Building out a big Shortcuts library usually means rebuilding the same block of actions over and over: a notification step here, a logging routine there, retyped by hand into every new automation you create. Join Shortcuts fixes that by letting you pick any shortcut and drop it straight into another one, without touching a single action yourself.
Inside the shortcut
Join Shortcuts starts by asking which shortcut is the “main” one, the one everything else gets merged into. From there it scans that shortcut for Comment actions and shows a list of insertion points: the very beginning, the very end, or right after any comment you’ve already placed. Pick a spot, pick a shortcut to insert, and repeat as many times as you need.
Two details matter if you build shortcuts other people will use. Anything inserted at the start or end can optionally be wrapped inside an “If” block, so the whole chunk stays easy to move or delete later. And if you insert the same shortcut more than once, Join Shortcuts regenerates its internal IDs on each pass, so you don’t end up with duplicate-UUID conflicts breaking the merged result.
Installing it
- Tap Add Shortcut on this page to open Join Shortcuts in the Shortcuts app.
- Scroll to the bottom of the preview and tap Add Shortcut again to confirm.
- Install the companion shortcut Shortcut Source Helper as well. Join Shortcuts calls it to actually read and rebuild the shortcut actions, so nothing runs without it.
- No other apps are required, and the same install steps work if you’re running Shortcuts on a Mac.
Putting it to work
Run it from the Shortcuts app rather than the Share Sheet. This is an editing tool, not something you trigger on a photo or a link. Pick your main shortcut first, then work through the list of comment positions one at a time. Haven’t added any comments to mark specific spots? You’re not stuck, since Join Shortcuts still offers the beginning and end of the shortcut as valid targets. It’s worth spending two minutes beforehand dropping a couple of empty Comment actions into your main shortcut, because that gives you far more control than stacking everything at the edges. When you finish choosing shortcuts and positions, Join Shortcuts hands back one merged shortcut with the import questions from your original main shortcut fully intact.
A few ways to use it
- Build a reusable “log this” or “notify me” block once, then merge it into every new automation instead of rebuilding it from scratch.
- Combine several community shortcuts you’ve collected into a single master utility, without copying dozens of actions by hand.
- Assemble a template shortcut for other people to install, then merge in your own personal touches before sharing it back out.
- Stitch two half-finished shortcuts you built separately into one working shortcut.
FAQ
Do I actually need that Shortcut Source Helper thing too?
You do, and it’s not optional. Join Shortcuts calls Shortcut Source Helper to read and rebuild the underlying shortcut actions, so install that companion first or the merge just won’t run.
Can I merge the same shortcut into two different spots without it breaking?
That’s actually one of the reasons this exists. Each copy gets a fresh set of action IDs, so you won’t hit the duplicate-UUID glitches that come from copy-pasting the same block twice by hand.
What happens to my Ask for Input setup after everything gets merged?
It carries over untouched. The import questions attached to your main shortcut stay exactly as they were, so anyone installing the merged result still gets the same setup prompts you built.
