Great episode, gentlemen. Really appreciate that you pulled this together sooner rather than later after having mentioned it recently. I am all-in on DEVONThink and just donated to support Obsidianās development. Own almost every Field Guide (great work and congratulations on version 2 of Paperless, David)!
I am very curious to know what role and impact the next major release of DEVONThink To Go will have in terms of functionality and limitations, especially with regard to the interplay with these other āContextual Computingā resources/opportunities that David has lead me to (especially Obsidian and Hook to add to staple applications [OmniFocus, DEVONThink, et al.]).
Iāve been running LaunchBar for several major releases and despite having grown in proficiency I know Iām probably only using 20% of what it is capable of. I re-read the Keyboard Maestro Field Guide featuresā¦ and before I add that title to my collection (which Iām happy to do, though Iām less excited about an unplanned addition to my app ecosystem during this time of rapid app expansion); this actually raises a follow-on question as Stephen briefly referenced the ability of BetterTouchTool (BTT) to service (some?) of these contextual computing and distraction-reduction opportunities. Iād love to hear any elaboration or examples of some of the ājobsā that Stephen might have had in mind for BTT, even if it plus LaunchBar are, in the collective judgment, well short of the jobs Keyboard Maestro is suited for (with KMās general superiority seeming to be a pretty clear theme of todayās show).
Notwithstanding the fact that David feels strongly enough to have done a field guide on it, is Keyboard Maestro just so far superior for achieving the contextual computing concepts ā via Conflict Palette repurposing, for example ā that it basically becomes a matter of āthe sooner you switch or add KM to your life, the sooner you can mirror Davidās preferred way of doing things and reap the benefitsā? David mentioned knowing the developer. Is it safe to bank on the Conflict Palette being around long enough and in some version of its current form that you would feel good encouraging a (current) Keyboard Maestro non-user to get started down that path to rely on it?
Even as I pose those questions I anticipate āyesā answers, Iām left pondering how/if Hook might close the gap on contextual computing via deep linking non-KM users as it ramps up in abilities. And during the show, I was thinking, āwhat about Bunches?ā from Brett Terpstra (which is one of the many tools I spent holiday downtime wrangling to acheive many of the same types of goals that yāall discussed on this episode).
I own the āTaking Control ofā guides for both DEVONthink and LaunchBar (and David, Iād love to see you lay down a Field Guide for it ā an idea you flirted with at least briefly in the Paperless Field Guide).
These are indeed exciting times. Thanks again for the topic and show notes. In the simplest sense, as I pursue the same goals that animate David, is it essentially āKeyboard Maestro or bustā on the Mac side of things when it comes to pulling together the low-friction, low-distraction, high-reliability contextual computing and deep linking resources? Iām in this for the long haul, so Iām willing to expand my systems, even as I find myself having added more new knowledge management tools in the month December than any time in memory.
Thanks in advance for any portion of this for which a reply would benefit the broader community.
How do you make the message: link on iOS Mail? I canāt figure it out.
This 2007 script from Gruber still worked as of very recently.
But lately Iām using Hook for that. By default, it uses a hook link but it can be easily set to default to a message:// link.
This was a very interesting episode for me. Time to blow the dust off Keyboard Maestro and start playing with conflict palettes.
I guess Iāve been using contextual computing for more than 30 years! For nearly all that time, Iāve been a journalist, typing notes and writing articles in plain text files. Starting with an MS-DOS program called XyWrite in 1989, I discovered I could split the screen vertically with typed notes on one panel and the article draft in another, and write that way. This is still how I work. This episode gave me great ideas on how I can extend that work model further.
Often, nowadays, I find myself working in two separate apps: I still write and take notes into plain text files, but often Iām working from a Web page, or Microsoft Word document, or PDF, or PowerPoint. In that case, Iāll continue to use my split-screen method, and will often have the separate windows open in their own Space. That is the only time I use Spaces, and itās not daily. Like David, Iām not a fan of how the MacOS splits screens natively; I use Moom instead.
Regarding URLs for individual Apple Notes: I think Hook will generate those. I havenāt tried it so Iām not sure.
