dfay

You can use Applescript to write a workflow that behaves differently depending on which computer it's running on.  Basically you'd set your hotkey to call an Applescript like this:
 
set theComp to computer name of (system info) if theComp = "computer A" then // do something else if theComp = "computer B" then return end if  

Currently, if a workflow extends beyond the bottom of the editor window in Alfred Preferences, it's only possible to scroll as far down as the bottom edge of the lowest element.
 
This makes it mildly tricky to add an element beneath that (i.e. start a new row). You have to create it somewhere in the middle of your existing elements, then drag it down into position.
 
It'd be helpful if Alfred allowed you to scroll down about a row's worth of pixels beyond the bottom of the lowest element, so you can create elements where you want them.
 
It's a fairly minor thing, but if it's easy to implement, I think it would improve the workflow-building experience a wee bit.

Are you using option-space as your hotkey for Alfred?  The script is trying to get Evernote to do something by simulating an option-space keypress in System Events.

I should know since I did this three times in the past year.... as I recall I just pointed the new installation at the existing sync folder on dropbox (obviously you need to reinstall the dropbox client first and let it finish syncing). I'd make a backup first and just try that. I certainly don't recall any problems or needing to do any additional configuration.

Keen observation! That solved my problem, thanks.
Funny coincidence that they were using the same key combination, so I changed the one used in Evernote.

By the way....if you don't have it already, this is invaluable:
 
http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/2224-reference-importer/?hl=%2Breference+%2Bimporter

Wait! I figured it out. Thanks for the suggestion. 

Thank you all for help. I have made it work with having this script be run right after the hotkey trigger : 
 

It's not completely arbitrary because Alfred can't include everything and this is very, very easy to do.
Add a Run Script Action Set Language to /bin/bash Put the following in the Script box: pbpaste You now have a Clipboard Contents Input.
 
Getting the clipboard contents in Python: 
import subprocess   def get_clipboard():     """Return clipboard contents as Unicode."""     s = subprocess.check_output(['pbpaste'])     return s.decode('utf-8')

Yup! I've been digging into this for a Safari workflow I'm working on.

It stores a whole bunch (many thousands) of .webhistory files in ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Safari/History
 
Drag one of those to a File Filter to search your Safari history. I wouldn't recommend adding your history to your default scope, as the entries might overwhelm your other results.
 
The UTI is com.apple.safari.history
 
Safari also exports its bookmarks (to ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Safari/Bookmarks with the extension .webbookmark and UTI com.apple.safari.bookmark).
 
 
OmniFocus also exports its metadata to files under ~/Library/Caches/Metadata. I hope this is something a lot of apps start doing. It's very handy.

Material Design Theme 
 
For Material Design lovers 
 
Note: I have not tested it yet on Alfred 2
 
Download All Themes
https://goo.gl/3g9uef
 
Download Single Theme
Click the download link below the theme name Save as the file (keep the extension to be .alfredappeareance)  
Light Themes
 
Material Tosca
 
Download
https://goo.gl/Zfq1oy
 

 
 
Material Purple
 
Download
https://goo.gl/Keffj2
 

 
 
Material Green
 
Download
https://goo.gl/x46hAh
 

 
Material Blue Grey
 
Download
https://goo.gl/7hJEuA
 

 
Material Brown
 
Download
https://goo.gl/UJT1TG
 

 
 
Material Red
 
Download
https://goo.gl/BzS657
 

 
 
Material Blue
 
Download
https://goo.gl/rbrnZ5
 

 
 
Material Yellow
 
Download
https://goo.gl/NgvVna
 

 
Material Pink
 
Download
https://goo.gl/CKB8M1
 

 
 
Dark Themes
 
Material Tosca Dark
 
Download
https://goo.gl/rjY8NF
 

 
Material Blue Dark
 
Download
https://goo.gl/ZepPZ9
 

 
 
Material Blue Grey Dark
 
Download
https://goo.gl/sjeNPD
 

 
 
Material Red Dark
 
Download
https://goo.gl/mjHefJ
 

 
Hope you like it!

Yes...undoubtedly! However as:
I am a beginner with Alfred; and I don't really need the workflow I seem to have developed I may leave that for the moment. Nevertheless, I'd not have got this far without your help—which is much appreciated.
 
Stephen

Often I run a workflow and then immediately think of something I should add to it.  It would be great to have a way to have a keyword or hotkey that would immediate Alfred's preferences open to the last workflow I ran.
 
 

This fixed it! So I did:
 
Removed entry from user defined file types in Alfred Rebuild launch services with command below Add a markdown file (with extension .md) /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain user
 
Thanks!!!

nah I don't think it's possible - if Doug Adams doesn't have a script for it, you can pretty much assume it can't be done yet.  In Sierra maybe.

