ChatGPT, Automation, and our first experiences with Bunch
In this episode, Ash and Kerri talk about ChatGP, the challenges of automating macOS, and a cool tool called "Bunch" by Brett Terpstra.
First up, our hosts catch up to see how the last few weeks have gone, including talking about coding with kids, and learning to exercise a new muscle with AI tools like ChatGPT and getting in the habit of keeping tabs on where these technologies are going. As a bonus, ChatGPT makes an appearance rendering some rhymes!
After the intro, our hosts delve into some of our past experiences with macOS automation, and we're introduced to a new tool that both hosts have wanted to try for awhile: "Bunch" by Brett Terpstra (https://bunchapp.co/). From the website:
Bunch is a macOS automation tool that takes a folder of plain text files containing lists of apps and commands to launch and provides an easy-to-use menu for triggering them.
Kerri walks Ash through her first experiences using Brunch, and the pair start brainstorming about interesting ways of incorporating it into their workflows.
Along the way a discussion of using "do not disturb" mode and focus modes comes up—be sure to check the documentation on using Bunch effectively Focus modes: https://bunchapp.co/docs/integration/focus-modes/
Some other tips:
- Don't blindly invoke bunches (even the example bunch) without reading the script first!
- You can quickly edit a bunch by cmd-clicking on a bunch in the app menu
- Be careful with apostrophes in file names—that seemed to cause bunches not to load (but may have just been user error, too!)
Other links that came up during the discussion:
- Elgato Streamdeck (https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck-mk2) and Bunch feels like a perfect match
- My mom's Art tutorials site (she uses an Elgato Streamdeck for recording): https://www.redtoadartstudio.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/@redtoadartstudio/videos
- Pianoteq (https://www.modartt.com/) has a JSON RPC interface, which could be interesting to automate (See https://github.com/shuhaowu/remote-for-pianoteq for web front-end example)
