iOS 15 Compatibility: There is a bug in Shortcuts on iOS 15 that prevents syncing of your shortcut library from the Shortcuts to MFC Deck. Until this bug is resolved by Apple (FB9585913), MFC Deck will be unavailable to download from the App Store.

MFC Deck Key Command

The MFC Deck Key Command shortcut works with MFC Deck to send keystrokes and keyboard shortcuts to a remote macOS computer. The screenshot below shows a deck for controlling the Mail application in macOS:

Adding Credentials

When you first install the shortcut, you’ll be prompted to enter the credentials of the remote macOS computer you wish to control.

Add the host, username, and password (in the credentials dictionary).

NOTE: The password to the macOS computer is stored in the clear. This is a limitation of the Shortcuts app. Do not share the shortcut after configuring it, as it may retain your computer’s credentials.

Enabling Accessibility in macOS

The shortcut works by opening an SSH connection to the remote Mac and sending an AppleScript using the shell command osascript.

In order for this shortcut to work, you must enable the following items on your Mac in System Preferences:

• Sharing > Remote Login: The Remote Login checkbox should be checked. This will allow the shortcut to log into the Mac using the supplied credentials.
• Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility: Terminal and System Events.app must be added to the list of apps that can control other apps. The shell command osascript will be sent from the Terminal application.

Input Format

Each card’s action runs the shortcut MFC Deck Key Command. The input to the shortcut can follow one of two formats:

Command

Enter a string that is the keyboard shortcut you want to send. For instance:

• Command N
• Command w
• command shift n

Case doesn’t matter. Supported modifier keys include:

• command
• option
• shift
• control

Additional strings you can enter include:

• return
• tab
• space
• delete
• forwarddelete
• linefeed
• escape
• leftarrow
• rightarrow
• downarrow
• uparrow
• insert
• home
• end
• pageup
• pagedown
• f1
• f2
• f3
• f4
• f5
• f6
• f7
• f8
• f9
• f10
• f11
• f12
• f13
• f14
• f15
• f16
• f17
• f18
• f19
• f20

For instance, this will send the Command-W command to the frontmost application:

Command w

Application + Command

Add a line above the command with the exact name of the application you wish to control. For instance:

Mail
command n

This will activate the Mail app and send the Command-N keystroke.

input

Specify the string input to display a simple interface in Shortcuts for sending arbitrary text to the remote Mac to manually send a keyboard shortcut.

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MFC Deck Shortcuts Gallery