You should use a Run Script object instead of Terminal Command.
 
Alternatively you can do this without a workflow at all using a snippet with dynamic placeholders - see https://www.alfredapp.com/help/features/clipboard/dynamic-placeholders/

It would be great to be able to hold a modifier key when opening an app from Alfred, and have it open in the background without stealing focus.
 
This can be done from the command line with 
 
open -g path/to/app
 
and I could create workflows for each of my commonly used apps to allow this....but it would be great as a built-in feature.

Note: This post is out of date as of Alfred 3.6 (which introduced AppleScript functions to set and remove variables).

There is an updated version on my own site: Workflow/environment variables in Alfred.

This post will not be updated due to the difficulty of editing complex posts using the forum software. Sorry.
 
 
This is a brief look at how to get, set and save variables in code (i.e. in Script Filters, Run Script Actions, etc.).

In Alfred 2, you had one single variable to work with: the {query} macro. Alfred 3 adds the ability to specify as many variables as you want. Alfred's own help provides a great description of working with variables in Alfred's own UI. I'm going to look more closely about getting and setting workflow/environment variables in your own code within a workflow.

First of all, it bears mentioning that all variables are strings. Sure, you can set a variable to a number in JSON, but when it reaches your next script or one of Alfred's Filter Utilities, it will be a string. If you set a variable to an array (e.g. [1, 2, 3, "mach dat Mäh mal ei"]), Alfred will turn it into a single, tab-delimited string ("1\t2\t3\tmach dat Mäh mal ei").

Setting variables

There are several ways to set variables. The most obvious ones are in the Workflow Environment Variables table in the workflow configuration sheet and using the Arg and Vars Utility. The configuration sheet is largely without magic, but in an Args and Vars Utility, you can use variable expansion macros: {query} expands (as always) to the input (which may be a user-entered query or the output from a previous Action), and you can use {var:VARIABLE_NAME} macros for your own custom variables.  This is described in detail in the above-mentioned help pages.

More interestingly, you can also set variables via the output of your scripts (i.e. dynamically) by emitting appropriate JSON. How you set variables depends on whether you are using a Script Filter or a Run Script action.

You must use the appropriate mechanism, or it won't work.

From Run Script actions

Let's say your script outputs a URL, e.g. https://www.google.com. Normally you just do print('https://www.google.com') (or echo or puts) and that gets passed as the input to the next action. To also pass variables, you instead emit JSON in a very specific format:
{"alfredworkflow": {     "arg": "https://www.google.com",     "variables": {"browser": "Google Chrome"}}} The root alfredworkflow object is required. If it's missing, Alfred won't parse the JSON, but will pass it as-is as input to the next action (which can also be very useful). Your output (i.e. the next Action's input/{query}) goes in arg, and any variables you wish to set go in the variables object.

From Script Filters

You can also set workflow variables via Script Filter feedback at three different levels: the root level, the item level and the modifier level. (Note: This only applies to JSON feedback; XML feedback is now deprecated and does not support the features described here.)

In each case, variables are set via a variables object at the appropriate level (feedback root, item or mod).

Root-level variables

Root-level variables are always passed to downstream elements regardless of which item is actioned. They are also passed back to the same Script Filter if you've set rerun, so you can use root-level variables to implement a progress bar.

browser is set to Safari for all items:
{"variables": {"browser": "Safari"},  "items": [{"title": "Google",    "arg": "https://www.google.com"}]}
Item-level variables

Item-level variables are only passed downstream when the item they're set on is actioned, and they override root-level variables. Root-level variables are also passed downstream when you action an item.

browser is set to Safari by default, but Google Chrome for Reddit:
{"variables": {"browser": "Safari"},  "items": [    {"title": "Google",      "arg": "https://www.google.com"},    {"title": "Reddit",      "arg": "https://reddit.com",      "variables": {"browser": "Google Chrome"}}]}
Modifier-level variables

Modifier-level variables are only passed downstream when the corresponding item is actioned with the appropriate modifier key pressed. They replace item- and root-level variables (i.e. if a modifier sets any variables, Alfred ignores any root- and item-level variables).

As above, browser is set to Safari by default and Google Chrome for Reddit. But you can also pass browser=Google Chrome for Google by holding ⌘ when actioning it:
{"variables": {"browser": "Safari"},  "items": [    {"title": "Google",      "arg": "https://www.google.com",      "mods" {"cmd": {"variables": {"browser": "Google Chrome"}}}},    {"title": "Reddit",      "arg": "https://reddit.com",      "variables": {"browser": "Google Chrome"}}]}
Using variables

So you've set a few variables, and now you want to use them. Within Alfred elements like Arg and Vars or Filter Utilities, you use the above-mentioned {var:VARIABLE_NAME} macros. Very simple.

