get-selected-photos
Reads the currently selected photos in the Apple Photos app and returns their UUIDs, filenames, and metadata for further processing.
Instructions
Use when: the user says "these photos" / "the selected photos" — they have photos selected in the Photos.app window and you need their identities. This is the GUI-selection bridge: feed the returned UUIDs into get-photos, get-thumbnail, export, or add-to-album. Returns: count, the same photo summaries as query (UUID, filename, date, dimensions, flags), and notFound for selected items the library index doesn't know yet (e.g. a just-finished import Photos hasn't checkpointed — each with its filename for identification). Do not use when: you want to FIND photos by criteria — use query; or Photos.app isn't running / nothing is selected — both return a clear error, and this tool never launches Photos itself. Note: read-only, but it reads the selection from Photos.app via AppleScript, so it requires Photos.app running with a visible selection, and macOS Automation permission for the host app (one-time system prompt on first use). The selection comes from the library currently open in Photos.app.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| count | No | ||
| photos | No | ||
| notFound | No |