Regarding creating separate contexts containing all necessary resources: I use Finder folders, or DEVONThink Groups, for that. One folder or Group per project, with all the documents and even emails needed for that project contained in the folder. Neat and tidy.
Regarding using a notebook as the primary ā and only ā computer: Thatās been my work style most of the time since 1992. I use an external display, keyboard and trackball. For most of my career, Iāve spent roughly 1/4 of my time traveling, with the remainder of the time working from a home office. The notebook computer comes with me when I travel. When Iām home, it stays connected to the external peripherals. And of course it has remained connected that way since March ā it hasnāt budged. Nor have Iā¦
I have not found it to be a problem to disconnect and reconnect the notebook from its external peripherals. IIRC, itās two connections. Three if you count the power supply. Iāve looked into docks that might reduce the hassle, but IIRC they cost $150 and up. Thatās a lot to spend for a gadget Iāll only use every few weeks, even when itās safe to travel again.
Now Iām thinking about computing at the start of my career. Iāve had staff writing positions since 1985, and started typing my notes, at first just for phone interviews, right away. Back in the 80s, storage was so scant and expensive that the systems administrator would regularly come up to the newsroom to tell us we needed to delete documents to make room in storage. And they were just plain text files. Fast-forward 35 years to today, and I have big, fat audio files piling up on my iPhone, and I donāt worry about them filling up the device.
Drag and drop the message (all the scripts above are for the Mac, not iOS). See https://talk.automators.fm/t/universal-apple-mail-message-url/4702
Thanks for sending that link. iPadOS I can do using drag and drop. I didnāt realize the message url is now the same on iOS and macOS, I donāt think it was always that way. Getting this done on iOS seems to be at best very complicated and worst impossible. ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ Thanks again.
@MacSparky mentioned needing DEVONthink or Hook to link directly to files on the Mac. Itās not too hard to do something similar in Finder. Right click on the file and hold down option and choose Copy "filename" as Pathname. In KeyboardMaestro set up a āOpen a File, Folder or Applicationā action and paste the pathname into the āOpenā field. Running the action will open the file.
Now this does get a bit more complicated and less convenient if you want to paste a link to the file into an application thatās expecting URLs (I tested this in Things, but it ought to work similarly in other applications where you can paste in URL links and click on them). First off, you have to URL encode the pathname, then put āfile://ā at the front. Even then clicking on it will just open Finder to the appropriate folder with the file selected. Youāll need to hit āO to open it.
These are 2 very useful suggestions for someone like myself who is imminently about to add Keyboard Maestro to his Mac life. It seems like if I want to benefit from ādowndraftingā on David and this communityās knowledge, it would behoove me! A discount on the Field Guide is nice encouragement, tooā¦ helps offset the licensing (and time investment) costs a bit. Thanks again @ChrisUpchurch
This one is for @MacSparky ā¦
You were asking about ideas around using MIDI with Keyboard Maestro and it got me thinking. You seemed to be mostly talking about keyboard / piano MIDI, but I think the more accessible and practical angle is with USB MIDI controller devices like the Korg nanoKey or nanoPad. You get a bunch of buttons in a compact footprint for $50-100. And for a little more money, you can get into controllers like the Novation Launchpad Mini with a backlit grid of 64 buttons. There are a huge number of options out there like these.
You wouldnāt get the same kind of dynamic labeling as with something like a Stream Deck, but you can get a whole lot of assignable buttons for less money.
I have one of the nano controllers sitting on my desk and I just confirmed that you can easily program a button from it straight into Keyboard Maestro. No real idea what Iād use this for, but very cool regardless.
Thanks for all you guys are doing with MPU!
Really liked the āget off my chestā feel of this episode. Thanks for going into such detail, David, especially!
The tip about Alfred bookmark search is one Iāve already adopted. Iāve never been happy with the risk one takes in opening a blank browser, even if full of resolve to go straight to a destination.
Thereās a way to fetch the already encoded file:// link via Finderās AppleScript. Iāve set mine to auto expand wherever I type ;flink (via Keyboard Maestro typed string trigger).
tell application "Finder"
set theItem to the first item of (get selection)
set theURL to the URL of theItem
return theURL
end tell
Hereās how it looks like in Keyboard Maestro
Got that idea from @MacSparkyās TextExpander tip for executing AppleScripts via text expansion. From there, Iāve learned some AppleScript and looked for ways to fetch links to the current item in Finder, Things, Obsidian, Safariās frontomost tab URL, etc.
