Apple's Shortcuts app, built into every Mac since Ventura, can trigger a Chorus audio setup as one step inside a longer automation. That is different from Chorus's own Keyboard Shortcuts feature, which binds a single key press to a single output. The Shortcuts app is for chaining audio together with everything else your Mac does when a routine starts.
The two features share a name and nothing else, which is where most of the confusion starts. Chorus's Keyboard Shortcuts, found in Chorus's own settings, gives one device or saved group a key you press directly. The Shortcuts app is a completely separate piece of software from Apple, with its own icon, its own library, and its own way of running things automatically. Chorus works with both, but only one of them can involve your Mac's audio in a multi-step routine.
Why involve the Shortcuts app at all
A single keyboard shortcut is fast, but it only ever does one thing: switch the audio. The Shortcuts app is for the moment audio is not the only thing that needs to change. A "Start Work" routine might open your email and calendar apps, turn on Do Not Disturb, and switch your Mac to your desk speakers, all from one press, one click, or no interaction at all. Audio becomes a single step alongside the rest, rather than a separate action you remember to do first.
The same logic applies in reverse. A "Wrap Up" Shortcut could quit your work apps, turn Do Not Disturb back off, and drop your Mac back to its built-in speakers, in the same run. Neither half of that needs Chorus's own shortcut key, because the whole point is that nothing needs to be pressed by hand at all once it is set up.
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Download for MacHow Chorus actually reaches the Shortcuts app
Chorus does not add its own dedicated action to the Shortcuts app's action list, the way a first-party Apple app might. Instead, Chorus responds to its own address, the same way many Mac apps expose themselves to automation tools. In the Shortcuts app, you reach it with the built-in URL action: add that action, type in the address for the setup you want, and feed it into Open URLs as the next step. No extra software to install, no separate helper app running in the background.
This is the same mechanism Raycast and a Stream Deck use to trigger Chorus, so if you have already set either of those up, the Shortcuts app version reaches the identical place. The difference is what happens around it. Raycast and a Stream Deck each run one command on their own. The Shortcuts app can put that command inside a sequence with everything else, and hand the whole sequence off to a trigger you never touch.
Running it without opening anything
The Shortcuts app's Automation tab is what turns a saved Shortcut into something that fires on its own. A time of day, your Mac waking up, a specific app opening, or arriving somewhere with your phone can all start a Shortcut without a tap, and any step that calls Chorus runs as part of that same trigger. That is the piece a single keyboard shortcut cannot do on its own: Chorus's own shortcuts are fast, but they still need a key pressed. An automation trigger needs nothing.
Set one up around your actual schedule, not an idealised one, and the audio switch stops being a step you remember and becomes a step that already happened by the time you sit down.
For more on building a multi-step automation, see Apple's own Shortcuts user guide.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Chorus's Keyboard Shortcuts and the Shortcuts app?
Chorus's own Keyboard Shortcuts feature binds a single key press directly to one output, input, or saved group inside Chorus. The Shortcuts app is a separate, built-in Mac app for building multi-step automations, and Chorus is one step you can add to those, not a replacement for either.
Does Chorus have its own actions inside the Shortcuts app?
No. Chorus does not add a dedicated action to the Shortcuts app's action list. Instead, Chorus responds to its own address, so you reach it with the Shortcuts app's built-in URL action rather than a Chorus-branded one.
What can a Shortcut actually do to my audio through Chorus?
A Shortcut can switch on one of your saved Chorus groups, move to a single output, or change the volume, the same actions you would otherwise reach from Chorus's own menu bar icon, just triggered as a step inside a longer automation.
Can a Shortcut change my audio automatically, without me running it by hand?
Yes. The Shortcuts app's Automation tab can run a Shortcut on a trigger you set, such as a time of day or a specific app opening, with no tap required. Any step that calls Chorus runs as part of that automatic trigger.
Do I need the Shortcuts app to use Chorus with Raycast or a Stream Deck?
No. Raycast and a Stream Deck reach Chorus the same way the Shortcuts app does, through its own address, so each one works on its own. The Shortcuts app is only necessary if you specifically want to use Apple's automation triggers or build a multi-step Shortcut.
