Open File

Open a local file or directory on macOS using open. Supports specifying an app, URL scheme deep linking, and error recovery.

Usage

/open-file <path> [app]

• If no path is provided, infer from conversation context (e.g., a file just created or discussed).
• If an app is mentioned (e.g., "in Obsidian"), use open -a or the app's URL scheme.

Workflow

1. Resolve the path. Make it absolute. If relative, resolve against cwd.

2. Verify the target exists:

   [ -e '<path>' ] && echo "EXISTS" || echo "NOT_FOUND"
   

   If not found, tell the user and stop.

3. Open:

   With a specific app:

   open -a '<App Name>' '<path>'
   

   With the default app:

   open '<path>'
   

4. Handle procNotFound error. If open fails because the app isn't running:

   open -a '<App Name>' && sleep 3 && open -a '<App Name>' '<path>'
   

   Launch the app first, wait for it to initialize, then retry.

5. Confirm to the user that the file was opened.

URL Scheme Deep Linking

Use URL schemes when the user wants to jump to a specific item within an app, not just open a file.

URL-encode path components — especially emoji, CJK characters, and spaces.

Notes

• Always single-quote paths to handle spaces and special characters
• open '<directory>' opens in Finder
• open -a both launches the app (if needed) and opens the file in one step — the two-step launch-then-open is only needed for URL scheme calls where the app must be running first