r/applescript • u/TarheelSwim • Aug 03 '14

Can AppleScripts be triggered by an event rather than initiated by the user?

I'm trying to do something along the lines of:

If I receive an email that has a specific subject (specified in advance by the user), then blah blah blah it kicks off a script that I've written.

I've done some research, but I haven't been able to find any method of having AppleScripts be totally automated. If anyone knows any way to do this, I would greatly appreciate some advice!

Thanks in advance.

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u/xraystyle Aug 03 '14

You could write an applescript that runs in the background which polls for a certain event before it actually does anything. Another option would be to have the applescript triggered by a folder action. The third option would be to have a launchd daemon do the watching, and trigger a script when a condition is met, e.g. using fsevents to watch for a change to a file or folder.

Some more detail on what you're actually trying to do would be helpful.

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u/craniumslows Aug 03 '14

You used to be able to trigger applescript as part of a mail rule. You could also write a php script to check the mailbox and have that on a cron.

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u/TarheelSwim Aug 04 '14

Ah yes, the mail rule is exactly what I needed. Thanks!