Notion Apple Shortcuts: Automate Notion on iPhone and Mac

Apple Shortcuts can add pages to a Notion database from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch in one tap or one Siri command. The built-in Notion action only sets a page's title and text, so you need the Notion API to fill properties like dates, checkboxes, or numbers.

This guide covers both. You'll start with simple shortcuts for tasks, Apple Pay expenses, and NFC habit tracking, then upgrade them with the API.

Introduction to Apple Shortcuts and its functionalities

What are Apple Shortcuts

Apple Shortcuts is an automation app that lets you create custom workflows across Apple devices. Think of it as a digital Swiss Army knife for enhancing productivity. With Shortcuts, you can string actions together to perform complex tasks with a tap or a voice command.

Key features

Shortcuts offers versatile features:

• Custom workflows: Chain multiple actions to create complex automations.
• Siri integration: Use voice commands to run your shortcuts hands-free.
• Cross-device compatibility: Use shortcuts on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch.
• Many ways to run them: Start a shortcut from the Home Screen widget, Control Center, the Action button, or by tapping the back of your iPhone.
• Automation triggers: Set shortcuts to run automatically based on time, location, NFC tags, Apple Pay transactions, or other events.
• Gallery: Discover and download pre-made shortcuts from a curated collection.

The app’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for beginners but also deep enough for power users.

How Shortcuts work with Notion

Once the Notion app is installed and signed in, Shortcuts lists a few Notion actions. The one you'll use most creates a page in a database you pick, with a title and some text content. It's enough to add notes, tasks, or entries to your Notion databases from any Apple device.

Its main limit is properties. When you create a database page this way, you can't set a date, a select, a checkbox, or a number. The second half of this guide works around that with the Notion API.

Notion AI also works with Siri and the system. You can ask Siri to open Notion AI, find it in Spotlight, or map the Action button to it. Since July 2026, Notion also offers a separate Notion Agents app for iPhone, built around AI chat, voice, and photo capture. It requires iOS 26 or later.

Simple examples

Create a spending entry after an Apple Pay transaction

Automate expense tracking by creating a Notion entry for every Apple Pay transaction. Keep your finances organized with minimal effort.

1. Create a new automation in the Shortcuts app.

2. Choose “Transactions” as the trigger, deselect any cards or categories you don’t want to track.

3. Set it to “Run immediately.”

4. Add the “Create Database Page in Notion” action.

5. Set the title to the merchant name from the transaction details.

   

6. Include the transaction amount in the page content.

After every qualifying Apple Pay purchase, a new entry will appear in your Notion expense tracker.

[Download Shortcut: Apple Pay to Notion] (opens in a new tab)

Create tasks from anywhere

Add tasks to your Notion database from any app or screen on your device.

1. Create a new shortcut.
2. Add the “Ask for Input” action to capture the task name.
3. Add the “Create Database Page in Notion” action.
4. Set the page title to the provided input (task name).

Add this shortcut to your home screen, Mac top bar, or Apple Watch for quick task entry on the go.

[Download Shortcut: Quick Task to Notion] (opens in a new tab)

Use NFC tag to check habits

This shortcut uses NFC tags to track habits in Notion. Place NFC tags in key locations and tap your phone to log the habit instantly.

1. Create a new automation triggered by an NFC tag. Select "Run immediately"

   

2. Add the “Create Database Page in Notion” action.

3. Set the page title to the habit name (e.g., “Exercise completed”).

4. Optionally, add the current date and time to the page content.

Stick an NFC tag on your gym bag, book, or meditation cushion. Each time you tap your phone to the tag, it logs the habit in your Notion database.

Run your Notion shortcuts from Apple Watch

Notion has no Apple Watch app. The App Store lists it for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision only. Your shortcuts can still run on the watch, which makes it a quick way to capture a task by voice.

1. In the Shortcuts app on your iPhone, open the shortcut, then tap the Details button.
2. Turn on Show on Apple Watch, then tap Done.
3. On the watch, run it from the Shortcuts app, from a watch face complication, or by saying its name to Siri.

Pair it with the "Ask for Input" action from the task example, and you can dictate a task from your wrist without taking out your phone.

Go further with the Notion API

The built-in action can't fill properties. The official Notion API can, so you can set dates, numbers, selects, and checkboxes from a shortcut.

Get your API token

Notion now calls integrations "connections." To call the API from Shortcuts, create an internal connection (opens in a new tab). You must be a workspace owner to do it.

