The latest Bunch blog posts
Recently Updated Documentation See documentation history
1.4.0 (β91) Url handler method for opening Preference pane in the GUI (x-bunch://prefs) Add user agent setting to HTML display windows to allow forcing Dekstop or Mobile views regardless of window size (ua:desktop) Fully activate an app when @focusing it Update all internal links to point to bunchapp.co Fix: Replace deprecated preference storage methods Fix: Spelling error in preferences (Thanks Jay) Fix: Directly close preference view rather than relying on a notification
1.4.0 (β88) Only run interactive dialogs to assign a variable if the variable isn’t already defined (allow frontmatter to override dialogs) Remove “Working” highlight on menu item after 10 seconds as a fallback Crash caused by (notify) command
1.4.0 (β87) Fix: Double trimming brackets on on-quit commands Fix: Edge case where canceling a multiple choice dialog left Bunch with an empty string
1.4.0 (β86) Stop stripping underscores from variable names. Why did I think that was a good idea? I forget. Assigning variables from dialogs when no frontmatter has previously been defined Null logging when frontmatter wasn’t changed Don’t let a Bunch quit itself in Single Bunch Mode when forced open from the menu
1.4.0 (β85) Fix: Subfolder name appearing in menu item titles Fix: URL handler calling open or close wasn’t ignoring current state
1.4.0 (β84)
get preference [key] AppleScript command for retrieving various preference settings
list open bunches AppleScript command to list only open Bunches
list bunches returns an AppleScript list instead of a string Remove some frivolous debug logging statements. It’s the economy. 10 second timeout for actions in sequential execution mode. The economy again. When calling other Bunches via Bunches or handlers, allow matching subfolder and Bunch by display titles or any combination of title and display title Allow Bunches with the same name in different subfolders Include subfolder in log identifier All Bunch name matching is case insensitive Code refactoring to do a better job of catching bugs early
1.4.0 (β83) !X syntax for inserting pauses in key commands and typed strings
(display) command accepts chrome:none for windows with no titlebar or buttons Fix: Force apps to foreground before sending key combos Fix: Pause Bunch item processing while sending key commands for better consistency Bring all windows to foreground when Unhiding All Windows Automatically resolve tildes (~) in shell command arguments to user’s home directory Waiting Snippet waits for up to 10 seconds for presence of main window before considering an app launched.
1.4.0 (β82) Display and screen command, UUID matching for selective scheduling, various fixes
(display) command parameters can now be in any order. This involved some changes to the syntax, please see the documentation . New (screen) command for creating a full-screen, solid color window with optional transparency for hiding all windows below it. See docs for usage.
Support for schedule if and schedule unless frontmatter for excluding Macs from scheduling based on trigger file or UUID
startup frontmatter can be one or more UUIDs to start only on matching Macs
startup unless frontmatter can be one or more UUIDs Copy UUID button in preferences for use with schedule if, schedule unless, and startup
Bunches can be organized in subfolders, which will create submenus in the main Bunch menu Allow folder.frontmatter to set properties of submenu
Allow folder.frontmatter to pass keys to all Bunches in a subfolder
Rename Save to Done in Preferences More complete emoji handling Add keyboard shortcut for Open Log (⇧⌘L) Wait for Bunch commands and script items when executing sequentially If a background color is set for a display text file but no foreground, pick a contrasting color If a background color is specified for text or HTML display windows, change the window to dark mode appearance if the color is more than 50% black Enable edit menu commands (copy/paste/etc.) in display commands windows Don’t cut top off scrolling quick look previews Allow text preview/file watching of any file with a text mimetype, not just .txt and .log Fix: Regression in schedule handling Fix: Fixes for changing Bunch Folder preferences and storing recents Fix: Ensure all window updates happen on the main thread Fix: Quick Look windows via display command set to wallpaper level were empty
1.4.0 (β80) If a background color is set for a display text file but no foreground, pick a contrasting color If a background color is specified for text or HTML display windows, change the window to dark mode appearance if the color is less than 50% brightness Enable edit menu commands (copy/paste/etc.) in display commands windows Don’t cut top off scrolling quick look previews Allow text preview/file watching of any file with a text mimetype, not just .txt and .log Fix: Ensure all window updates happen on the main thread Fix: Quick Look windows via display command set to wallpaper level were empty
1.4.0 (β80) Set variables with script results
Remove option to run in Dock
