Mac Automation Scripting Guide: Calling Command-Line Tools — by Apple Developer Documentation

intermediatepageLink only (©)

Apple's guide to running shell commands from AppleScript with do shell script, including building a command by concatenation and why paths with spaces break unless wrapped with quoted form of. This is an archived page, so details may predate current macOS.

Quick steps

do shell script "ls /Applications/"
Wrap paths with quoted form of to survive spaces

Paraphrased from the source. Menus can differ by version, so check the original for full details.

Read the full article on developer.apple.com

Source: Mac Automation Scripting Guide: Calling Command-Line Tools by Apple Developer Documentation. Licence: Link only (©).

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

applescriptdo shell scriptautomationquoting

More in AppleScript & Shortcuts

Automate tasks using AppleScript and Terminal on Mac — by Apple Support

beginnerpage

Short Apple guide on combining AppleScript with Terminal: opening Terminal's scripting dictionary in Script Editor and running an AppleScript file from the command line with osascript.

Use scripts with Automator on Mac — by Apple Support

beginnerpage

Shows how to add the Run Shell Script and Run AppleScript actions to an Automator workflow. For shell scripts you pick the shell and type the commands; for AppleScript you can edit and test in the action or write it in Script Editor.

AppleScript, Do Shell. How do I write the 'test' command to the 'script editor'? — by Quinn "The Eskimo!" (Apple DTS) on Apple Developer Forums

intermediateforum

Apple's DTS engineer explains that do shell script throws an AppleScript error whenever the command exits non-zero (so test -d on a missing folder errors), shows try blocks to handle it, multi-line scripts, and quoted form of POSIX path for safe paths. He also suggests avoiding the shell where System Events can do the job.