Current Selection and Meta Objects
Sometimes the thing you want is already in front of you: selected text, a few files in Finder, the document you are editing, or something you just copied.
Tuna’s meta objects are named placeholders for that context. Current Finder Selection, for example, means “the files selected in Finder when I use this,” not a saved list of specific files. Once resolved, those files, text, or URLs become ordinary subjects in Tuna’s command flow.
Bring a Selection Into Tuna
There are three ways to get started. They reach similar results, but get the selection differently.
Stage in Tuna: From Another App
- Select text in an app, or select files and folders in Finder.
- Choose Services → Stage in Tuna from the app’s menu, or use the service’s default shortcut, ⌘+⎋.
- Tuna opens with the selection as its subjects and focus on the action pane. Choose what to do next.
The service uses the selection supplied by the sending app. It accepts file selections or a text representation, including text extracted from rich text. It does not preserve rich-text formatting or import arbitrary selected images. Files take precedence if the app supplies both files and text. Staging replaces the current subject set; it does not add the selection to Shelf.
The service is only available when the app offers a compatible selection to macOS Services. If it is missing or the shortcut does not work, check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Services to enable it or assign a shortcut. Try the menu entry first.
Grab Current Selection: While Tuna Is Open
Select something in another app, open Tuna, and press ⌘+G.
Tuna resolves Current Selection and replaces the subjects with the result. It keeps focus on the same pane if that pane is still available; otherwise it moves to the action pane. It does not put the selection into the target just because the target pane has focus.
This reads Finder or the other app’s Accessibility information and waits for capture to finish. When Accessibility cannot supply selected text, Tuna can briefly return focus to the source app and request its selection through macOS Services, without changing your clipboard. New input or an app switch cancels that handoff. If nothing can be read, Tuna beeps and leaves the command alone.
Search for a Meta Object
Open Tuna and search for one of the names below. These items belong to the built-in Current Selection source; check its enablement and search scope in Settings → Sources if they do not appear in search.
For most of these objects, choose Resolve and press Return. Tuna replaces the placeholder with the actual items, ready for your next action. If there is nothing to resolve, the command fails with “Nothing to stage.”
Current Selection and Current Text Selection both offer Resolve first. Resolve waits for text capture, including the Services fallback when available. Once the actual selection is staged, choose an action for that text or those files. Merely listing actions does not hand focus back to the source app.
The Meta Objects
| Object | What it represents |
|---|---|
| Current Selection | Finder’s selected files and folders when Finder is the active context; otherwise selected text from the external app. If Finder has no readable selection, Tuna also tries selected text. |
| Current Finder Selection | Files and folders selected in Finder, even if another app was active before Tuna opened. Multiple selected files become multiple subjects. |
| Current Finder Location | The directory shown in the front Finder window, not the files selected inside it. No Finder window, the desktop window, or a location Finder cannot report as a directory gives no result. |
| Current Text Selection | Selected text supplied by the external app through Accessibility or the Services fallback. Leading and trailing whitespace is removed. Password fields are not read. |
| Current Document | The file or URL reported by the external app’s focused window, with a main-window fallback. In Safari, Tuna also reads the current page URL from its address field. This is a reference to the document, not its contents. |
| Current Clipboard | What is on the clipboard now, preserving supported file, URL, image, color, or text types. This does not depend on clipboard-history recording being enabled. |
“Current” refers to external app context, not the text selected inside Tuna. Tuna remembers the app you came from and can use a short-lived capture of its selected text or document while the launcher has focus. That capture expires after 30 seconds; it is not a saved selection history.
Practical Examples
- Act on selected text: select a paragraph in another app, use Stage in Tuna, then choose Copy or Send to Smart Link…. See Smart Links for destinations that accept text.
- Work on several files: select files in Finder, use Stage in Tuna, then choose Copy or Compress. The selection is a set of file subjects, not a text list of paths.
- Use the folder, not its contents: open the folder in Finder, search for Current Finder Location, and run Resolve. You now have that directory as a subject, without needing to select it in its parent folder.
- Use the open document: search for Current Document, run Resolve, then choose an action suitable for the returned file or URL. An unsaved document may have no reference to return.
- Reuse the latest copy: search for Current Clipboard, run Resolve, and act on that clipboard item. For something copied earlier, use Clipboard History instead.
Permissions and Limits
Text selection and Current Document need Accessibility permission. Enable Tuna in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Permission is necessary, but not enough: the other app must expose selected text through Accessibility or Services, or a document reference. The automatic Services fallback does not bypass denied Accessibility permission. These objects do not capture arbitrary visual selections or read an entire document’s contents.
Finder selection and location need permission to control Finder. Allow the macOS Automation request. If Tuna is missing from System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation, reopen Tuna’s onboarding and choose Grant beside Automation to trigger the request. If you previously denied it, expand Tuna in Automation settings and enable Finder.
The Stage in Tuna service uses what the sending app supplies instead of these direct readers. It is the most reliable way to bring a selection into Tuna, as long as the app supports Services for the selection.
Automatic selection depends on the source app. Browser and Electron apps may not expose selected text consistently. Firefox’s Services responder can return old text after a selection is cleared, so Tuna does not use automatic Services acquisition in Firefox, Developer Edition, or Nightly. Readable Accessibility selections still work. Use Stage in Tuna or explicitly copy and paste when automatic acquisition is unavailable.
Current Selection is not the clipboard. Tuna does not simulate Copy or fall back to an old clipboard item when it cannot read a selection. Copy manually and use Current Clipboard if that is what you want.
Meta objects are also different from Clipboard History and Shelf: those hold earlier or deliberately retained items. A meta object asks for context now; Resolve turns that context into concrete subjects for the current command.
For the surrounding workflow, read How Commands Work and Keyboard Shortcuts.