From Steve Moser at MacRumors:
According to the code found in iOS 17 beta 4, the Action button could have nine different options that users can customize and assign to different actions. While the code only lists feature names related to the Action button, we can infer what most of them will be able to do:
[…]
Shortcuts: As on the Apple Watch Ultra, this option would let users run any shortcut they have created or downloaded from the Shortcuts app, such as sending a message, playing a playlist, or controlling smart home devices.
If the Action button is coming from Apple Watch Ultra, it will surely support Shortcuts – the question is, do we only get one shortcut for the button at all times? Apple definitely needs a more advanced interface for picking which shortcut works on the Action button – I suggest Focus modes.