Raycast provides four output modes that determine how your script’s output is displayed. Choose the mode that best fits your use case.
Mode Overview Mode Best For Output Display fullOutputDetailed information, terminal-like output Separate view showing all output compactQuick feedback, status messages Last line in toast notification silentBackground tasks, minimal interruption HUD overlay after Raycast closes inlineLive dashboards, status monitoring First line directly in command item
fullOutput Mode Displays the entire output in a separate view, similar to a terminal window. Perfect for scripts that generate detailed output you need to read.
# @raycast.mode fullOutput
Use Cases
Translation tools
Data conversions
Search results
Detailed status reports
Any output requiring review
Example: Translate Text #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title Translate # @raycast.mode fullOutput # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon 📖 # @raycast.argument1 { "type": "text", "placeholder": "Word or Sentence" } # @raycast.packageName Terminal Translate if ! command -v tl & > /dev/null; then echo "trans command is required (https://github.com/ShanaMaid/terminal-translate)." ; exit 1 ; fi tl $1
Source: translate.sh compact Mode Shows the last line of standard output in a toast notification. Great for quick confirmations and status updates.
Use Cases
Confirmation messages
Simple status updates
Quick actions with feedback
Settings toggles
Example: Change App Icon #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title Change Application Icon # @raycast.mode compact # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon 🅱️ # @raycast.argument1 { "type": "text", "placeholder": "Application" } # @raycast.packageName iconsur # Test iconsur t = $( which iconsur ) if [ -z " $t " ]; then echo "Iconsur not found, install using brew install iconsur" exit 1 fi # Process application icon... # (script logic omitted for brevity) echo "Icon changed successfully"
Source: iconsur.sh:9 In compact mode, only the last line of output is shown. Make sure your final echo statement contains the message you want to display.
silent Mode Displays the last line (if it exists) in an overlaying HUD toast after the Raycast window closes. Perfect for background tasks that shouldn’t interrupt your workflow.
Use Cases
Opening URLs or applications
File operations
Background processes
Quick actions without feedback
Example: Set Dock Position #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title Dock Position # @raycast.mode silent # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon 🤖 # @raycast.argument1 { "type": "dropdown", "placeholder": "Position on Screen", "data": [{"title": "Left", "value": "left"}, {"title": "Right", "value": "right"}, {"title": "Bottom", "value": "bottom"}] } # @raycast.packageName System defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string $1 ; killall Dock
Source: dock-set-position.sh:6 Example: Create Bear Note #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title Add Note # @raycast.mode silent # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon images/bear-light.png # @raycast.iconDark images/bear-dark.png # @raycast.packageName Bear # @raycast.argument1 { "type": "text", "placeholder": "Title", "percentEncoded": true} # @raycast.argument2 { "type": "text", "placeholder": "Content", "optional": true, "percentEncoded": true} open "bear://x-callback-url/create?title= ${1} &text= ${2} " echo "Note created!"
Source: bear-add-note.sh:13 inline Mode Displays the first line of output directly in the command item. Updates automatically according to the refreshTime parameter. Perfect for creating live dashboards.
# @raycast.mode inline # @raycast.refreshTime 10s
The refreshTime parameter is required for inline mode. Without it, Raycast will use compact mode instead.
Use Cases
System monitoring (CPU, memory, disk)
API dashboards (revenue, metrics)
Live status displays
Weather information
Any real-time data
Example: CPU Usage Monitor #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title CPU Usage # @raycast.mode inline # @raycast.refreshTime 10s # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon 🖥️ # @raycast.packageName System output = $( top -l 1 | grep "CPU usage" ) cpu_usage = $( echo " $output " | awk -F " " '{print $3}' | cut -d% -f1 ) echo "CPU Usage: ${ cpu_usage }%"
Source: inline-cpu-usage-percent.sh:6 Example: Revenue Dashboard #!/bin/bash # Required parameters: # @raycast.schemaVersion 1 # @raycast.title Revenue # @raycast.mode inline # @raycast.refreshTime 1h # Optional parameters: # @raycast.icon images/baremetrics.png # @raycast.packageName Baremetrics DATE = ` gdate -d today '+%Y-%m-%d'` # Fetch metrics from API... # (API calls omitted for brevity) echo "MRR: $MRR | ARR: $ARR | LTV: $LTV | ARPU: $ARPU "
Source: simple-dashboard.sh:8-9 Press Cmd+K while hovering over an inline script to add it to favorites or reorder it in your root search.
Refresh Time Examples # Refresh every 10 seconds (minimum) # @raycast.refreshTime 10s # Refresh every minute # @raycast.refreshTime 1m # Refresh every hour # @raycast.refreshTime 1h # Refresh once per day # @raycast.refreshTime 1d
Only the first 10 inline commands refresh automatically. Additional inline commands must be manually refreshed by navigating to them and pressing Return.
ANSI Color Support Both fullOutput and inline modes support ANSI escape codes for colorizing output. Colors automatically adapt to your appearance settings (light/dark theme).
Supported Colors Escape code format: \033[<fg>;<bg>m or \x1b[<fg>;<bg>m
Color Foreground Background Light Theme Dark Theme Black 30 40 #000000 #000000 Red 31 41 #B12424 #FF6363 Green 32 42 #006B4F #59D499 Yellow 33 43 #F8A300 #FFC531 Blue 34 44 #138AF2 #56C2FF Magenta 35 45 #9A1B6E #CF2F98 Cyan 36 46 #3EB8BF #52EEE5 White 97 107 #FFFFFF #FFFFFF
Text Formatting Codes Code Effect 0 Reset (normal) 4 Underline 9 Crossed out 24 Not underlined 29 Not crossed out
Color Examples Bash
Bash with tput
Swift
JavaScript
AppleScript
echo -e '\033[31;42mred text on green background\033[0m'
Raycast also supports 8-bit and 24-bit color codes for a wider color palette. Unsupported terminal codes are stripped from output. Long-Running Tasks Long-running tasks that generate partial data aren’t supported in compact, silent, and inline modes.
For example, the zip command generates many partial logs when compressing folders. Scripts using zip will work in fullOutput but not in other modes.
Solution: Use quiet flags to suppress partial output:# Won't work in compact/silent/inline modes zip -r archive.zip folder/ # Works in all modes zip -q -r archive.zip folder/
Choosing the Right Mode Use this decision tree to select the appropriate mode:
Arguments Add custom input fields to your scripts
Metadata Reference Explore all metadata parameters
