# Generate QR code macOS quick action open in Preview.app

#qrencode #automator

A little automator script for adding a right click menu Services -> "Generate QR Code and open in Preview"

`brew install qrencode` cli for creating QR code. (`brew info qrencode`)

Open Automator.app -> Add a new Quick Action (service) -> Add "Run Shell Script"

```sh
dir="$(mktemp -d)"                        # create a temporary directory
file="$dir/QR-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).png" # filename with timestamp in it
/opt/homebrew/bin/qrencode -o "$file"     # generate QR code and save to the file
open "$file"                              # open the PNG file (with Preview.app by default)
```

Chrome has this feature for URLs, but only for https. Which is problematic when you want to view a page on a mobile phone while using a server without https.

It could be taken a step further to also find the local network ip address.  
🤔 that could be a different quick action that replaces the selected text.  
I have an alias `ip="ifconfig | grep -E '192' | cut -c7- | cut -d ' ' -f1"` for finding my local network ip address.  
You can also hold `Option` will clicking on Wifi symbol to see your local network ip address.