Helper Shortcut
Shortcuts Toolbox Helper is a small companion shortcut you add to your own library. It’s required — it’s what enables Shortcuts Toolbox to extract metadata, move shortcuts between folders, delete shortcuts, and search your library.
Install it first. Click the button to add Shortcuts Toolbox Helper to your library in the Shortcuts app, then come back here.
Why it’s required
Apple’s Shortcuts app exposes only a thin URL scheme to the outside world — enough to run a shortcut, but not enough to inspect or manage your library. Shortcuts Toolbox Helper fills those gaps. It runs inside the Shortcuts app, where it has the access the URL scheme doesn’t, and hands the results back to Shortcuts Toolbox. Without it, the app can’t read a shortcut’s actions, move it, delete it, or search across your library.
What it can do
Shortcuts Toolbox Helper is a single shortcut that responds to several requests. Each one works around a specific limitation of Apple’s URL scheme:
Extract metadata
Pull a shortcut’s full details — icon, actions, JSON, plist, file size, and dates.
Move between folders
Relocate a shortcut from one folder to another without touching the Shortcuts app yourself.
Delete a shortcut
Remove a shortcut from your library directly from Shortcuts Toolbox.
Search your library
Find shortcuts by search term or folder, returning matches for the app to work with.
Open a folder
Jump straight to a folder in the Shortcuts app when you want to pick up where the toolbox left off.
Detect changes
Report which shortcuts have been modified so the toolbox knows what to re-read.
Fetch iCloud link
Retrieve a shortcut’s iCloud share link so you can hand it off or publish it.
The helper is part of getting set up. If you haven’t yet, start with Installation to get Shortcuts Toolbox on your Mac, then walk through the Quick Start to connect everything and run your first shortcut.