MacOS – Can only run AppleScript from Automator

accessibilityapplescriptautomatormacosservices

I have the following AppleScript which toggles the scroll direction on the trackpad:

tell application "System Preferences"
    activate
    set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.trackpad"
end tell

tell application "System Events"
    tell process "System Preferences"
        click radio button "Scroll & Zoom" of tab group 1 of window "Trackpad"
        click checkbox 1 of tab group 1 of window "Trackpad"
    end tell
end tell

tell application "System Preferences"
    quit
end tell

This script runs without issues when the "play" button in Automator is used to execute it. However, when I make a service that runs it and assigned a keyboard shortcut to the service, it fails to run via the keyboard shortcut.

Wrapping it in a try block with some error reporting yields the following:

Automator Runner is not allowed assistive access.

Error number-1728

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I found Automator Runner.app and gave it assistive access using the instructions found here.

It now appears with a checked box in the list of applications with assistive access:

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However, the issue persists. I continue to get the same message notifying me that Automator Runner is not allowed assistive access. when trying to run the script using the keyboard command of the service that runs the script.

Update

I just succeeded at implementing this alternative script to accomplish the same thing, but it also only works when Automator has focus and has the same issue when it does not:

tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal anchor "trackpadTab" of pane "com.apple.preference.trackpad"
end tell
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
    click checkbox 1 of tab group 1 of window 1
end tell
quit application "System Preferences"

Best Answer

Important note regarding AppleScript actions in Automator workflows.
Hopefully this helps others who are looking for a fix.

Assistive Access

If your script uses things like tell application "System Events" to get UI data from app windows or send virtual keystrokes, etc, then it'll require "assistive access".

This may be called different things in different versions of Mac OS, but can generally be found in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility, under "Allow the apps below to control your computer".

Enabling assistive access for the Automator and Script Editor applications will allow your workflows and scripts to run from those tools, but not when saved as standalone apps. In theory, enabling access for any app should also let it talk to System Events.

Problem with AppleScripts run from Automator Actions

But as many have discovered, Automator often has issues creating apps that can be granted assistive access, when such apps contain AppleScript code. Not to mention the fact that services cannot be granted such permissions at all, since they aren't apps.

Workaround

However, you can build standalone AppleScript apps from the Script Editor application instead, and grant them assistive access without issue.

You can then run such apps as part of an Automator or shell workflow, like this:

AppleScript action in Automator

do shell script "osascript -e 'tell application \"My Granted App Name\" to activate'"

Shell Script
(can also be from an Automator action)

osascript -e 'tell application "My Granted App Name" to activate'

This also works for creating services in Automator. Just have your service run the permission-granted app, rather than trying to add permission-requiring code to the service itself.

Note that the tell app call doesn't require the ".app" extension, or even a path. If you have many apps with the same name, there should be a way to get the app by its bundle identifier, etc.

Other IDEs

I'm not sure if this is a problem specific to Automator, since I haven't tried calling fancy AppleScripts from apps built with tools other than that and Script Editor. Either way, the above should work for other IDEs/compilers/etc. as well.

Re-Building your App

In most cases, editing and re-building a granted app requires it be re-granted access. So it helps to test everything well in Automator/Script Editor before you build the standalone app, to save you the trouble. If your script is called by a larger project you routinely recompile, it's best to turn that script into its own app to grant it access once, and run the app from your larger project. At least until the larger project is finalized.

For apps used by multiple scripts, you could keep them in a consistent spot like a custom /Applications/Tools/Scripts folder. However, remember that any third-party code can launch apps and thus activate your potentially sensitive scripts. It's important to consider security implications when creating code that using assistive access.

When Re-Granting Doesn't Work

There are times when re-granting a rebuilt app doesn't "take". In such cases, renaming the app and re-adding it via System Preferences usually solves this. You should be able to re-name the app back to its original at a later time. This is a bug with how Assistive Access caches its list of apps, and the filename and/or path are involved somehow. If anyone knows how to clear this cache, please add a comment; it would be very helpful.

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