Spotlight, Siri & Shortcuts

The official SpotAsk release registers app actions that macOS can expose to Spotlight, Siri, and Shortcuts. It also registers the spotask:// URL scheme for Alfred, Raycast, terminal scripts, and Shortcuts.

Open Settings in SpotAsk

Opens the Shortcuts page in SpotAsk. If SpotAsk is not installed this link does nothing — open it by hand instead: SpotAsk menu bar icon → Settings... → Shortcuts, or press ⌘ + , to open Settings. Direct link: spotask://settings/shortcuts

Quick Summary

SpotAsk integrates deeply with native macOS system entrypoints by registering App Intents for Spotlight, Siri, and Apple Shortcuts, alongside an authenticated spotask:// URL scheme. This enables friction-free AI invocation from Alfred, Raycast, terminal scripts, keyboard macros, and automated macOS workflows without keeping the main chat window open.

Applicable Scenarios

• Launcher Automation (Raycast & Alfred): Summon SpotAsk with a pre-filled query directly from Raycast, Alfred, or custom hotkeys via spotask://ask?q={query}.
• Hands-Free Voice Control with Siri: Speak "Ask SpotAsk a question" or "Ask SpotAsk to translate [text]" on macOS to trigger instant voice-to-text queries.
• Multi-Step Shortcuts Automation: Build Apple Shortcuts workflows that capture selected files, clipboard clippings, or webpage text and pass them into SpotAsk prompts like Translate, Summarize, or Ask AI.

Prerequisites & Compatibility

Requirement	Specification	Notes
Operating System	macOS 15.0 (Sequoia) or later	App Intents and Spotlight deep integration require macOS 15+
Application Version	SpotAsk v0.1.0+ official signed release	Universal binary (arm64 Apple Silicon & x86_64 Intel)
Code Signing	Apple Developer ID signed application	Required for macOS system daemons to recognize and index App Intents
Installation Path	/Applications/SpotAsk.app	Launch at least once after installation to register URL schemes and intents
Supported Launchers	Apple Spotlight, Siri, Shortcuts, Raycast, Alfred	Any tool capable of opening spotask:// URLs or running macOS Shortcuts

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Install and Register: Place SpotAsk.app in /Applications and launch it once to register the spotask:// URL handler and App Intents with macOS.
2. Summon via Global Hotkey: Press ⌥ + Space (default) to summon the floating question window from any application — if ChatGPT's Option+Space is not working or opens Mini.
3. Trigger from Spotlight: Press ⌘ + Space, type SpotAsk, and choose an action such as Ask SpotAsk a question or Translate.
4. Trigger via Terminal or URL: Run open "spotask://ask?q=What%20is%20Swift%20concurrency" from Terminal or a script to launch and query SpotAsk immediately.
5. Automate in Shortcuts: Open the macOS Shortcuts app, search for SpotAsk, and add actions like Ask AI, Summarize, or Translate to your automations.
6. Navigate to Settings Directly: Use stable deep-links like open "spotask://settings/shortcuts" or open "spotask://settings/provider" to jump straight to specific settings panels.

Visual Proof

Figure 1: SpotAsk responds instantly to global macOS summoning hotkeys and system-level URL triggers, displaying a lightweight floating interface.

Known Limitations & Boundaries

• URL Parameter Percent-Encoding: Queries passed via spotask://ask?q=... must be RFC 3986 percent-encoded; raw spaces, ampersands, or non-ASCII characters without encoding may be truncated by macOS URL dispatchers.
• Self-Built / Ad-Hoc Build Limitations: If building SpotAsk locally from source without an Apple Developer ID certificate (using a free Personal Team), macOS Shortcuts and Spotlight will not index App Intents until the app is run from Xcode.
• Cold Launch Behavior: If SpotAsk is not running when a spotask:// link is invoked, macOS launches the app first; the action executes immediately once initialization completes.
• Background Persistence: SpotAsk runs as an accessory menu bar application without a dock icon by default; closing the chat window hides the UI while keeping shortcuts and URL listeners active.

Available actions

• Open SpotAsk opens the question window.
• Ask AI asks a question.
• Translate, Explain, Summarize, and Polish run the matching built-in prompt on content you provide.
• New Conversation clears the current conversation and opens SpotAsk.

Spotlight

Search for SpotAsk in Spotlight and choose an action such as Ask SpotAsk a question, then enter your content or question.

Siri

Ask Siri to use a SpotAsk action, for example "Ask SpotAsk to translate [text]".

Shortcuts

Open the Shortcuts app and search for SpotAsk actions. Add an action with its required content, or build a larger shortcut that passes text, a question, or another shortcut's output to SpotAsk.

URL scheme

Open these links from another app, a shortcut, or Terminal. Spaces and other special characters in a question must be percent-encoded.

URL	What it does
spotask://open	Opens the question window
spotask://ask?q=Your%20question	Fills in the question and sends it
spotask://ask?q=Your%20question&submit=false	Fills in the question without sending
spotask://toggle	Shows or hides the question window
spotask://settings	Opens Settings
spotask://settings/<page>	Opens one Settings page

<page> is a stable ASCII id, never a localized interface title:

Page id	Settings page
provider	Service
prompts	Prompts
external-ask	External Ask
selection-assistant	Selection Assistant
shortcuts	Shortcuts
general	General
appearance	Appearance
about	About

Ids are case-insensitive. A missing or unknown id, an extra path segment, or a fragment falls back to plain Settings instead of failing.

From Terminal:

open "spotask://ask?q=What%20is%20Swift%20concurrency"

If SpotAsk is not running, the URL launches it and then runs the command. If it is already in the menu bar, the command runs immediately.

Custom builds

System integrations work in the official release. If you build SpotAsk yourself, the app must be signed with an Apple development team, and you should run it once from Xcode before using its actions in Shortcuts. Personal Team builds are for personal use and may need to be rebuilt periodically.

Related: Prompts, Getting Started