Using Automator to apply tags to selected files

Had a mess around with ChatGPT, the scripts it was spitting out didn't really work. The files are being being copied from an external drive, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it. I could only get one tag to be applied and then by only using a number, which wasn't the correct one and wasn't the custom name.

So, ChatGPT suggested installing a CLI tag programme using Homebrew which I do use a bit, so I installed that:

brew install tag

and then in Automator, added a further step 'Run AppleScript' and copied and pasted the code below into that, seems to work...

tell application "Finder"
	-- Get the selected folders in Finder
	set selectedFolders to selection
	
	-- Check if there are any selected items
	if selectedFolders is {} then
		display dialog "No folders selected." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
		return
	end if
end tell

-- Initialize a success flag
set success to true

-- Loop through the selected items
repeat with aFolder in selectedFolders
	try
		-- Apply the Green tag
		do shell script "/usr/local/bin/tag --add 'CustomTagName_1' " & quoted form of POSIX path of (aFolder as alias)
		
		-- Apply the Gray tag
		do shell script "/usr/local/bin/tag --add 'CustomTagName_1' " & quoted form of POSIX path of (aFolder as alias)
		
	on error errMsg number errNum
		set success to false
		display dialog "Error applying tags to " & (name of aFolder) & ": " & errMsg buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
	end try
end repeat

-- Display a dialogue only if there was an error
if success is false then
	display dialog "One or more tags could not be applied." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
end if

Think we've got there, this seems to work

use taglib : script "Tag_cafe"
use scripting additions

-- You need to make sure `taglib` is correctly set up in your environment
-- and that it supports the methods you are trying to call.

on run {input, parameters}
	
	tell application "Finder"
		-- Get the selected folders in Finder
		set selectedFolders to selection
		
		-- Check if there are any selected items
		if selectedFolders is {} then
			display dialog "No folders selected." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
			return
		end if
	end tell
	
	-- Initialize a success flag
	set success to true
	
	-- Loop through the selected items
	repeat with aFolder in selectedFolders
		try
			-- Ensure the path is correctly obtained for `taglib`
			set folderPath to POSIX path of (aFolder as alias)
			
			-- Add both custom tags and avoid duplicate tag names
			taglib's add_tags(folderPath, {"On NAS", "Not yet on LMS"})
			
		on error errMsg number errNum
			set success to false
			display dialog "Error applying tags to " & (name of aFolder) & ": " & errMsg buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
		end try
	end repeat
	
	-- Display a dialog only if there was an error
	if not success then
		display dialog "One or more tags could not be applied." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
	end if
	
end run

Thanks for persevering with me. 👍

Thanks for your suggestion, ok going to use this code 👇

tell application "Finder"
	-- Get the selected folders in Finder
	set selectedFolders to selection
	
	-- Check if there are any selected items
	if selectedFolders is {} then
		display dialog "No folders selected." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
		return
	end if
end tell

-- Initialize a success flag
set success to true

-- Loop through the selected items
repeat with aFolder in selectedFolders
	try
			# add both custom tags and avoids duplicate tag names
			taglib's add_tags(aFolder, "On NAS", "Not yet on LMS")
		
	on error errMsg number errNum
		set success to false
		display dialog "Error applying tags to " & (name of aFolder) & ": " & errMsg buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
	end try
end repeat

-- Display a dialogue only if there was an error
if success is false then
	display dialog "One or more tags could not be applied." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
end if

Thanks for adding your thoughts.

One thing I will say, is that it is quite slow to apply the tags and sometimes also adds the colour of the tag as well as the custom name though that then gets corrected.

If there's a different way to do it that may be quicker, I'm willing to try it. Thanks.

Well firstly, thanks for taking the time to write all this.

Unfortunately, for the moment, I can't get it to work, when attempting to test / compile (the hammer icon) the Run AppleScript step in the Automator workflow, I get the error message:

Syntax Error

Expected script or application but found Tag_cafe.

In a moment, I'll go through and check the steps against what you instructed and post feedback. Thank you.

Steps I took were:

• copied the Tag_cafe.applescript source into Script Editor
• saved as File Format: Script Bundle, filename Tag_cafe.scptd into /MyUserName/Library/Script Libraries/ however there wasn't a Script Libraries (there is one called just Scripts)folder so I had to create one (nor was there one under the system Library folder either)
• in Automator, wasn't sure what to put here after your last post but after trying various combinations, I get the same error when trying to the run this step

use taglib : "Tag_cafe"
use scripting additions

on run {input, parameters}

repeat with aFolder in selectedFolders
  try
     # add both custom tags and avoids duplicate tag names
     taglib's add_tags(aFolder, "Custom Green tagname", "Custom Gray tagname"])
  on error errMsg number errNum
     set success to false
     display dialog …
  end try
end repeat

end run

I've made some error somewhere! Thanks for your assistance.

Thanks for helping me troubleshoot this but not matter where I put Tag_cafe.scptd, I get the same error when attempting to compile it in Automator:

Syntax Error

Expected script or application but found /Users/Username/Library/Script Libraries/Tag_cafe.scptd.

In each case, I am specifying the full path to Tag_cafe within the Automator action.

I don't know if it's worth noting that there is no Script Library or Script Libraries folder in the locations and I have to create one but that's ok.

I'm double-checking what I'm doing and struggling to see where I've gone wrong.

Thanks, that's moved it on.

Now getting:

Syntax Error

The variable selectedFolders is not defined.

AppleScript in Automator:

use taglib : script "Tag_cafe"
use scripting additions

on run {input, parameters}
	
	repeat with aFolder in selectedFolders
		try
			# add both custom tags and avoids duplicate tag names
            taglib's add_tags(aFolder, "Custom Green tagname", "Custom Gray tagname")
		on error errMsg number errNum
			set success to false
			display dialog "Error applying tags to " & (name of aFolder) & ": " & errMsg buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"
		end try
	end repeat
	
end run