1. Open Notion's Developer portal and select Internal connections in the Build section of the sidebar.
2. Click Create a new connection, name it (for example "Apple Shortcuts"), and pick your workspace.
3. Open the Configuration tab and copy the API token. Check that the connection can insert content.
4. Give it access to your database. In the Content access tab, click Edit access and select the database. You can also open the database in Notion, click •••, then Connections and + Add connection.

A new connection has no page access by default. If you skip step 4, every request from your shortcut returns an error.

Keep this token secret, do not share it publicly.

Creating JSON

Here's the tricky part of this operation. To send to Notion's API structured data, we need to transform it into a JSON object. This object has to follow the structure of a Notion page (opens in a new tab). It looks like this:

{
	"parent": { "database_id": "xyz" },
	"properties": {
		"Name": {
			"title": [
				{
					"text": {
						"content": "Tuscan Kale"
					}
				}
			]
		},
		"Food group": {
			"select": {
				"name": "Vegetable"
			}
		},
		"Price": { "number": 2.5 }
	}
}

We will put this in a variable using the "Text" action.

As you can see each property type has its nomenclature. Depending on type of data you want to insert, you will have to check the Notion's Documentation to see how to use it.

You will need to get the id of the Notion database to create the page in the right place.

To make it ready for Apple Shortcuts, copy the JSON object above and add your database_id. Then delete every value that should be dynamic, but keep the quotes. You will fill these values with Shortcuts variables.

The final JSON should look like this:

Make calls using 'Get Contents of URL' action

The 'Get Contents of URL' action in Shortcuts allows you to interact with the Notion API. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Add the 'Get Contents of URL' action to your shortcut.

2. Set the URL to the appropriate Notion API endpoint, e.g., https://api.notion.com/v1/pages.

3. Set the method to POST for creating new pages.

4. Add these headers:

   • Key: Authorization ; Value: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN
   • Key: Notion-Version ; Value: 2022-06-28
   • Key: Content-Type ; Value: application/json

5. Put the JSON in a text action as explained in the previous section

6. In the "Request Body" field, select 'File', then pick the Text variable that holds your JSON.

This setup enables custom requests to Notion, opening a range of possibilities.

Some examples

Enhancing 'Create a spending entry after an Apple Pay transaction'

Enhance the earlier Apple Pay shortcut for more structured data:

1. Use the 'Get Contents of URL' action instead of the built-in Notion action.

2. In the request body, include:

   • Date (from the transaction details).
   • Amount (as a number property).
   • Location, ...

This results in a detailed, structured expense log in your Notion database.

[Download Shortcut: Enhanced Apple Pay to Notion] (opens in a new tab)

Create tasks with dates and priorities

For robust task management:

1. Use the 'Ask for Input' action multiple times to get the task name, due date, and priority.

2. Set up the 'Get Contents of URL' action to hit the Notion database API.

3. In the request body, include:

   • Title (task name).
   • Date property (due date).
   • Select property (priority).

This shortcut creates comprehensive tasks in your Notion database, complete with necessary metadata.

[Download Shortcut: Enhanced Create Task] (opens in a new tab)

Use NFC tag to check habits

With the API, the habit shortcut can tick a checkbox property. This JSON puts a date mention in the title and checks the property of your choice:

{
	"parent": {
		"database_id": "74e809589ba940b2a5066421aebd956f"
	},
	"properties": {
		"Name": {
			"title": [
				{
					"text": {
						"content": "Page title "
					}
				},
				{
					"type": "mention",
					"mention": {
						"type": "date",
						"date": {
							"start": "Shortcut Current date"
						}
					}
				}
			]
		},
		"Reading": {
			"checkbox": true
		}
	}
}

For this shortcut to work you will need to generate a date first, in your Shortcut process, using the Date action.

[Download Shortcut: Advanced Task Creator] (opens in a new tab)

Limits to know before you build

• Properties need the API. The built-in Notion action only sets a title and text content.
• Tokens live in the shortcut. Anyone you share an API-based shortcut with gets your token, so remove it before sharing.
• Errors are silent. If a property name in your JSON doesn't match the database exactly, the request fails. Add a "Show Result" action while testing to read Notion's error message.
• Shortcuts don't search Notion. To find pages or pick a database on the fly from your Mac, a dedicated launcher like Quick Add is faster.

Start with the simple task shortcut, then move to the API version once you need dates or checkboxes. Most people end up with two or three shortcuts they use every day.