Sharing this here simply because I couldn’t find out how to do this elsewhere. I have a typewriter (a Freewrite 2nd Gen) that sends some files to a Dropbox folder (‘C’). I wanted those files to sync with Bear, which is where I’m keeping all my notes this year.
I’ve set Hazel up to watch Folder C for newly added files, give them a green label and then run a Shortcut I’ve created called File to Bear.
The File to Bear Shortcut can be downloaded here. It has more variables than it needs, but I’m done tinkering with it for now. It works! Moments after the new file is added to Folder C, it shows up in Bear. And Bear can also incorporate any tags I include in the plain text.
Some notes:
- The only way I could figure out how to extract plain text from the Dropbox file was using ‘Combine.’
- Permissions matter. I don’t remember when in the process it asked for permission to write to Dropbox, but it did, and I consented.
- The Dropbox folder you’re watching in Hazel must be set to be available offline. (It can’t have a cloud-download icon next to it in Finder.)
- There are a bunch of Bear shortcut actions that are from Apple, and not Bear, and they weren’t working for me. Be sure to use the actions in the image below, or the actions under Apps > Bear in the actions sidebar.
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