1.4.0 (β79) Extra .01s delay when sending key combos to improve app responsiveness in some cases Complete refactoring to make “Bunch Items” their own custom object Move what can be truly executed in the background from async on main thread to a background thread Give Quick Look previews in display command their own positionable window Window titles for text and html display windows Fix: Attempt to fix Preference layout on 10.13 Fix: Open-only Bunches not launching
1.4.0 (β78) Quick fix to clean up some debug logging
1.4.0 (β77) Major overhaul of shell command runner
Task monitors
(display) command Specify multiple days/times in scheduling frontmater open on: M W F 8am, T Th 10am
Assign a global keyboard shortcut Assign keyboard shortcuts for each Bunch using shortcut: frontmatter More keyboard shortcuts for internal commands Make default keyboard shortcuts for opening Bunches single numbers without modifiers (like ⌘) Use ${variables} inside of Bunches (like you would in Snippets), populated by frontmatter keys or manually when calling a Bunch from a Bunch. Documentation
ignores state: frontmatter Command-Option click to force close (menu bar mode) Command-Shift click to force open (menu bar mode) Header on Bunch menu shows what action modifier key clicks will perform (menu bar mode) Remove “Close Items In” menu in menu bar mode in favor of Command-Option click
menu divider frontmatterbefore or after the Bunch in the menu` the Bunch in the menu Allow sending global keyboard shortcuts (not tied to specific app) URL handler reveal method URL handler edit method URL handler can now match display titles as defined in frontmatter (case insensitive, emoji insensitive) when specifying Bunches Add Accessibility Permission screen to startup splash Add Accessibility Permission button to preferences with observer for current state Persist NSTask for caffeinate command (awake) so it can be terminated without killall
Default Bunch Editor preference to TextEdit so there’s something assigned during setup Add Hide/Unhide All Windows option in menu bar mode Set default notification style to Alerts automatically “Working” state for status bar item (yellow), toggled for long-running scripts, when waiting for input or counting down to scheduled open/close Rename “Set” to “Add” in Bunch Folder preferences Gentler watching of Bunch folder for changes, more thorough refresh Light up status item (green) to notify that changes have been detected in the Bunch folder Notifications Preferences shortcuts in preferences Default to menu bar application, show Dock if preferred Reduce transparency on preference window to improve legibility Better image/text contrast for Welcome splash and Preferences Fix: file watchers not deallocating Fix: Don’t make preference window float above all other windows if running in Dock mode Fix: allow Bunch main menu to appear when run in Dock Mode Fix: Remove notification and stop timer when countdown clicked Fix: F1-F12 not working as {keyboard combos} Fix: Process variables before importing snippets so that placeholders can be used for snippet fragments (<snippet#${fragmentvar}) Fix: Keyboard focus for popups buttons and text fields in interactive dialogs Fix: Scheduled open/close being invalidated after opening Fix: Allow keyboard focus for popup buttons and text fields in interactive dialogs Fix: Shell scripts in sequential mode fully wait for previous task to complete Fix: Close Items in wouldn’t close if the Bunch wasn’t open, now forces
1.4.0 (β75) Fix for preferences not being dismissed
1.4.0 (β74) Added welcome splash sequence Added a Preference pane
Added new formats for comments , // and block comments /* ... */
Allow comments on same line as Bunch items Fixed infinite loop if referenced snippet file is not found Accept more unicode characters in key combo strings (↩, ␣, ⎋, etc.) Slow down automated typing by a couple milliseconds/key stroke “Bunch Editor” preference Allow Command-Clicking an app in the menu to open it in an editor You can now assign variables on the fly using dialogs (text, popup button) Add % for Hyper key as a modifier key in key combo strings
Activate all windows of target app before sending keystrokes Bear with me… if a Bunch opens another Bunch when it closes, don’t quit apps that the other Bunch opens anyway Run all keystroke sequences on main thread, improved reliability and no crashes Multiple issues affecting marking Bunches open/closed in the controller Do a full close of open Bunches (including re-opening !closed Bunches) when switching in Single Bunch Mode Handling of !!Bunch.bunch launch-on-close Default url handler x-success delay to 1 instead of 5 Allow multiple files (comma separated) when calling snippet url handler Allow fragments to be called per file in url snippet handler using hashes (encoded as %23) Descriptive titles for URL Handler calls in log Watch from file: frontmatter files and automatically refresh the Bunch when changed URL handler for open, close, and toggle allows multiple target Bunches separated by comma Allow url handler to set arbitrary frontmatter keys using query string Bunches with schedules now have tooltips on hover showing next open/close time Fixed Raw URL handler not processing raw text Ignore frontmatter lines with empty key or value Fixed scheduled dates in logs off by 15 seconds Various glitches with Bunch scheduling Close Items In… menu not working Fix for delayed launches in parallel Bunches (~5)
