If you’re like me and frequently need to archive project folders to an external drive, you know how tedious the process can be: right-click, compress, wait, find the archive, move it to the external drive, rename if there’s a conflict… It’s a workflow that begs for automation.

Today, I’m going to show you how I built a custom Raycast script that compresses any folder with 7zip and automatically moves it to an external drive, all with a single keyboard shortcut.

What We’re Building

A Raycast script command that:

• Takes whatever folder you have selected in Finder
• Compresses it using 7zip (better compression than macOS’s built-in zip)
• Moves it directly to a specified folder on your external drive
• Automatically handles version numbering if the archive already exists
• Provides clear error messages if something goes wrong

No more manual copying. No more filename conflicts. Just select, trigger, and done.

Prerequisites

Before we start, you’ll need:

1. Raycast - Download from raycast.com if you haven’t already
2. 7zip - Install via Homebrew:

   brew install p7zip

3. An external drive - Obviously, but make sure you know its mount path

The Problem with the Built-in Approach

Initially, I thought: “Can’t I just have Raycast pass the selected folder path as an argument?”

The answer is technically yes, but it’s clunky. Raycast would prompt you for the folder path every time, which means you’d need to:

1. Copy the folder path
2. Trigger the Raycast command
3. Paste the path
4. Hit enter

That’s not automation—that’s just extra steps with good intentions.

The Solution: AppleScript Integration

The key insight was using AppleScript to grab the currently selected item from Finder. This way, the workflow becomes:

1. Select a folder in Finder
2. Trigger the Raycast command (I use Cmd+Shift+7)
3. Watch it compress and move automatically

No input required. No path copying. Just pure automation bliss.

Building the Script

Here’s the complete script with all the error handling we need:

#!/bin/bash

# Required parameters:
# @raycast.schemaVersion 1
# @raycast.title Compress Selected to External Drive
# @raycast.mode fullOutput

# Optional parameters:
# @raycast.icon 📦
# @raycast.needsConfirmation false

# Documentation:
# @raycast.description Compress selected Finder folder with 7zip and move to external drive
# [@raycast.author](http://raycast.author) Your Name

EXTERNAL_DRIVE="/Volumes/YourDrive/ArchiveFolder"

# Get the selected item from Finder
FOLDER_PATH=$(osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to set selectedItems to selection
if (count of selectedItems) is 0 then
    return ""
else
    return POSIX path of (item 1 of selectedItems as alias)
end if')

# Check if anything is selected
if [ -z "$FOLDER_PATH" ]; then
    echo "❌ Error: No item selected in Finder"
    echo "Please select a folder in Finder and try again"
    exit 1
fi

# Trim whitespace
FOLDER_PATH=$(echo "$FOLDER_PATH" | xargs)

# Check if path exists
if [ ! -e "$FOLDER_PATH" ]; then
    echo "❌ Error: Path does not exist: $FOLDER_PATH"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if path is a directory
if [ ! -d "$FOLDER_PATH" ]; then
    echo "❌ Error: Selected item is not a folder: $FOLDER_PATH"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if 7z is installed
if ! command -v 7z &> /dev/null; then
    echo "❌ Error: 7z not found. Install with: brew install p7zip"
    exit 1
fi

# Check if external drive is mounted
if [ ! -d "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE" ]; then
    echo "❌ Error: External drive not found at: $EXTERNAL_DRIVE"
    echo "Make sure the drive is connected and mounted"
    exit 1
fi

# Create archive name from folder name
BASE_NAME="$(basename "$FOLDER_PATH")"
ARCHIVE_NAME="${BASE_NAME}.7z"
OUTPUT_PATH="$EXTERNAL_DRIVE/$ARCHIVE_NAME"

# Check if archive already exists and find next available version number
if [ -f "$OUTPUT_PATH" ]; then
    echo "⚠️  Archive already exists, creating versioned copy..."
    VERSION=2
    while [ -f "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE/${BASE_NAME}_v${VERSION}.7z" ]; do
        VERSION=$((VERSION + 1))
    done
    ARCHIVE_NAME="${BASE_NAME}_v${VERSION}.7z"
    OUTPUT_PATH="$EXTERNAL_DRIVE/$ARCHIVE_NAME"
    echo "📝 Using version number: v${VERSION}"
    echo ""
fi

echo "🗜️  Compressing: $(basename "$FOLDER_PATH")"
echo "📍 Destination: $OUTPUT_PATH"
echo ""

# Compress with 7zip
if 7z a "$OUTPUT_PATH" "$FOLDER_PATH"; then
    echo ""
    echo "✅ Successfully compressed and moved to external drive"
    echo "📦 Archive: $ARCHIVE_NAME"
    echo "📊 Size: $(du -h "$OUTPUT_PATH" | cut -f1)"
else
    echo ""
    echo "❌ Error: Compression failed"
    exit 1
fi

Key Features Explained

1. Finder Integration

The AppleScript snippet grabs whatever you have selected in Finder:

FOLDER_PATH=$(osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to set selectedItems to selection
if (count of selectedItems) is 0 then
    return ""
else
    return POSIX path of (item 1 of selectedItems as alias)
end if')

This returns a POSIX path (like /Users/yourname/Documents/project) that we can use with standard bash commands.

