Build Powerful AI Shortcuts on Mac With Apple Intelligence

Apple Intelligence brings a transformative action to the Shortcuts app in macOS Tahoe: the ability to process, generate, and transform text using on-device AI. You can build automations that summarize meeting notes, rewrite drafts in different tones, extract key points from long documents, and generate original content based on your prompts. The action works entirely on your Mac's Neural Engine, so your data stays private while you gain genuine productivity benefits.

Key Takeaways

• Access the Apple Intelligence action in Shortcuts by searching for "Apple Intelligence" in the action library
• Use "Transform" mode to rewrite existing text (make it professional, friendly, or concise)
• Use "Generate" mode to create new text from a prompt and optional source material
• Combine Apple Intelligence with file actions to process documents automatically
• Build workflows that run on schedule or trigger from Finder Quick Actions
• All processing happens on-device through your Mac's Neural Engine

The Apple Intelligence action lives in the Shortcuts app alongside every other automation building block. Open Shortcuts, create a new shortcut, and search for "Apple Intelligence" in the action library. You will find a single, flexible action that handles text transformation and generation depending on how you configure it.

Transform Mode Rewrites What You Already Have

Transform mode takes existing text and rewrites it according to your instructions. The action accepts any text input, whether that comes from a previous action in your shortcut, a file on disk, or text you paste manually. You provide a prompt describing what transformation you want, and Apple Intelligence returns the rewritten version.

I find this particularly useful for preparing email drafts. A shortcut can grab selected text from any app, pass it to Apple Intelligence with an instruction like "rewrite this to be more concise and professional," then copy the result to my clipboard. The whole operation takes about two seconds on an M-series Mac, and the results consistently improve my first drafts without losing the original meaning.

The prompt field accepts natural language, so you can be specific: "make this sound friendlier while keeping all the technical details" or "shorten this to under 100 words." Apple Intelligence interprets your intent rather than following rigid templates.

Generate Mode Creates Text From Scratch

Generate mode works differently. Instead of transforming existing content, it creates new text based on a prompt you provide. You can optionally include source material as context, which dramatically improves the output quality for tasks like summarization.

Building a document summarizer demonstrates this well. Create a shortcut that accepts files as input, reads the text content, then passes that content to Apple Intelligence with a prompt like "summarize this document in five bullet points highlighting the main arguments." The shortcut can save the summary to a new file or display it in a Quick Look window.

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Practical Workflows Worth Building

The Meeting Notes Processor takes a text file of rough meeting notes and outputs a formatted summary with action items separated from discussion points. Set the prompt to "organize these meeting notes into a summary section and an action items section with owner names and deadlines." Run it against any notes file by right-clicking in Finder and selecting the shortcut from Quick Actions.

The Email Draft Assistant accepts a rough idea or bullet points and generates a complete email draft. The prompt instructs Apple Intelligence to expand the points into a professional email while maintaining a specific tone. I keep different versions of this shortcut for different contexts: one that generates formal correspondence, another for casual team updates.

The Document Comparison Helper processes two documents and identifies key differences in their positions or arguments. This requires a Generate prompt that references both inputs: "compare these two documents and list the three most significant differences in their conclusions." Useful for reviewing contract revisions or comparing research sources.

Combining Apple Intelligence With Other Actions

The real power emerges when you chain Apple Intelligence with other Shortcuts actions. A PDF workflow can extract text from a document using the built-in Extract Text action, process that text through Apple Intelligence for summarization, then create a new text file with the summary. Add a Send Mail action and you have a one-click workflow that summarizes any PDF and emails it to your team.

Pair these automations with tools like <a href="https://www.zoneofmac.com/gain-total-control-of-tasks-with-apple-reminders-in-macos-tahoe/">Apple Reminders in macOS Tahoe</a> and you create a complete productivity system where AI handles text processing while Reminders tracks what needs your attention next.

Schedule-based automations run these workflows automatically. A shortcut triggered every Friday afternoon could scan your Downloads folder for PDFs added that week, summarize each one, and compile everything into a weekly reading digest. The Shortcuts app supports time-based triggers through the Automations tab, though you need to confirm each run unless you explicitly allow automatic execution.

Finder Quick Actions expose your shortcuts directly in the right-click menu. Any shortcut that accepts files as input appears automatically when you right-click matching file types. This removes the friction of opening Shortcuts app every time you want to process something.

Security Matters for AI Workflows

When you build automations that handle sensitive documents, the security of your workflow matters. Apple Intelligence processes everything on-device, which addresses the privacy concerns inherent in cloud-based AI services. Your documents never leave your Mac during processing.

But the shortcuts themselves can send data elsewhere if you include actions like Send Mail or Save to Dropbox. Review each action in your workflow to understand where your processed text might travel.

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Accessibility and Clarity

Apple Intelligence actions in Shortcuts work well with VoiceOver. The action configuration interface uses standard macOS controls that screen readers handle correctly. When building shortcuts, VoiceOver announces each field and its current value, making it possible to construct complex workflows without visual reference.

The generated output respects your system's text settings. If you have increased text sizes or high contrast enabled, any text displayed by your shortcut through Show Result or Quick Look actions renders according to those preferences. For users who rely on <a href="https://www.zoneofmac.com/transform-your-mac-with-these-powerful-accessibility-features/">Mac accessibility features</a>, the predictable input-output structure of Shortcuts provides clear cause and effect: you run the shortcut, you get the result, with no unexpected intermediate states.

One consideration: Apple Intelligence processing time varies with input length. For very long documents, the shortcut may appear unresponsive for several seconds. Adding a Show Notification action before the Apple Intelligence action helps signal that processing has begun, which reduces cognitive load for users who might otherwise wonder whether the automation is working.

Building Your First Apple Intelligence Shortcut

Open Shortcuts from your Applications folder or Spotlight. Click the plus button in the top-left corner to create a new shortcut. In the search field on the right side, type "Apple Intelligence" and drag the action into your workflow area.

Click the action to configure it. Choose Transform if you want to rewrite existing text, or Generate if you want to create new text. Type your prompt in the Instructions field. For Transform mode, you also need to provide input text, either by adding a preceding action that produces text or by selecting "Ask Each Time" to paste text manually when the shortcut runs.

Test your shortcut by clicking the play button. If the output satisfies you, give your shortcut a descriptive name and consider adding it to your menu bar or assigning a keyboard shortcut through System Settings.

Quick-Action Checklist

• Open Shortcuts app (Command-Space, type "Shortcuts")
• Create new shortcut (plus button, top-left)
• Search for "Apple Intelligence" and add the action
• Select Transform or Generate mode
• Write your prompt in the Instructions field
• Add input source (file, clipboard, or Ask Each Time)
• Test with play button
• Name your shortcut descriptively
• Optional: Enable as Quick Action in shortcut settings
• Optional: Assign keyboard shortcut in System Settings

Apple Intelligence support in Shortcuts opens possibilities that previously required third-party services, API subscriptions, or manual effort. The on-device processing keeps your data private while delivering results fast enough for real-time use. Whether you need quick email rewrites or automated document processing, these AI-powered shortcuts integrate directly into how you already use your Mac.