Using Apple Watch and Pushcut to append to text files in GitHub?

Pushcut
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Context

I use a CSV file to track my time: I’ve set up a series of Shortcuts shortcuts that let me pick a time-tracking category (from a pre-determined list stored in GitHub) and then append a timestamp with that category to a CSV file stored in GitHub (using Working Copy).

Goal

I’d love to run this shortcut using my Apple Watch.

Previous Attempts

A frustrating workaround was to use IFTTT to append to CSV files in Dropbox, however, this had a few (mostly aesthetic) issues:

  • The iOS app for IFTTT is subpar in terms of UI choices
  • There is no concept of functions or subroutines in IFTTT, resulting in a lot of duplication.
  • There is no way to reorder IFTTT workflows (iOS or web app).
  • I’d prefer to use iCloud Drive over Dropbox.

Thought Bubble and Question

However, after listening to the excellent episode 38, I wondered if it might be possible to use Pushcut from my Apple Watch to access the GitHub API and programmatically write to my CSV file in GitHub.

  • Before I dig into the weeds of learning from scratch how to use Pushcut and the GitHub API, is this solution likely to work?
  • Can anyone think of a simpler solution to achieve the same goal - appending to text files from Apple Watch?
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I would suggest setting up your Github “logic” in a service like integromat (or zapier, power automate, …).

It will be much easier to drag together what you want to do with github, without the need to semi-code your way through the API.

You can then still trigger your integromat scenaro from Pushcut notifications on the Apple Watch. If you use the JSON API, you could dynamically “calculate” your notification actions based on your demands and assign a different input parameter to each.

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