an idea.

The list has been pulled, for various reasons. I may try again, if it lands on a dedicated page. (Funny, that wiki will reject user sourced content). If I do I’d use a sortable table format, where it could be sorted based on category, etc.

Using the app store categories might work.

The GitHub ‘Awesome’ lists might be a more accepted format. E.g. GitHub - serhii-londar/open-source-mac-os-apps: 🚀 Awesome list of open source applications for macOS. https://t.me/s/opensourcemacosapps