Apple script is not allowed to send keystrokes (Sequoia)

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Level 1

62 points

Apple script is not allowed to send keystrokes (Sequoia)

When I run an app made in Automator I'm getting the error message that my app "...is not allowed to send keystrokes."

I have gone to Privacy and Security, then Accessibility and made sure Automator, Script Editor and (my app name) all have the button set to blue/on to be allowed to control my computer.

Even so, I continue to get the error about not being able to send keystrokes. I'm stumped.

Am I missing something here? Is this another Sequoia bug that kills a bunch of Automator apps, or is there something new we have to do in Sequoia to allow apps to send keystrokes above and beyond what we had to do in Sonoma?

Secondly, if there is an active forum or chatroom where people discuss challenges they are facing making apps using Automator please let me know as I would be interested in that as well. Thank you!

Posted on Aug 21, 2025 06:08 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 22, 2025 04:53 PM in response to AZsport115

Hi Azsport115

I have had this many times and just replicated it in Sequoia, as I couldn’t remember.

Open System Settings/Privacy and Security/Accessibility and drag the automator application you created into that window.

Check that the radio button is on.

I also empathise with you that automator does not work as well in sequoia as it does in my previous OS e.g. tortuous process of creating an application from a workflow.

Best of luck

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Answer 2

AZsport115 Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 23, 2025 04:01 PM in response to AZsport115

UPDATE: I may have a solution. I continued to run into this error as I troubleshooted and created this app. I have without question, added this app to Accessibility correctly. However what seems to be the case is, If you edit the app in any way at all, and save the changes after giving Accessibility permission, Accessibility considers it a NEW app!! Accessibility does not tell you this! And so, what you see in the Accessibility list is an old app that no longer exists--your app before your latest update. As such, the "new" app you're trying to run doesn't have permission in Accessibility. Even though it looks like it's in the Accessibility list, it's not actually there. Unlike every other part of macOS which recognizes your edited/updated app as the same app, Accessibility does not, and macOS doesn't tell you that. As such, you have to remove any trace of the app from Accessibility permissions, and drag then the app back into the Accessibility list.

This is a terribly frustrating UI/Error Handling oversight that I hope Apple fixes to either 1) make it clear what is happening, or 2) update macOS so that it considers the edited/updated app to be the same app for which you have already granted permissions, as is the case seemingly everywhere else in macOS. I sincerely hope it's 2) as having to go through the permissions song and dance routine every time you want to change a single character in your app makes editing/updating/developing the app unnecessarily tedious.

In any event, the solution is simply this: Every time you update your app, you have to remove it entirely from Accessibility then drag it back in there, no matter how minor the update.

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Answer 3

AZsport115 Author

Level 1

62 points

Aug 23, 2025 04:18 PM in response to AZsport115

If you have a lot of updates to do on your app, I would suggest making your workflow as a Quick Action instead of an app. This is because Quick Actions run with Automator. As long as your Accessibiliy list has permissions for Automator, you can update your Quick Action as much as you want and it will maintain permissions. Once you're satisfied with your Quick Action, then create an app and copy over the steps from your Quick Action to your app, save the app, and then add the app to Accessibility permissions.

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