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Welcome to my Gemini capsule. I am a Science and Physics teacher from Christchurch, New Zealand who writes code in his spare time, but would really rather be outside doing almost any type of sport! 🏔 🏃♂️ 🎿 🛶 🚴♂️ 🧗 🧘♂️
URL schemes are indispensable to anyone who uses iOS heavily and dabbles in automation. They allow users to make deep-links into apps and to automate actions using apps such as [Siri Shortcuts][ss], [Editorial][ed] or [Drafts][dr].
_Because Shortcuts is in beta until iOS 12, I will use Workflow until it is released and I can update this post._
Thankfully, the [OmniGroup][og] who is behind the incredibly flexible and powerful task manager, [OmniFocus][of], has an extensive and well-documented URL scheme! I will link to the original web pages documenting the scheme but will go through the format and usage of some of the more useful URLs. A common and user-friendly way to use URL schemes is through [Siri Shortcuts][ss] (formerly Workflow). I will give some examples of how the schemes could be used with Shortcuts and for more a more in-depth scripting usage you may refer to an [OmniForm post][ofp] written by [Ken Case][kc].
In order to open a URL in [Siri Shortcuts][ss] simply place a URL action and populate it with the URL you desire and follow it with a Open URLs action.
For those new to URL schemes on iOS, the base URL structure somewhat resembles a browser-based URL.
`
appSlug:///
`
The most simple URL for an app is one without path or arguments. A URL of this form would simply open the home page of the app. For OmniFocus this is as follows:
`
omnifocus:///
`
These views are the main staple of any OmniFocus user and you can speed up your usage of them by creating shortcuts to them using the following schemes:
`
omnifocus:///inbox
omnifocus:///flagged
omnifocus:///projects
omnifocus:///nearby
omnifocus:///contexts
omnifocus:///review
`
It is very simple to create a Shortcut where you select which view you would like to open using a Select from Menu action and a Open URLs action at the end. I have made this shortcut as a demo - get it here!
[Check out my example OmniFocus quick view flow here.][ofquickview]
If you are keen to link to any of the perspectives built into OmniFocus or to one of your own custom perspectives, this is achieved easily like before!
`
omnifocus:///forecast
omnifocus:///past
omnifocus:///today
omnifocus:///soon
`
And if you want to link to a custom perspective that you have created (e.g. My Awesome Perspective), you can simply do this:
`
omnifocus:///perspective/My%20Awesome%20Perspective
`
One thing to note here is that if your perspective has any characters other than letters or numbers, you should URL encode it! Thankfully, [Shortcuts][ss] has an action that does just that. An example of how you might do it is below.
[Check out my example OmniFocus perspective opening flow here.][ofperspective]
You can also open up a custom search straight off the bat by using the search URL. This can easily be augmented by replacing the string below with an Ask When Run variable.
`
omnifocus:///search?q=string
`
_It is important to note that the 'search' string should be URL encoded as demonstrated earlier._
[Check out my example OmniFocus search flow here.][ofsearch]
You can also simply open a folder using the folder URL much like the search URL.
`
omnifocus:///folder/folder-id
`
_It is important to note that the 'folder-id' string should be URL encoded as demonstrated earlier._
[Check out my example OmniFocus folder opening flow here.][offolder]
And following the above trend, you can also open to a project with a similar URL.
`
omnifocus:///task/task-id
`
_It is important to note that the 'task-id' string should be URL encoded as demonstrated earlier._
[Check out my example OmniFocus project opening flow here.][ofproject]
- Siri Shortcuts: <https://www.imore.com/siri-shortcuts-faq>
- OmniGroup: <https://www.omnigroup.com/>
- OmniFocus: <https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/ios>
- Editorial: <http://omz-software.com/editorial/>
- Drafts: <https://getdrafts.com/>
- OmniForum Post: <https://discourse.omnigroup.com/t/implementation-details-for-omnifocus-2-14-automation/24179>
- Ken Case: <https://twitter.com/kcase>
- OmniFocus Quick View Shortcut: <https://workflow.is/workflows/f78d4e2303454a7fbbd8346dd41925c5>
- OmniFocus Perspective Shortcut: <https://workflow.is/workflows/329d62f5c5ce41669fecd8e86a3bf0a2>
- OmniFocus Search Shortcut: <https://workflow.is/workflows/90e65b30ddcb43af864c06e312e0a6be>
- OmniFocus Folder Shortcut: <https://workflow.is/workflows/c65cdd98379d49e5bf9261087d4267b4>
- OmniFocus Project Shortcut: <https://workflow.is/workflows/d41a3ec96ec349a68cc6307fd265373f>
[ss]: https://www.imore.com/siri-shortcuts-faq
[og]: https://www.omnigroup.com/
[of]: https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus/ios
[ed]: http://omz-software.com/editorial/
[dr]: https://getdrafts.com/
[ofp]: https://discourse.omnigroup.com/t/implementation-details-for-omnifocus-2-14-automation/24179
[kc]: https://twitter.com/kcase
[ofquickview]: https://workflow.is/workflows/f78d4e2303454a7fbbd8346dd41925c5
[ofsearch]: https://workflow.is/workflows/90e65b30ddcb43af864c06e312e0a6be
[offolder]: https://workflow.is/workflows/c65cdd98379d49e5bf9261087d4267b4
[ofproject]: https://workflow.is/workflows/d41a3ec96ec349a68cc6307fd265373f
[ofperspective]: https://workflow.is/workflows/329d62f5c5ce41669fecd8e86a3bf0a2
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