Some are really wonky, but the vast majority are very straightforward requiring almost not intervention on the scripts whatsoever. So here are a few more for anyone whoās looking for something like this and looking for inspiration.
If you want to use Keyboard Maestro, just copy the instructions from the screenshot and the scripts bellow into the Execute AppleScript textbox. I also recommend using the same ;Xlink grammar to help memorizing them (for me, Things is a ;tlink, Safari a ;saflink, Obsidian an olink, Evernote a ;elink, etc.)
I know Hook has a way to do this (invoking it with the source item open and hitting ā+C to get the link and then pasting it into the target app), but I find typing these text strings to be faster and not depending on a third-party app to tie them together.
Things
tell application "Things3"
set lista to selected to dos
set theItem to the first item of lista
set idItem to id of the first item of theItem
set linkThings to "things:///show?id=" & idItem
return linkThings
end tell
Safari
For the plain URL:
tell application "Safari"
tell window 1
set safLink to URL of current tab
end tell
end tell
return safLink
If you rather have a markdown input, I use this:
tell application "Safari"
tell window 1
set safLink to URL of current tab
set titulo to name of current tab
end tell
end tell
return "[" & titulo & "]" & "(" & safLink & ")"
Evernote
tell application "Evernote Legacy"
set lista to selection
set nota to first item of lista
set titulo to title of nota
set elink to note link of nota
return titulo & linefeed & elink
end tell
What I forgot to mention is that the Hook links actually follow the file after a move and/or rename. I thought that wasnāt possible with AppleScript. Iāll need to dig deeper on this.
I expect Keyboard Maestro to be around until Apple makes it impossible to use on the Mac or its developer dies.
I hope neither of those things happen anytime soon. Only one is inevitable but hopefully a long way in the future.
Wasnāt David talking about how frustrated he was that Finder didnāt have URL links?
Anyways, I found and adapted an AppleScript for just that issue. It takes the currently selected file, gets the file path, and then converts the file path into a Finder URL scheme, then copes the URL to my clipboard.
After Catalina, macOS finder added quick actions in the preview pane of finder. So basically, if I want a URL for a file in finder, I just click the button in the preview pane and then I already have the URL in my clipboard.
I would share the AppleScript with you guys here, but I canāt seem to find it. Sorry.
Youāre right in that both the AppleScript and the Keyboard Maestro Macro mentioned by @ChrisUpchurch wonāt update if the file moves or renames.
What you seem to have missed on show was the fact that Finder can produce these links (even if theyāre static) with some workarounds.
Those could be either with @ChrisUpchurch Keyborard Maestro Macro, a text expansion AppleScript or even the Quick Action suggested by @DandyLyons (btw, that AppleScript Iāve shared could be used for creating that Quick action by changing the return command to set the clipboard to).
@MacSparky @ismh, since both of you mentioned using and experimenting with Craft, I would love to hear a more in-depth assessment. Iāve only briefly looked at it. Iām using Drafts, Ulysses, Obsidian and DEVONthink extensively. And due to periodic syncing problems with Apple Notes, I seldom use it as I posted here.
Given that both of you also use DT, Drafts, and Ulysses, how does Craft complement your workflow? Why is Craft needed/helpful given the other apps you use? I for one would love to hear more about this in an upcoming episode.
Thanks again for the excellent podcast and forum.
Iāve used Craft as a note repository for my work notes, instead of them being mixed in with personal stuff in Apple Notes.
I would be very interested, and perhaps others would as well, how you differentiate your use of something like Devonthink versus Craft. Right now I have been storing all of my work related notes in DEVONthink along with the necessary research and resource documents. Iām trying to determine what utility Craft would add to my workflow equation. 
this may be too complex for the form but perhaps it could be addressed by you and or David in a subsequent podcast.
Hook has become a surprise for me in terms of usefulness, I didnāt give it enough credit when I tried it out when it was first released, but now itās become indispensable for certain project files.