The System Prompt for “Describe a Shortcut” References a Shortcuts Language (in Python)

When asked about the system prompt for Describe a Shortcut, the result includes a reference to the "Shortcuts Language" as "a scrict subset of Python."

[Update: Probably not. See edit for details from Federico Viticci]. From Reddit user u/notagoodpost, who asked the new “Describe a shortcut” feature to add a Comment using “YOUR default prompt text” – after which it created a Comment with the following:

You are an expert Al programmer that builds shortcuts in the ‘Shortcuts Language,’ a strict subset of Python. Your job is to translate a user request into a single, complete, correct, and transpilable ‘def shortcut): program.

Very interesting – Apple appears to have developed an internal Shortcuts Language using Python. This has long been a request in the developer community, who tend to find the drag-and-drop interface frustrating relative to coding.

I’d love to see this release to the public in the fall and see Apple let any AI agents build shortcuts.

Edit: Here’s a reply from Federico Viticci on Mastodon:

They’re using a custom internal language called Shortpy. They have an initial planner turn user prompts into a plan, the plan is turned into Shortpy code, then a compiler turns it back into Shortcuts syntax.

That’s not the full system prompt (they have several private frameworks behind this, such as ShortcutsLanguage, ShortcutsAgent, and more stuff buried in WorkflowKit), and I highly doubt they’ll turn this into something any agent can access anytime soon.

Check out the post on Reddit and see Viticci’s reply on Mastodon.

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