2. Comprehensive Error Checking

The script validates everything before attempting compression:

• Is anything selected?
• Does the path exist?
• Is it actually a directory?
• Is 7zip installed?
• Is the external drive connected?

Each check provides a helpful error message so you know exactly what went wrong.

3. Automatic Version Numbering

This was a crucial addition. If project.7z already exists, the script will automatically create project_v2.7z. If that exists, it’ll create project_v3.7z, and so on:

if [ -f "$OUTPUT_PATH" ]; then
    VERSION=2
    while [ -f "$EXTERNAL_DRIVE/${BASE_NAME}_v${VERSION}.7z" ]; do
        VERSION=$((VERSION + 1))
    done
    ARCHIVE_NAME="${BASE_NAME}_v${VERSION}.7z"
    OUTPUT_PATH="$EXTERNAL_DRIVE/$ARCHIVE_NAME"
fi

No more manual renaming. No more overwriting precious backups.

4. Progress Feedback

Using @raycast.mode fullOutput means you see everything that’s happening:

• Which folder is being compressed
• Where it’s going
• The final archive size

This transparency is important when you’re archiving large projects that might take a few minutes.

Setting It Up

1. Find your external drive path:

   ls /Volumes/

Look for your drive name, then determine where you want archives saved. For example: /Volumes/Expansion/WebProjectsArchive

2. Create the script:

   • Open Raycast Settings → Extensions → Script Commands
   • Click “Create Script Command”
   • Paste the script above
   • Update the EXTERNAL_DRIVE variable with your path
   • Save it (like ~/Documents/Raycast/Scripts/ or ~/.local/raycast)

3. Make it executable:

   chmod +x ~/.local/raycast/compress-to-external.sh

4. Assign a hotkey (optional but recommended):
   • In Raycast, search for your script
   • Press Cmd+K and select “Add Hotkey”
   • I use Cmd+Shift+7 for “Archive”

Using It

Now the workflow is beautifully simple:

1. Open Finder
2. Select a folder
3. Hit your hotkey (or trigger via Raycast search)
4. Watch the magic happen

The script will show you the compression progress and let you know when it’s done, including the final archive size.

Why 7zip Over Built-in Compression?

macOS has built-in zip compression, so why bother with 7zip? A few reasons:

• Better compression ratios - 7zip typically achieves 30-70% better compression than zip
• Cross-platform - .7z files are widely supported on Windows and Linux
• More options - If you want to add encryption or split archives later, 7zip supports it
• Speed - 7zip can be faster for large files

For project archives that might contain thousands of files and dependencies, these advantages add up quickly.

Potential Improvements

This script works great for my needs, but here are some ideas for enhancement:

• Multiple drive support - Let the user select from available drives
• Compression level options - Add arguments for maximum vs. fast compression
• Notification on completion - Use macOS notifications for long-running compressions
• Delete original option - Add a flag to remove the source folder after successful archiving
• Batch processing - Handle multiple selected folders

Troubleshooting

“7z not found” error:

brew install p7zip

“External drive not found” error: Make sure your drive is connected and the path in EXTERNAL_DRIVE matches exactly. Check with:

ls -la /Volumes/YourDrive/YourFolder

Script doesn’t appear in Raycast: Refresh the script directory in Raycast Settings → Extensions → Script Commands → Reload All Scripts

Permission denied: Make sure the script is executable:

chmod +x your-script.sh

Conclusion

This Raycast script has saved me countless hours of manual file management. What used to be a multi-step process involving right-clicks, waiting, dragging, and renaming is now a single keyboard shortcut.

The beauty of Raycast’s script commands is that they’re just bash scripts with some metadata. If you know bash, you can automate almost anything on your Mac. This particular script demonstrates several useful patterns:

• Integrating with Finder via AppleScript
• Robust error handling
• Automatic file versioning
• User-friendly progress feedback

I encourage you to take this script and adapt it to your own workflow. Maybe you want to compress to Dropbox instead of an external drive. Maybe you want to add a timestamp to the filename. The flexibility is there, you just need to modify a few lines.

Happy automating!

Have questions or improvements? Feel free to reach out. If you build something cool with this pattern, I’d love to hear about it!

What you should start saying in Standup now

from the, seat at the table.

This just in. Live from Dysmyopia news, Here with updates from the world eye

Here’s my recently added playlist on Apple Music 👀 music.apple.com/us/playli…

(⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■), dysmyopia—the dystopian hellscape vision of a world as seen by a short-sighted man.

I built a BlueSky Bot in 6 hours last week. I promise for good reasons.

TELL THE BOT THEY’RE DOING SUCH A GOOD JOB

It runs a query, does some analytics, then gives a progress update to socials.

The coffee didn’t help #friday #help #sendnaps

GitHub API Limits logan.smmall.cloud/MTc0OTE2M…

Really liking Doom: The Dark Ages. The movement and the combat feel very fluid. The shield charge is satisfyingly good. It’s getting great scores on the Reviews.

What are the robots gonna do… when they start keeping a journal? 🤖 Probably complain about their humans. 🤔 #RobotJournal

I like to live dangerously and listen to that Sleep playlist at work. #TimeToFeed

I wish I would have prioritized my art more before the Tariffs and bought a Fujifilm X100VI. OH WELL >:(