Where it gets a little more complicated is in your own code. First and foremost, {var:VARIABLE_NAME} macro expansion does not work in Run Script Actions (or Run NSAppleScript).

When Alfred runs your code, it does not use {var:...} macros, but rather takes any workflow variables and sets them as environment variables for your script. Using the above example again, Alfred would pass "https://www.google.com" to my script as input (either via ARGV or {query} depending on the settings) and it would set the environment variable browser to Safari or Google Chrome. How you retrieve environment variables depends on the language you're using.

Accessing environment variables in different languages

In bash/zsh, the variables are already in the global namespace. Just use $browser

In Python, use the os.environ dictionary or os.getenv('VARIABLE_NAME'):
import os browser = os.environ['browser'] # Or browser = os.getenv('browser')
In AppleScript, use system attribute:
set theBrowser to (system attribute "browser")
In JavaScript (JXA), use $.getenv():
ObjC.import('stdlib') var browser = $.getenv('browser')
In PHP, use getenv():

(Please see this comment by juliosecco on why you should use getenv() over $_ENV.)
$browser = getenv('browser'); // Or $browser = $_ENV['browser'];
In Ruby, use ENV:
browser = ENV["browser"]
Saving variables
 
NOTE: This section is out of date as of Alfred 3.6. Please see the updated version linked at the top of the post.
 
As amoose136 points out, any variables you set in a running workflow are not saved. They exist as long as the workflow is running and then disappear. Any Workflow Environment Variables will "reset" to their values in the workflow configuration sheet on the next run.

Generally, this is what you want, but sometimes you want to save a variable's value. For example, you might have an API_KEY Workflow Environment Variable in the configuration sheet. The user can enter their API key for the service in the configuration sheet, but you'd also like to add the ability to set it from within your workflow, e.g. with a setapikey Keyword and corresponding Run Script action.

WARNING: As of Alfred 3.4.1, Alfred takes several seconds to notice when info.plist has been updated by something other than itself. As a result, relying on altering info.plist programatically can be problematic, as Alfred won't notice the changes for several seconds (5–10 seconds is typical on my machine). If you update a workflow variable in info.plist and run your workflow again immediately, it is unlikely that Alfred will have picked up the change.

The Workflow Environment Variables are contained in the variables section of info.plist. Consequently, to update them, you need to update info.plist.

Regardless of which language you're using, you can call the PlistBuddy program to alter Workflow Environment Variables:
# Set a variable /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :variables:API_KEY \"ABC-XYZ\"" info.plist # Delete a variable (i.e. remove it entirely from Workflow Environment Variables) /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Delete :variables:API_KEY" info.plist
In Python, there's no need to use an external program, as it has the built-in plistlib library:
from plistlib import readPlist, writePlist # Read info.plist into a standard Python dictionary info = readPlist('info.plist') # Set a variable info['variables']['API_KEY'] = 'ABC-XYZ' # Delete a variable del info['variables']['API_KEY'] # Save changes writePlist(info, 'info.plist')
(Note: plistlib only works with XML property lists, which is fine for info.plist, but using PlistBuddy is generally more robust.)

Don't forget: any changes you make to info.plist only take effect the next time the workflow is run. This likely doesn't matter in most cases, but if you need a variable to be updated immediately (i.e. also for the current workflow run), you must also set it "live" using one of the methods described in the Setting variables section above.

 

Just updated this with a new version for Alfred 3.

Well another scenario I've discovered through some error and trial is to control a computer with an unresponsive keyboard and mouse.  I managed to get everything locked up and beachballing, ready to power down in desperation, but Alfred Remote was able to Quit All Apps.

Big +1 for this.
 
Had no idea it was even possible.
 
Actually, I'm rather astonished by how badly I need this considering I didn't think it possible 60 seconds ago.

Just updated this with a new version for Alfred 3.

Awesome! That was helpful. It took me a while to find the "new workflow trigger" you were talking about, but it's Triggers > External and as soon as you create the id, it gives you all the code you need.
 
Thanks so much!

I'm thinking still about using Alfred to replace TextExpander.
 
TE allows snippets to run scripts.
 
Alfred has snippets....and Alfred workflows can run scripts.  So how about allowing Alfred snippets to be workflow triggers?  
 
And to go with this -- add a "Type Text" workflow output (with the option of replacing the incoming snippet).
 
It seems like these would open up a whole lot of automation options, by linking up two existing features, and sticking with the paradigm that folks are used to in building Alfred workflows.
 
D

I'm silly....way way way better solution....forget about the delay or anything else....
Go to your workflow->doubly click on your hotkey to open the hotkey settings(can also right click->configure)->Right click in the hotkey field and change
the trigger behaviour to "Wait until modifier keys are released"
That will do it!
 
Always learn something new ^^