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Crank

Effortless macOS automation
no manual required
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compatible with macOS 14.0+ (Sonoma and later)
The Crank app interface showing automation rules

When this happens, do that

The concept is simple: add a trigger (when I connect my headphones), set an action (switch audio output), and as if by magic, it just happens.
Actions can receive data about the event, like the headphones name, the screenshot file that was just taken, the calendar event that starts in 5 minutes, the battery level etc.

Templatable fields

All text fields like the URL from Open URL, the path in Open File or the notification title, can use the same event data.

Write actions in plain English

With support for Gemini and ChatGPT, actions can be generated by describing the operation using natural language.
The AI model will receive special context about utility binaries available on your system, so that it uses commands that work on your machine.

Private by default

AI features are disabled by default and only run when you press the Generate Code button. The context sent to the model does not contain any sensitive data.

Time window scheduling

Limit a rule to a time window and specific days of the week.
For example, a rule that connects to a VPN when launching the work Slack can be set to only fire on weekday mornings.
This can also be used to schedule actions to run daily at specific hours.

Rate limiting

Set a cooldown period on a rule to avoid triggering it multiple times in a short window.
File system events or ambient light changes can come in bursts. Without a limit, one blip could run your action ten times before it finishes.

Event log

Every trigger event is recorded and logged along with all its data.
Good for figuring out what your Mac is reacting to, or why a rule did or didn't fire.

Action history

Script output, exit codes, errors and the event that triggered the action are saved for each run.
If something triggered but didn't behave as expected, this is where to look.

Triggers

Crank listens for system events across the following categories:

  • Bluetooth — device connected, device disconnected, Bluetooth on/off
  • Wi-Fi — network joined, network left, Wi-Fi on/off
  • USB — device connected, device disconnected
  • Power — battery level, charging, screen lock/unlock, sleep/wake
  • Displays — monitor connected, monitor disconnected, display count changed
  • Application — app launched, quit, focused, defocused, not responding
  • App Windows — window opened, closed, focused, or defocused (with title, bounds, app info)
  • Time — a specific time of day reached
  • Calendar — event upcoming, event started
  • File Watcher — file created, changed, or deleted in a watched directory
  • Download — any file downloaded, or a file matching a name pattern
  • Screenshot — screenshot taken
  • Clipboard — item added to clipboard, specific content type detected
  • Process — any process launched or quit, filtered by name
  • Notifications — notification received from any app (macOS 15+)
  • Messages — iMessage/SMS received or sent
  • Mail — email received in Apple Mail
  • Privacy — camera, microphone, screen recording, or location in use
  • LAN — ethernet cable connected or disconnected
  • Focus Mode — a Focus mode turned on or off
  • Lid (MacBook only) — lid opened or closed
  • Ambient Light (MacBook only) — light level crossed a threshold
  • Lid Angle (MacBook only) — lid angle crossed a threshold
  • Resource Usage — CPU, GPU, RAM, thermal state, swap, or disk usage crossed a threshold
  • Spotlight — files being tagged in Finder, files matching a type, or files larger than a specific size
  • Audio — output/input device changed or connected
  • Visual Change — content change or idle detected in a Pipiri PiP window
  • User Activity — user has been idle for a certain time, or active for too long
  • Webhook — receive messages from ntfy.sh topics via persistent streaming connection
  • Volume — external drive or disk image mounted/unmounted
  • Periodic — fire on a cron schedule (standard 5-field expressions)
  • Boot — run once after system boot (within the first 5 minutes)
  • Script — a custom script that can trigger on zero exit code

Actions

Each rule runs one action when it fires:

  • Shell Script — run any zsh script, with event details available as environment variables
  • AppleScript — execute an AppleScript snippet
  • Shortcuts — run a macOS Shortcut by name
  • Notification — post a system notification with a custom title and body
  • Launch App — open an application
  • Open URL — open a URL in the default browser or a specific app
  • Open File — open a file, optionally with a specific app

Use cases

  • Turn off notifications when a call starts
  • Clear quarantine flag on a downloaded file
  • Connect to a VPN when joining a specific Wi-Fi network
  • Reposition windows when connecting a monitor
  • Enable HDR when watching a movie, disable it when getting back to work
  • Move downloaded invoice PDFs to an accounting folder
  • Switch audio output when connecting Bluetooth headphones
  • Disconnect Bluetooth devices before closing the MacBook lid
  • Turn off True Tone and Night Shift when editing photos or videos

Rule sharing

Each rule has a Share button that generates a unique URL you can share with others.

The URL encodes the rule's trigger, conditions, and action, so that anyone can import it with one click.

Below are some pre-made rules to get you started. Make sure Crank is running and just click each rule link to import it.

Apps & Windows

Displays & Video

Files & Storage

Communication

Network

How it works

Crank registers native listeners for macOS system events using CoreBluetooth, IOBluetooth, FSEvents, IOKit, and others. When an event fires and its conditions match, the action runs.

Shell scripts execute via /bin/zsh with your .zshrc sourced automatically, so your PATH, aliases, and functions are available.

All processing is done locally on your machine. No data is sent to any servers unless you explicitly enable Gemini or ChatGPT integration in settings.