For developers

Switchbar API

Switchbar has a URL-based API. Open a specially formatted URL and Switchbar springs into action — sending a link to the right browser or email client, or prompting you to pick one.

How it works

switchbar://open/<link>

Web and email links
Pass any https://, http://, or mailto: link.
Your rules apply
The link goes through your rules and link settings, just like a click. If no rule matches, Switchbar asks where to open it.
No encoding needed
Add the link as-is after switchbar://open/, without percent-encoding it.

Examples

Terminal

# macOS
open "switchbar://open/https://example.com"
open "switchbar://open/mailto:hello@example.com"

# Windows
start "" "switchbar://open/https://example.com"

AppleScript

open location "switchbar://open/https://example.com"

JavaScript

window.location.href = "switchbar://open/https://example.com";

Swift

let url = URL(string: "switchbar://open/https://example.com")!
NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)

Works with Choosy URLs

Switchbar also opens Choosy API links, so scripts and tools built for Choosy work without changes.

x-choosy://open/
x-choosy://prompt.all/
x-choosy://prompt.running/
x-choosy://best.all/
x-choosy://best.running/