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Quick links: |  | The Share Menu Third-Party Applications AI Templates Automation DEVONthink Services

|  |  | Other Sources

Beyond manually adding or creating documents, there are a variety of other contributors available in DEVONthink. The Share Menu The macOS Share menu lets applications "share" data with other applications, Airdrop, etc. When you access the Share menu in a compatible application, you should see an option, Add to DEVONthink that allows you to send data from the application to DEVONthink. Installing: Depending on what version of macOS you're running, you may need to manually enable our sharing extension. Open System Settings > Extensions > Sharing and enable DEVONthink. It should now be available in any sharing-enabled application's Share menu.
Note: The data being sent is controlled by the sending application, not DEVONthink. If there are issues with the data received in your database, please contact the developer of the application to report your findings.
Third-Party Applications Another source of new documents comes from special considerations for some third-party applications. Apple Notes: You can import your Apple Notes via the Files > Import > Folders & Attachments from Notes command. Imported as editable formatted notes, DEVONthink will also attempt to preserve folder structures in Notes. Be aware this is not a sync with Notes and subsequent imports will generate duplicates. Evernote: From Evernote, you can import exported `.enex` files. This can be done via the File > Import > Files and Folders command or by dropping the file on DEVONthink's dock icon. The notes are imported as editable formatted notes. This also is not a sync with Evernote and subsequent imports will generate duplicates. Bookends: A very popular bibliographic application is Bookends. Using the File > Import > References from Bookends command, you can import Bookends references as rich text documents with a back link to the original item. If you run this command again, existing rich text documents will be updated instead of reimported as duplicates. Tinderbox: Copy notes in Tinderbox and choose Data > New > With Clipboard to create plain or rich text copies of the notes in DEVONthink including backlinks and tags. AI Chat: When using AI, you can also generate documents. For example, chatting with certain AI engines like Claude, often automatically return responses as Markdown documents. These documents can easily be identified by the `(AI)` suffix at the end of their names. In fact, you can create a smart group with the criterion `Name ends with (AI)` to show all AI-generated documents. Transcription: If you are using a speech-to-text AI engine to transcribe audio or video files, you can generate annotation files from the output. This often includes some timestamps from specific points in the playback. Images: If you have access to a generative image AI engine, creating an image can be done via the Data > New > Generate Image panel. It's also possible to request an image during an AI chat and to copy or capture the image via the context menu. Templates Another way to create new documents is via Templates. Accessed in the Data > New from Template submenus, these are special files and smart templates that generate new documents on demand. These can be simple documents, like a phone note or more complicated documents, like a journaling document. Some of them are even AI-powered. We also periodically publish additional templates via the Support Assistant. Automation DEVONthink is well known for it powerful automation features including the ability to create documents via scripting. We also make additional scripts available via the Support Assistant. Application Scripts: Application scripts are those that run via the global Script menu while in another application. For example, while in Safari, you could run a script to generate bookmarks of all the tabs in the frontmost window. Our offerings are discussed in the Application Scripts section. Our Mail rule scripts are another example of application scripts. Your scripts: If you are inclined to automation, or even just learning, you can write scripts to create documents. See the AppleScript section for more information on getting started with scripting. URL Commands: As discussed in the URL Commands section, DEVONthink has a URL scheme that can be used to create certain kinds of documents. While they're less powerful and less commonly used, they are yet another tool available to making new documents via automation. Bookmarklets: And just to make note of it, the bookmarklets discussed earlier in this chapter are also a type of automation that generates new documents for you. DEVONthink Services The DEVONthink > Services menu gives you access to special commands provided either by other applications, such as TextEdit or Safari, or by services extensions such as DEVONtechnologies' WordService or CalcService. Also, DEVONthink publishes its own services in the Services menu. DEVONthink installs several services for copying or summarizing selected text, capturing a web page, or searching for documents in your databases. Add to DEVONthink: Adds selected files, bookmarks, or images to your database. This service is also available in the Finder's context menu. Add to Reading List: Adds a bookmark to a URL selected in text to the Reading List. Take Plain/Rich Note/Markdown Note: Adds selected text to the global inbox as a plain text, rich text, or Markdown document from any application that support services. Taking a rich text or Markdown note also copies images and clickable links. If the source document is a web page or a news feed, DEVONthink tries to capture the address of the page or feed as well. This only works with applications that support this feature, such as Safari, DEVONagent Pro, and other Mac-native web browsers. Append Plain/Rich Note/Markdown Note: Adds selected text as plain text, rich text, or Markdown to the last note taken using the DEVONthink Services menu items. Lookup: Opens the search pane in DEVONthink with the selected text copied as search term. Summarize: Creates a new note in DEVONthink's inbox with a summary of the selected text using AI. If you want to assign hotkeys to services, go to System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services. Do note that application hotkeys can override hotkeys set here. Try to make sure to specify unused key combinations in your shortcuts. Also, due to the way macOS loads menus, you may need to show the DEVONthink > Services menu once before the hotkey will become active.