Dynamic content

The Insert menu in the expansion editor provides controls for dynamic values. The editor displays variables and fields as chips, but the saved content is still the text and Espanso configuration represented by those chips.

Insert variables and fields

Choose an insertion from the menu, configure it in its sheet, and review the resulting chip in the expansion:

• Date/Time formats a date and can include an offset, locale, and time zone. Its sheet shows a live preview.
• Clipboard inserts clipboard content when the expansion runs.
• Cursor Position marks where the insertion cursor should return after the expansion.
• Input Field, Pop-up Menu, Choice Dialog, and Random Text add interactive or selected values. A pop-up can offer a list of choices; a form can contain more than one field.
• Insert Abbreviation lets one expansion refer to another item.
• Global Variables opens Set Info; use the variable name in double braces in the expansion to refer to a set-level value.

Fields and variables are connected to the text that uses them. Removing a reference may remove an unused variable entry when the item is saved. Review the rendered result in the form preview when an item has fields.

Shell commands and scripts

The Insert menu can add a Shell Command or Script. These run on your Mac as part of an expansion; the editor’s Test action also runs the command or script locally. Only use commands and scripts you trust, and inspect what they read, write, or launch before saving or testing them. Do not paste secrets into a command merely to see whether it works.

Abbrio’s script editor can create AppleScript or JavaScript files under the Espanso configuration’s scripts folder. Removing a script chip does not automatically delete its file. Keep or remove that file deliberately after checking whether another item uses it.

Markdown, HTML, and pictures

The type bar switches between Text, Markdown, HTML, and Picture. The Markdown preview uses macOS rendering; the HTML preview disables scripts and blocks page loads. These previews are not a guarantee of identical output from Espanso.

For a Picture item, choose or drop an image. Abbrio copies it into the configuration by default and offers Reference original file when you want to keep the original path instead. A copied image is a snapshot; later changes to the original do not update that copy. Image files are not automatically deleted when an item is removed, because another item may still refer to them.