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# Automator

Develop actions that the Automator app can load and run. View, edit, and run Automator workflows in your app.

## Overview

The Automator framework supports the development of actions for the Automator app, as well as the ability to run a workflow in developer apps. An *action* is a bundle that, when loaded and run, performs a specific task, such as copying a file or cropping an image. Using Automator, users can construct and execute *workflows* consisting of a sequence of actions. Developers can also load and execute workflows in their apps. As a workflow executes, the output of one action is typically passed as the input to the next action. Automator loads action bundles from standard locations in the file system: `/System/Library/Automator`, `/Library/Automator`, and `~/Library/Automator`.

## Topics

### Actions

[`AMBundleAction`](/documentation/Automator/AMBundleAction)

An object that represents an Automator action that’s a loadable bundle.

[`AMShellScriptAction`](/documentation/Automator/AMShellScriptAction)

An object that represents Automator actions whose runtime behavior is driven by a shell script or by a Perl or Python script.

[`AMAction`](/documentation/Automator/AMAction)

An abstract class that defines the interface and general characteristics of Automator actions.

### Workflows

[`AMWorkflow`](/documentation/Automator/AMWorkflow)

An object that lets you use an Automator workflow in your app.

[`AMWorkflowController`](/documentation/Automator/AMWorkflowController)

An object that lets you manage an Automator workflow in your app.

[`AMWorkflowView`](/documentation/Automator/AMWorkflowView)

An object that lets you view and edit Automator workflows in your app.

[`AMWorkspace`](/documentation/Automator/AMWorkspace)

A workspace for running an Automator workflow.

### Errors

[`AMAutomatorErrorDomain`](/documentation/Automator/AMAutomatorErrorDomain)

A string that identifies the Automator error domain.

[`AMActionErrorKey`](/documentation/Automator/AMActionErrorKey)

A key to retrieve the action that caused an error.

[`AMError`](/documentation/Automator/AMError)

An Automator error.

[`AMError.Code`](/documentation/Automator/AMError/Code)

Automator error codes.

### Deprecated

[`AMAppleScriptAction`](/documentation/Automator/AMAppleScriptAction)

An object that represents Automator actions whose runtime behavior is driven by an AppleScript script.


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