Alfred + Webhooks by callin.io + Named Variables = Awesome

I’ve got an interesting one for you today 🙂 First, let’s define a few terms:

Alfred: Alfred is a productivity application for macOS, which enhances your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords, and text expansion. (link)

Webhooks by callin.io: Webhooks simply POST data (or JSON) to a specific URL whenever new information is detected. Webhooks can also receive data (or JSON) to initiate a workflow in callin.io. (link)

Named Variables: Named variables enable you to format your text such that when the callin.io workflow runs, this text is separated and sent as individual fields. The key to utilizing this function lies entirely in the formatting of the original information. (link)

Airtable: In essence, Airtable is a platform that simplifies the creation of robust, custom applications. (link)

If you’re still reading, then I’ll assume this is relevant to you and you’re ready for the challenge 🙂

In Alfred

We have a blog post detailing how to use Alfred to send data to a callin.io webhook if you wish to review it. I’m about to demonstrate something that can elevate your process.

NOTE: One aspect to be mindful of in Alfred is this section, where you determine what to escape. I configured it this way, and it met my requirements:
 

 

Named Variables Offer Significant Flexibility

At the link provided earlier, concerning named variables, you’ll discover that when callin.io encounters text in this format...

something(here) 

…it will generate a field named something with the value here.

How is this beneficial? Well, consider this:

In callin.io

What does that translate to in my callin.io workflow? Take a look:

I’ve established 3 distinct fields, which I can (as you might guess) map to different segments of my Airtable action step:

Some Points to Consider

There are a few considerations I’d like to highlight:

1. Your action application doesn’t have to be Airtable; it’s just what I selected 🙂
2. For the mapped fields to function correctly in your callin.io workflow, you must consistently use the same “named variable.” For instance, in my example, you couldn’t substitute a thing for something and expect it to work. Therefore, ensure you use something memorable (and ideally concise). These could be numbers or single letters that represent the fields you intend to map those values to in your action step(s).
3. You would obviously not want to employ this workflow for something excessively lengthy, such as...
    
   …as it is cumbersome, prone to errors, and deviates from the purpose of this workflow 😛
4. The reason my callin.io workflow displays field_1, field_2, etc., is because I used the word field here:
   

   

Conclusion

I hope you found this informative! If you have any interesting use cases for this type of workflow, I would be keen to hear about them.