AHK News 2026-03-05 Making best use of your Scarce Resources🧠

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

I’m using AI more and more these days.

When Open AI first released ChatGPT, it was clear the potential was insane❗

I realized combining AutoHotkey with AI would make a powerful combination.

AI provides the brains and AutoHotkey does the actions.

And now that AI is getting brilliant at programming I feel like I’m being “freed up” to truly focus on what matters.

I’m thinking about recording a video sharing my best “vibe coding” tips.   Would you be interested in seeing that❓  Let me know by replying to this newsletter.

If enough people are interested I’ll record it this week.

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

firstAHKScript

AHK v1, v2 and v2.1 Beta

I used AI to discuss the differences between the main versions of AutoHotkey.  It did a great job which you can hear about in this video.

🚨 AutoHotkey V2.1 Features Will Change How You Code Forever
🚨 AutoHotkey V2.1 Features Will Change How You Code Forever


Are all the New v2.1 new Features really an Improvement?

As a follow-up to the above video Niek, an AHK Hero member, and I discuss V1 and some of the changes coming in v2.1 beta.  It turned into a very interesting discussion which you can watch here.

🚨 Why This Developer HATES AutoHotkey’s New v2.1 Features | AHK Hero Extract
🚨 Why This Developer HATES AutoHotkey's New v2.1 Features | AHK Hero Extract


Easily Merge PDFs

I was preparing my tax documents and wanted to give my Claude project the ~55 Amazon invoices and have it create a spreadsheet listing the items and their costs.

Unfortunately Projects had a max of 20 files so I just pivoted and created PDF Merger to merge the 55 pdfs into one and I then gave that to Claude.

You can check out the tool in this short video.

🔧 I Built a PDF Merger Because Claude Has a 20-File Limit
🔧 I Built a PDF Merger Because Claude Has a 20-File Limit


VS Code Profiles Vs Workspaces

We often joke that VS code is the Ferrari of editors.

It is incredibly powerful.  However, with all that functionality, it can be difficult to keep it all straight.

Ray, a Hero member, asked for clarification on Workspaces and Profiles.  You can check out the video here

VS Code Profiles vs Workspaces: Which One Do You ACTUALLY Need? 🤔
VS Code Profiles vs Workspaces: Which One Do You ACTUALLY Need? 🤔 |AHK Hero Extract

And remember, if you’re wanting to learn how to use VS code you can check out our Intro to VS code course.  The course comes with double your money back guarantee.


Improving People’s Lives: Story #84

A friend had a bad accident a while ago and, even after a few surgeries, still has significant pain & lack of strength in his neck & back.

He’d read about NMES (which is similar to a TENS) but wasn’t sure if it was a gimmick.

I figured this was a great job for NotebookLM since it rarely hallucinates.  I created several videos, reports and a pro/con debate podcast which helped him decide it was worth a try.

I’m happy to report it has given him great relief!

Click here If you’d like to check out the research, Podcasts, Infographics or Videos.


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:   Study on Extreme Productivity

Top 3 (of 12) differentiators were:

  • Hold themselves Accountable
  • Are very Proactive
  • Have Productive Habits overall

🤣 A spot of Humor: Jimmy Carr helps someone quit (with Pizazz)

Jimmy Carr Records the Most BRUTAL Resignation Message Ever!
Jimmy Carr Records the Most BRUTAL Resignation Message Ever!



What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #124

In this week’s video I dove into 13+ tools.  From an AI-powered OCR that blows Windows’ built-in version out of the water, to a segmenter tool, a dim screen upgrade with a color picker, and even a newsletter plugin that uses embeddings to match content intelligently.

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #124
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #124


Clients say…

My mind is blown — Kelly Coughlin


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero 🦸

Consider joining the 🦸AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 530 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

You can watch 1 hour a day for a year and not repeat content! That’s a lot of AHK Learning!

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

  • Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
  • AHK Script Maker: Another round of updates, adding v1 to v2 converter
  • Using Try/Catch in your code
  • Creating a wrapper for YT-DLP
  • Moving Chrome and restoring it
  • Claude’s Files API lets you upload files and access them from various API calls
  • Connecting Claude to NoteBookLM
  • Deciding on Model to use in OpenRouter
  • Setting default values in an ini file

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)


🗣️ 💭 Quotable quotes

  • If you come to a fork in the road, take it — Yogi Berra
  • Underutilization ➡️ Lack of perceived value ➡️ Churn — Ryan Wells
  • Listen more than you talk. And when you talk, observe the rules of conversation. If these rules are a mystery to you, go hunt them down — John Carlton

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


the-Automator  Dedicated to Multiplying your Income

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. If you would like help talking through what you should be working with, look at my calendar and book a call.

