By Dan Moren

August 31, 2023 7:02 AM PT

Automate this: Moving Audio Hijack recordings to a folder in the cloud

The key to automation is figuring out what problems it can solve to make your life easier. For example: the problem where one of your podcast co-hosts¹ has to regularly text you because you’ve forgotten to put your audio file in the shared Dropbox folder. Regularly enough that he has literally created a meme to remind you. To wit:

We’ve all been there.

In my defense: I spent many years editing this particular podcast, during which I didn’t ever need to upload my file because I was the one who collected them. To add to that, I also have a few other podcast-related tasks that I need to take care of post-recording which often end up distracted me from this particular need.

Still, seems like something automation could easily fix, right?

Thanks to Audio Hijack‘s automation features, yes! Here’s how I did it.

First, I added a new automation that runs on Session Stop called Copy File to Dropbox. This is a one-line script—app.runShortcut('Recording Copy')—that in turn calls a Shortcut I’ve created.

In Shortcuts, this particular workflow is just four actions.

First up, get the contents of the folder for this podcast (which is organized using another Shortcut that I’ve previously written about), then filter those contents for the most recently modified file (which should be the folder created for the latest episode). Then get the contents of that folder, and filter it for a file whose name contains ‘Dan’ (as all my local mic recordings do). There should be only one.² Then simply use the Save Files action to copy that file to my shared Dropbox folder. Done!

Now, whenever we finish recording the show and I naturally hit Stop, my file is automatically uploaded to the appropriate folder, and I don’t have to do a thing. And best of all, my co-host doesn’t have to bug me anymore.

Though I do kind of miss the memes.

(Editor’s note: You can alternately use the moveFile action within Audio Hijack’s own scripting interface:

let file = event.file;
if (file == null)
    return;

if (file.fileName.includes("Dan")) { 
file.moveFile('Path/to/upload/folder/');
}

Then you don’t need to rely on Shortcuts at all. —J.S.)

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is now available for pre-order.]

If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.