macOS 27 will let you type shortcuts—eventually

At WWDC, Apple showed that macOS 27 will use generative AI to build Apple Shortcuts from plain language—but it won’t arrive until autumn. In the meantime, Federico Viticci’s “Shortcuts Playground” offers an early, AI-assisted workaround using Claude Code or Op

By the time you’ve built a few Apple Shortcuts, you stop thinking of them as “features” and start thinking of them as tiny, personal workflows you can summon on demand. The problem is the same every time: getting there can be tedious.

That’s why the promise buried inside this year’s WWDC announcements hits so hard for people who live in Shortcuts. In macOS 27, you’ll be able to make Apple Shortcuts using generative artificial intelligence—just by typing what you want the shortcut to do, and having the app build it.

It’s the kind of idea that makes you imagine less time wrestling with steps and more time getting results. Even if it doesn’t work perfectly at first—AI-built things rarely do—it’s still a starting point you can tweak to match how you actually work.

The catch is timing. This feature doesn’t launch until autumn, when version 27 of Apple’s operating systems comes out.

If you can’t wait, one person already built a way to test the concept early: Federico Viticci, who founded and runs the MacStories blog, created his own tool called Shortcuts Playground. It runs in either Claude Code or OpenAI’s Codex.

There’s a real cost difference right away. OpenAI’s Codex is free for now. Claude Code, by contrast, requires at least a Pro plan, which starts at $20 per month.

To use Shortcuts Playground, you first need to install the Shortcuts Playground agent. The instructions are posted on GitHub, and the setup involves copying and pasting a command into the Terminal. The specific command isn’t included here because it could change.

Once the agent is installed, you trigger it by typing “/” followed by “shortcuts.” A list of options then appears. If you’re starting from scratch. Viticci recommends using the shortcuts-playground:build option. followed by a rough description of what you want the shortcut to do. There’s also a shortcuts-playground:remix option, meant for making changes to existing shortcuts.

As the agent works, it can sometimes stop to ask for more information. Other times, it explains what is and isn’t possible to build in Apple Shortcuts.

I tested it by asking for a shortcut that compiled today’s weather, my calendar appointments, and my to-do list for the day—then read everything out loud. The agent went to work on the request.

That’s the moment the idea becomes tangible: even before macOS 27 arrives, you can feel what the future might be like when the slow, manual part of shortcut-building is replaced by a simple description—and a bit of AI doing the heavy lifting.

macOS 27 Apple Shortcuts generative AI WWDC Federico Viticci Shortcuts Playground Claude Code OpenAI Codex productivity automation