Revisiting ways to import from Apple Mail

DEVONthink
1

Hi,
Even though I’ve been using DT for a while now, I still consider myself a new user and am learning new things just about every day. One aspect that has been frustrating me for a while though is having an easy way to import messages from Apple Mail. I understand that recent changes in Apple Mail have impacted the old DT plugin which used to work brilliantly and that a work-around is to install AppleScripts and activate the Script menu. For the most part, this seems to work pretty well, but as I am often importing Email, I’m wondering if there’s some way to bind this to a single keystroke? Also, I never use AppleScript for anything outside of this one particular function, so it admittedly frustrates me a bit to always have a menu in the dock that I really only need in Mail. Of course there’s always the possibility that a new extension has been developed and or that there’s another way to import mail in which case I’d love to know about it.

Thanks for any help with this, I really love DT and am just trying to make it easier for me to use.

2

See e.g. Mail plugin shortcut - #38 by BLUEFROG

1 Like
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Thanks @cgrunenberg. I’ll have to give some thought to how to incorporate this into my workflow. Unfortunately, as a VoiceOver user, drag and drop isn’t really a viable option for me and Apple Mail doesn’t let me use cmd+c to copy a message. Maybe I create an “Import to DT” folder and add a rule that anything there triggers the import script, or something along those lines. A colleague of mine told me of another product that is able to import mail with one keystroke, so I was hoping this signaled some sort of change from Apple’s side.

Thanks again.

4

Can you recall what this other application is?

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There is another way. When selecting the email message you want to save, press Command Shift S and set your Devonthink Inbox folder in Finder as the save to destination as your Finder InBox - not quite what we had, but ok for now…

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@BLUEFROG The other app is EagleFiler: EagleFiler: Document Organizer and Mail Archiver for Mac . Their “quick capture key” allows individual messages, selected messages, or entire mailboxes to be imported from Apple Mail. I have no idea how they’re doing this, but my colleague mentioned it to me knowing I have missed this ability ever since upgrading to Sonoma.

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Ah that’s an interesting idea, at least I could get rid of the script menu I otherwise never need. Thanks for the suggestion.

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To anyone passing by: This converts the email…

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That’s quite similar to DEVONthink’s scripts for the global Scripts menu extra, only major difference is that there’s no hotkey for the scripts.

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Just for others who stumble across this discussion, I’m going to mention the mbox export/import method. I never have to worry about AppleScript or plug-in changes using this technique, which both Mail and DevonThink handle smoothly. Search this forum for threads about it.

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Slide 5 in the Help > Tutorials > Handling Email tutorial…

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:slight_smile:

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Ok. Atta boy, Bluefrog. But for more complete and practical advice, nobody should skip what’s in the forum.

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Yep exactly. If I could somehow make a hotkey trigger that script, I think I’d have everything just about the way I want it. I know almost nothing about AppleScript, but will check if maybe there’s a 3RD party utility that can do this for me.

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The global Scripts menu extra doesn’t seem to support custom shortcuts but maybe FastScripts by Red Sweater Software does.

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15

Here is a solution using Keyboard Maestro (chosen for its popularity amongst our clientele)…

For cleanliness, I made an Apple Mail macro group and created the macro within it.

Screenshot 2024-03-20 at 10.21.37 AM
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Then I created a macro with the same name as the script, to make it simple and obvious.

Screenshot 2024-03-20 at 10.29.12 AM
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  • The macro is set to only run when Apple Mail is active.
  • The macro actually uses the same hotkeys as our Apple Mail plugin, for those with that muscle memory trained.
  • The macro runs the same DEVONthink-provided script as is foudn in the global Scripts menu.

And here is the KM Macro you can download and install:
Add messages to DEVONthink.kmmacros.zip (1.4 KB)

Note:

  • You should give Keyboard Maestro Full Disk Access in System Settings > Privacy & Security before setting this up.
  • You will likely have to answer one or two Automation prompts from the OS. Allow both.
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16

I’ve used MailActOn from SmallCubed for many years to do this (~d is my shortcut to send a message to DT–but it’s going away due to changes in Mail… :frowning:

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I posted something to the MacUsers forum a while back on how I replaced MailActOn using Keyboard Maestro

https://talk.macpowerusers.com/t/the-death-of-an-awesome-workflow-and-seeking-help-for-mail-tags-devonthink/13447

I still use the exact same technique today.

Rick

2 Likes
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Thanks so much, I’m definitely going to check out Keyboard Maestro right now. In a way, helping me solve this problem may have helped me to solve a few other unrelated problems given what Keyboard Maestro can do. :slight_smile:

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You’re welcome!

Bear in mind, there are other solutions as well. I’m not a KM user myself, but it was a simple matter to whip that up for those that are.

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Not sure what the best solution is… I am using the global script to add mailbox … it is painfully slow… i wish there was a way to just keep adding to a devonthink db for my email … and not duplicate emails if you keep adding emails, assuming you arent careful when updating that dbase.