PortlivoFeatures · Command line
The snippets command, Shortcuts and Spotlight
Your snippets are useful outside a text field too: in a script, a Git hook, a Shortcut.
By Anmol Sethi · Updated
Quick answer
snippets list prints every abbreviation, snippets expand ';sig' prints what one expands to, and snippets add ';ty' 'Thank you!' adds one. It’s the app’s own binary, so it reads and writes the same snippets. Shortcuts gets Expand Snippet, Add Snippet and List Snippets actions, and they show in Spotlight.
❯ snippets list
;addr 14 Rue des Lilas ;sig Best, ;ty Thank you so much, this really helps. ;meet Does Thursday at 10 work? I’ll send a link.
❯ snippets expand ';sig' | pbcopy
❯ snippets add ';ooo' 'I’m out until Monday, back on the 27th.'
Added ;ooo.
❯
Install it
In Settings → Browser and tools, click Copy install command next to Command line, and paste it into Terminal:
sudo ln -sf /Applications/Snipora.app/Contents/MacOS/Snipora /usr/local/bin/snippetsUse it
snippets list # every abbreviation and its first line
snippets expand ';sig' # print what it expands to
snippets add ';ty' 'Thank you!' # add a snippetPipe it like anything else: snippets expand ';sig' | pbcopy.
Shortcuts and Spotlight
The Shortcuts app has Expand Snippet, Add Snippet and List Snippets. Build a Shortcut that drafts a reply from a snippet, or adds the selected text as one, and run it from Spotlight.
Questions people ask
- Does the command need the app running?
- No. It reads the same snippets file directly.
- How do I remove it?
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/snippets. The app is untouched.
Snipora is free for up to 15 snippets. No account.
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