Double P.S. I can’t mention scarce resources and not mention Thomas Sowell’s amazing book Basic Economics.  For over 25 years I’ve been saying “If I could get everyone on the planet to read one book, this would be it❗”

This was made for YOU ❗ AHK News 2026-02-26

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

Do you want your email to be read❓

Focus in on the needs & interests of the person you are writing to and try and connect with them on something they are already thinking about❗

Legendary copywriter Robert Collier says “Always enter the conversation already taking place in the customer’s mind“.

It’s why the majority of my Newsletter intros focus on saving time / being more productive.

Over the years I’ve spoken to hundreds of AutoHotkey users.

The vast majority of which are:

  • Not programmers
  • Want to get things DONE!

During a client call last week I was mentioning to a client that I’ve never “liked” programming.

I taught myself how to program because I had work to do and was far too “pig headed” to do it manually.

I then found people that were far better programmers than me and realized I can have them build things for me.

So, if you’re wanting to buy-back some time and get back to solving problems, book a call with me today and we’ll figure out how we can get you to be even more productive.

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

bestDecision

Learn more about hiring AHK experts here

Step-up your AI Coding ❗

In this video we discuss our approaches to developing code.  Which models to use depending on the stage that you’re in.  We then dive into many of the VS Code Extensions that help us be more productive.

Advanced AI Lessons using VSCode and Agents | AHK Hero Extract
Advanced AI Lessons using VSCode and Agents | AHK Hero Extract


Claude Skill Search

Speaking of AI, if you’re building a lot of Claude Skills (and frankly, you should) then you might like our Claude Skills search tool to help you easily find / remember the one you want.

You can check it out in this video.

🎪 This Skills Organizer Will Make You an AI Power User! | AHK Hero Extract
🎪 This Skills Organizer Will Make You an AI Power User! | AHK Hero Extract


Automating Older Windows Software

We know of 20 ways to automate programs with AutoHotkey.   If you’re fortunate enough to be automating an “older” (Win32 based) Windows program then you need to watch this video!

Our two tools (Control Syntax Writer and Menu Syntax writer) make working with both Win32 Controls and Menus super easy and will literally write AutoHotkey code for you❗

And don’t forget this is an API approach (not sending keystrokes or mouse clicks) so it is FAR more reliable!

💡 Why Your Old Software Is Actually BETTER for Automation
💡 Why Your Old Software Is Actually BETTER for Automation

BTW we dive deep into Controls in our Intermediate AHK course which comes with a double your money back guarantee.

200% Money Back Guarantee badge with a yellow and green starburst seal for AHK courses


Hide Sensitive Data

Ever need to let someone access your computer but want to quickly hide a hard drive❓

Check out how easy it is to do in this video with our DriveToggler tool.

Quickly hide a drive with Drive Toggler | AHK Hero Extract
Quickly hide a drive with Drive Toggler | AHK Hero Extract


Improving People’s Lives: Story #83

The other day I created a simple tool showing how we can show search results based on the “topic” being searched (not on the text).  You can get a quick look in this video

🔥 This Search Algorithm Understands What You ACTUALLY Mean❗
🔥 This Search Algorithm Understands What You ACTUALLY Mean❗


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know


⚡️Productivity tips:  Knowledge Cards

Sticky notes, Trello, a whiteboard… something.

Getting tasks from head to paper is a fantastic way to de-clutter the mind❗


🤣 A spot of Humor: Funny Blonde Moments

THE FUNNIEST BLONDE MOMENTS IN GAME SHOW HISTORY!

THE FUNNIEST BLONDE MOMENTS IN GAME SHOW HISTORY!


What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #123

This week was a busy one❗ I covered everything from a custom church meeting management system to AI-powered video segmentation, PDF mergers, and a whole bunch of productivity utilities.

In this week’s video I walk you through 40+ tools including some seriously cool AI integrations like embeddings-based search and voice cloning.

If you’re into automation, you’re not gonna want to miss this one!

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #123
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #123


Clients say…

I had no idea you could do this with AutoHotkey — Jim F.