1.4.0 (β72) Complete rewrite of keystroke functionality for macOS 10.15+
1.4.0 (β71) Fixed @Focused apps failing to quit
1.4.0 (β70) You can now type strings within key combo syntax by surrounding with double quotes, e.g. {@n (tab)3 "typing an email\\n\\n-Brett" @$d}
More interactivity with multiple-choice dialogs and snippet branching Restored missing “Launch Items in Parallel” preference
1.4.0 (β69) Better handling of Accessibility permissions requests (stay awake) command to keep Mac awake while a Bunch is open (or for a set period of time , e.g. (stay awake 60)) [documentation ] Fixed menu ordering for real
toggles: false frontmatter key to only allow a Bunch to open, never close, not affecting the state of apps it contains or the menu. [documentation ]
quits apps: always frontmatter key to allow a Bunch to quit apps even if they’re open in other Bunches [documentation ] “Quit Apps Open in Other Bunches” preference, global version of quits apps: always frontmatter [documentation ] If app can’t be activated, send a launch signal Better “close all windows” handling for XX lines
If natural language interval has no s, m, h, or d, assume seconds (e.g. (sleep 120) assumes (sleep 120s)) For real fixed menu ordering
1.4.0 (β68) Syntax for opening Finder windows in tabs
single bunch mode: ignore frontmatter key to exclude a Bunch from be affected by Single Bunch Mode Menu ordering fixed Force dialogs to remain above other app’s windows Fix hang when hiding all apps
1.4.0 (β67) “New Bunch With Open Apps” command Option to execute Bunch items in parallel (all at once) “Recent Bunch Folders” in Preferences submenu Better log messages for shell script errors Move initial Bunch Folder location to ~/Documents/Bunches Change wording of menu item from “Quit Apps In…” to “Close Items in…” Changed “No” button in Optional Snippets dialog to “Cancel” so Escape key works Offer relaunch dialog if log detail level is changed Sort preferences in Bunch menu in Dock mode %{} variable placeholder url encodes replacement $BUNCH_PHASE environment variable for shell scripts to determine whether the Bunch is opening or closing Improved: shell script parsing and execution Fixed: Users couldn’t set log level to Debug Offer “relaunch” dialog if log level is changed
?"Optional Snippet" queries now work with on-close !<Snippets too Repeating syntax for key commands {@n (right)10}
Ask the user if they want to close open Bunches when switching to a new Bunch folder
1.4.0 (β66) Allow frontmatter from script to wait for input, allowing scripts with dialogs
Only run frontmatter from script when opening, not when pre-loading tasks Allow startup frontmatter to accept value of ask, offer yes/no dialog before loading Better error handling for recursive nesting (Bunchception)
1.4.0 (β65) Sort menu by display title (ignoring emoji) “menu order” frontmatter to force menu display order
1.4.0 (β62) Don’t lowercase notify command text
1.4.0 (β61) Introduced frontmatter
Change menu display title with frontmatter Set arbitrary snippet variables with frontmatter “from script” and “from file” allow dynamic frontmatter
Mark a Bunch as a startup bunch with frontmatter
Schedule bunches to open and close at specified days and times using frontmatter
Tag search for files to open
Full Spotlight search for files to open
Launch files in their default app by using “Default” as app name (notify) command to trigger notification center
(sleep) commands (sleep, sleep display, sleep screensaver ) Indent snippets 4 spaces/1 tab to have them wait for all apps in the Bunch to launch or quit
< snippets can have a delay ~5 !< snippets will run on close !< snippets can have a delay ~5 « Embedded snippets
Bunch Log with customizable log levels Detect shebang and execute appropriate binary for non-executable shell scripts Attempt at smarter app hiding Update example Bunch New features for the Bunch CLI , including “load as snippet” and interactive Bunch URL Smarter shell script loading, better script shebang handling, binary detection Documentation updates
1.3.6 Preference option to restore previously open Bunches when launching Close launched Bunches when closing Bunch Use !Name.bunch to close a bunch within a Bunch Avoid infinite loops when opening/closing Bunches within Bunches (a Bunch can’t call itself)
1.3.5 New snippet url method (see docs ) New x-success and x-delay parameters for all URL methods New AppleScript method run snippet to mirror url handler Allow default values for variables (${var:default}) Don’t freak out if variable placeholders are included in snippets but values are not provided when importing
1.3.4 Bugfix release
1.3.3 Launch Bunches on startup with *.startup files On/Off images for Bunches in menu bar mode Allow Bunches to be launched like applications If a Bunch is launched by another Bunch, affect its checkmark Keyboard shortcuts in menu bar menu Snippet files not found when they absolutely do exist Better handling if a fragment isn’t matched When a Bunch causes errors, gracefully ignore and continue processing other bunches
1.3.2 Update help links to new mini-site
1.3.1 Handle Do Not Disturb commands on Big Sur Add syntax for confirm dialog when loading snippets, e.g. <test.snippet ?"Load this snippet?"
