This shortcut creates an OmniFocus action from a description you type or dictate. Apple Intelligence interprets the description and determines the title, note, dates, estimated duration, project, tag, and flag, which the shortcut uses to create the action. The action then opens in OmniFocus for you to review.
You don’t need to follow a particular format, and every detail beyond the action itself is optional. A few words are enough (e.g., “Call John tomorrow”). You can also include more, as you would when describing the action to a colleague (e.g., “I have a budget review with John on Friday at 2 pm, and I need to be prepared by then. I plan to spend 30 minutes getting ready on Thursday at 10 am. Add this to my Admin project and tag it with Prepare.”).
Using the Shortcut
Run the shortcut, describe the action, then tap or click Done. The action is then created and opens in OmniFocus.
Title – The shortcut creates a short title for the action that starts with a verb (e.g., “Prepare for budget review with John”).
Project – If you mention a project or single action list and only one matches, the action is added there. If more than one matches, choose one from a list, or choose the Inbox. If nothing matches, or you choose the Inbox, the action is added to your Inbox, and the project you mentioned is added to the note field.
Tag – If you mention a tag (e.g., “tag with Phone”) and only one tag matches, that tag is applied. If more than one tag matches, choose one from a list, or choose Untagged. If nothing matches, the tag you mentioned is added to the note field.
If you’d rather choose from a list even when only one project or tag matches, edit the shortcut and change Confirm Single Project Match, Confirm Single Tag Match, or both to Yes.
Flag – If you ask for the action to be flagged (e.g., “flag this”), the action is flagged. Describing the action as urgent or important doesn’t add a flag.
Defer Date – If you mention that the action can’t be started until a certain date or time (e.g., “I can’t start until Monday”), the shortcut sets a defer date.
Planned Date – If you mention when you plan to work on the action (e.g., “I’ll call John tomorrow at 10 am”), the shortcut sets a planned date and time.
Due Date – If you mention a date or time the action needs to be done by (e.g., “by Friday”), the shortcut sets a due date.
A weekday on its own (e.g., “Friday”) means the nearest upcoming Friday (today, if it’s Friday), and “next Friday” means Friday of the following week. If a date has no time, OmniFocus uses your default time for that date type. Morning, afternoon, and evening are set to 6:00 AM (06:00), 12:00 PM (12:00), and 6:00 PM (18:00).
Estimated Duration – If you mention how long you expect to spend on the action (e.g., “this should take 30 minutes”), the shortcut sets the estimated duration.
Note – Anything that doesn’t belong in the title, such as background information or details about the action, is added to the note field.
Related Shortcuts
Dictate to OmniFocus captures what you dictate directly to your OmniFocus Inbox, without interpreting it, for when you’d rather process items later.