How to automate window layouts on a Mac
Open your morning apps in the right places with one command. Shortcuts, Terminal and links that set up a whole window layout on a Mac automatically.
If you arrange the same windows the same way every morning, that is a job for a script.
With what macOS has
The Shortcuts app can open apps and, with AppleScript, set window positions for apps that support it. It is fragile: positions are fixed numbers that break when you change displays.
Layouts as links
ClutterFreeMac saves layouts by name, as an order of apps and widths rather than pixel positions, so they fit whatever display you are on. Each layout and command has a link:
open -g "clutterfreemac://layout/Writing"
open -g "clutterfreemac://run/cycleWidth"Use them from Terminal, from a Shortcuts action that opens a URL, from Raycast or Alfred, or from a calendar alert. Settings, Automation copies a small Terminal helper so cfm layout Writing works too.
Missing apps open on the way, so one link can set up your whole morning.
Questions
Can a Mac open apps in specific positions automatically?
With AppleScript, partly. A window manager with saved layouts does it more reliably and adapts to the display you are on.
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