Allow Option-click on checked Bunch to clear checkmark AppleScript command “process text” to process raw Bunch commands
1.3.0 Fix for delayed apps not quitting on close
1.2.9 Better at maintaining “open” checkmarks Reduce delay when storing and changing wallpaper Add option to delay a launch or command with ~X at the end of line Big Sur Dock Icon
1.2.8 add (audio mute) and (audio unmute) commands allow separate input/output muting and volume commands improved method for setting output volume
1.2.7 Allow !! to launch apps when closing a Bunch Better error handling for unreadable Bunch files Allow sections in snippets that can be called individually
1.2.6 New audio commands for switching inputs, outputs, and setting volume
1.2.5 Fix for issues when changing Bunch Folder preference
1.2.4 Add Microsoft Edge to browser-specific url options
1.2.3 Allow urls to be opened in a specific browser .
1.2.2 Change escape codes for up and down from “\p” and “\n” to “\u” and “\d” Add \h delete, \a home, \e end escape codes Allow leading and trailing space for [ typed string ] commands Allow system key names in key commands, e.g. {@up} Allow unicode characters for arrow keys, e.g. {@↑} Allow hyphenated long-form commands, e.g. {opt-left opt-left cmd-shift-up} Make about panel appear in foreground when running in menu bar mode
1.2.1
(wallpaper [path]) command to specify desktop images
1.2.0 Ability to import “snippets” with variables for repeatable bunch actions
1.1.9 $BUNCH_DND environment variable for shell scripts, shows current Do Not Disturb state $BUNCH_DOCK environment variable for shell scripts, shows current Dock visibility $BUNCH_DESKTOP_ICONS environment variable for shell scripts, shows whether Desktop icons are visible
1.1.8 Send key commands using {@~w} in app file params Type key sequences using [type this out] in app file params Improve hiding all apps (@@)
1.1.7 New commands dark mode and dark mode off
Optimizations and fixes
1.1.6 Run commands when closing a Bunch: !(hide dock)
Dock positioning commands: !(dock [left|right|bottom])
Launch At Login preference handling Fixes Dock show/hide commands being reversed
1.1.5 Better reporting for Workflow errors More dependable implementation for “@@” (hide all apps)
1.1.4 Fix for AppleScript “Corrupted Dictionary” errors
1.1.3 AppleScript improvements that will be invisible to the naked eye. Or really any end user. Donate button twice in the menu bar version. Nobody needs that much prodding. I mean, you’re going to pitch in or you’re not, right?
1.1.2 Bunch can be automated with AppleScript URL method setPrefs to change certain preferences from script Bind bunch menu item states to a property so they’re always up-to-date
1.1.1 Additional environment variables for shell scripts Updated Example.bunch with all the latest goodness A script line (*&$) preceded by ! will only run that script when closing the Bunch Status item submenu with Check For Updates (and Donate)
1.1.0 Preferences->”Run in Menu Bar” option Preferences->”Launch at Login” option
1.0.10 Use & workflowname to run automator workflows Use $ shell command to run shell scripts/commands Menu command to clear checkmarks in toggle/single bunch mode (force launched Bunches to launch again) Url method raw for directly loading any Bunch-formatted file or directly passing bunch commands as a string (dnd on) and (dnd off) commands for Do Not Disturb Watch bunch folder for changes and refresh automatically Opening or closing a Bunch via url command now toggles launched state in Dock menu when Toggle Bunches is active
1.0.9 Add close method to url handler Add toggle method to url handler Allow url handler methods to toggle Bunch state in Dock Menu Show an alert when commands fail to make it easier to diagnose and fix Bunches Add LaunchBar, Alfred, and CLI scripts to documentation
1.0.8 Add percent (%) before app name to ignore it when closing a Bunch Add XX as a filename to close all windows for the app\ Desktop icons commands: (hide desktop) and (show desktop)
1.0.7 Toggle Bunches mode, checkmark opened Bunches, click checkmarked Bunch to close Single Bunch Mode Quit Apps in Bunch… submenu Bunch commands (hide dock) (show dock)
1.0.6
@@ alone on a line will hide all apps
1.0.5 New URL handler x-bunch:
Ability to change location of Bunches folder
1.0.4 Allow URL schemes (in addition to http) Test if app is running or hidden before launching, hiding, quitting Use NSWorkspace instead of AppleScript where possible Allow _ suffix to hide app (experimental)
1.0.3 Add @focus syntax Add *AppleScript syntax
1.0.2 Improve launch speed Allow ![app name] to quit an app Build for older macOS versions Sort Bunches alphabetically in Dock menu
1.0.1 Remove cruft from app menus Add “Show Bunches in Finder” to Dock and File menus