API

Automate transfers, remotely set settings, and control licenses.

This feature requires an OffShoot Pro license. Upgrade via the License Manager, or via OffShoot > Settings > License. Check out all Pro features here.

You can tell OffShoot to do something by calling this URL – offshoot://. You can call this from any app or script that can open an URL.

Using Hedge? Then use hedge:// instead of offshoot://

Using a browser

Copy/paste the URL below in a web browser, press Enter, and OffShoot will open.

offshoot://open

Using a shell

Copy/paste the command below in a shell, press Enter, and OffShoot will open.

Mac

Using Terminal

open 'offshoot://open'

Windows

Using PowerShell

start 'offshoot://open'

Using a script

Mac

AppleScript:

do shell script ("open 'offshoot://open'")

Python:

import os
os.system("open 'offshoot://open'")

Windows

Python

import os
os.system("start 'offshoot://open'")

The result of an API call is logged in a text file.

Mac

Location: ~/Library/Logs/Hedge/urlSchemeResponseLog.txt

This log will contain a single line with either a success or fail state. It's empty when OffShoot starts, then emptied after each call.

Windows

Location: C:\Users\$username\AppData\Roaming\Hedge\HedgeCallback.log

This is a multi-line log. It's emptied on app start and after each call.

$time | $id | $arguments_passed

$time | $id | $call_result

OffShoot API calls

Control OffShoot's application state.

Open

offshoot://open

Quit

offshoot://quit

Restart

offshoot://restart

Check for updates

offshoot://update

Activate

offshoot://activate?key=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

URL Parameter	Type	Description
key	String	Required

Deactivate

offshoot://deactivate

Chain Actions

The actions call allows you to pass multiple API calls in a single request:

offshoot://actions?json=[{"<action>":{"<property>": "<value>"}},{"<action>":{"<property>": "<value>"}}]

Example

offshoot://actions?json=[{"deactivate":{}},{"activate":{"key":"xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx"}}]

URL Parameter	Type	Description
json	Array containing JSON object(s)	Required
<action>	String	An API action
<property>	String	An action property
<value>	Various	The value of the property

API call not working? URL-encode the JSON string.

Actions without properties are passed as {}.

Chained Actions can create timing issues. Keep this in mind when debugging. If you run into timing issues, cut up your chained action into multiple calls and proceed based on timers/OffShoot Events or logging output.

Reset Disks

Removes disks from Sources and/or Destinations dropzones. Existing transfers are not affected. If type is not defined, both Sources and Destinations are reset.

offshoot://reset?type=sources

URL Parameter	Type	Description
type	Sting	Optional (sources or destinations).

Set Source

Sets a single Source or a collection of paths and applies a Label when defined.

offshoot://setSource?paths=["/Volumes/UNTITLED"]&label=Clips

URL Parameter	Type	Description
paths	Array	Required
label	String	Optional

Mac

Terminal examples:

open 'offshoot://actions?json=[{"setSource":{"paths":["/Volumes/Untitled/The Clips"],"label":"test"}}]'

Call with URL encoded json= value

open 'offshoot://actions?json=%5B%7B%22setSource%22%3A%7B%22paths%22%3A%5B%22%2FVolumes%2FUntitled%2FThe%20Clips%22%5D%2C%22label%22%3A%22test%22%7D%7D%5D

Windows

PowerShell examples:

Call with escaped quotes

start 'offshoot://actions?json=[{\"setSource\":{\"paths\":[\"G:\The Clips\"],\"label\":\"test\"}}]'

Call with URL encoded json= value (don't escape quotes)

start 'offshoot://actions?json=[{"setSource":{"paths":["G:\The Clips"],"label":"test"}}]'

start 'offshoot://actions?json=%5B%7B%22setSource%22%3A%7B%22paths%22%3A%5B%22G%3A%5CThe%20Clips%22%5D%2C%22label%22%3A%22test%22%7D%7D%5D'

Set Destination

Sets a single Destination

offshoot://setDestination?path=/Volumes/BACKUP

URL Parameter	Type	Description
path	Array	Required / URL encoded

Mac

Terminal examples:

open 'offshoot://actions?json=[{"setDestination":{"path":"/Volumes/Untitled/The Project"}}]'

Call with URL encoded json= value

open 'offshoot://actions?json=%5B%7B%22setDestination%22%3A%7B%22path%22%3A%22%2FVolumes%2FUntitled%2FThe%20Project%22%7D%7D%5D'

Windows

PowerShell examples:

start "offshoot://setDestination?path=SSD"

start "offshoot://setDestination?path=H:\"

Call with escaped quotes

start 'offshoot://actions?json=[{\"setDestination\":{\"path\":\"G:\The Clips\"}}]'

Call with URL encoded json= value (don't escape quotes)

start 'offshoot://actions?json=[{"setSource":{"paths":["G:\The Clips"],"label":"test"}}]'

start 'offshoot://actions?json=%5B%7B%22setSource%22%3A%7B%22paths%22%3A%5B%22G%3A%5CThe%20Clips%22%5D%2C%22label%22%3A%22test%22%7D%7D%5D'

Reload Presets

Reloads all presets. Call this after making changes to preset files.

offshoot://reloadPresets

Add Transfers

Creates transfers for all new combinations of Sources and Destinations. Identical to pressing the Add Transfers button in OffShoot.

offshoot://addTransfers

Restart Transfer

Restarts a stopped or failed transfer. Uses the ID found in FileCopyCompleted_id

offshoot://restartTransfer?id=

Set Preferences

Sets a specific preference to a specific value. A complete list of all key names is available here: /Applications/OffShoot.app/Contents/Resources/SFIDefaults.plist

Not sure which key name to use? Try changing the setting in OffShoot, then verifying the modified values in: ~/Library/Preferences/nl.syncfactory.Hedge.Mac.plist

offshoot://setPreferences?preferences={"SFIDefaultsAutoSources":"0"}

URL Parameter	Type	Description
preferences	JSON Object	Required

The SetPreferences action is for macOS only.

On Windows, you can set the corresponding keys and values in the Windows Registry under <current-user>\Software\Hedge.