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero 🦸

Consider joining the 🦸AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 527 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)


🗣️ 💭 Quotable quotes

  • Do the right thing every time, as a habit. If you’re not clear on what the right thing is, that means you’re facing another life lesson. Figure it out. The test begins now — John Carlton
  • The more random you are, the less success you’ll have — Dan Kennedy
  • Work Hard; Be Curious; Be Honest❗— Joe Glines

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


the-Automator  Dedicated to Multiplying your Income

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. This may sound self serving (and it surely is) but we are here for you to help you be more productive!  You might find this hard to believe but I do what I do to help YOU be more productive!   Why not schedule a call and see how you can dial it up a notch❓

AHK News 2026-02-19 You can’t afford to hire just anyone❗

AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%,

When I was getting my Undergraduate degree I supported myself by painting homes.

One of my clients told me about a story where the tenant, who was a “little off” had offered to repaint some bedrooms in her house if he’d buy the paint.

He agreed and didn’t think anything of it.

A few months later he had some maintenance to do in the house.

The second he opened the door he knew he’d made an enormous mistake

Apparently the woman was a bipolar manic depressive and had painted EVERYTHING in the apartment BLACK.

He said “Joe, when I say everything, I mean literally everything.   From the walls and ceiling to the stove and refrigerator.   

Even the inside of the refrigerator (down to the ice cube trays) were all black.

So, just remember, when you’re hiring a consultant from Fiverr, you may end up with something you didn’t expect.

When you hire us you get professionals that are (mostly) sane❗

Now on with the show…

Learn how to Master VSCode Make the switch to v2 Intro to AutoHotkey Intermediate AutoHotkey Intermediate ObjectsGUIs are Easy w/AutoHotkey Access all our Courses; Quit when you want

sorryAboutConfusion

5 Git commands that feel like Magic

During last Friday’s AHK Hero call Isaias walked us through a great article about 5 git commands that feel like magic. 

You check out the extract in this video.

🔥 5 Git Commands That Will Make You Look Like a Coding Wizard! | AHK Hero Extract
🔥 5 Git Commands That Will Make You Look Like a Coding Wizard! | AHK Hero Extract


Where did those files come from anyway❓

I was testing some of the new functionality in AHK Script Maker when the following thought occurred to me: 

After dragging files from Windows Explorer to a window, how do I know which files I dragged❓

This got me thinking: What if we copied the path of the files dragged to the clipboard so, if we cared to, we could look at our clipboard history and be able to see what files were dragged.

This morning Irfan added that very functionality to AHK Script Maker!

I also realized we should add our v1 to v2 Script converter to ASM (which Irfan will do soon).

Still switching to v2?

In the below video we give you an intro to V2.  If you prefer short lessons you should check out our course to help you make the switch

🚀 Make the switch to AutoHotkey v2! 🚀 Here’s what you need to know 💡
🚀 Make the switch to AutoHotkey v2! 🚀 Here's what you need to know 💡


The Dark Side of AI

The majority of people agree AI is making them more productive however, could is also be slowing us down❓

This video discusses how AI is changing our workload and expectations of our managers.

The Dark Side of AI: How It’s Secretly Increasing Your Workload 📈
The Dark Side of AI: How It's Secretly Increasing Your Workload 📈


Quick way to Check your Stock Portfolio

Our tool for quickly Checking Stock Prices was greatly improved by using SetTimers to make it feel like it is multi-threaded.  (If you’re new to SetTimers, we cover them in our Intermediate AHK course)

In this video you can see how now it just “blinks” and you get your whole portfolio.

⏰ From Slow to Lightning Fast: AI’s Amazing Code Transformation | AHK Hero Extract
⏰ From Slow to Lightning Fast: AI's Amazing Code Transformation | AHK Hero Extract


Improving People’s Lives: Story #82

We met earlier today with Connie, a Hero member, to build a custom tool to help process his “meeting minutes”.   We’re building a custom GUI that will let him choose from meetings, attendees, and locations, then sending it all off for transcription and summary.  

The results are being returned in markdown format, which he’ll pop into MS word, manually review, then send off!


📚 What we’re reading


🤖 AI News that you Need to Know

NotebookLM Update: You Can Finally Edit Slide Decks!

NotebookLM Update: You Can Finally Edit Slide Decks!


⚡️Productivity tips:  

Sam Altman on Productivity


🤣 A spot of Humor: Great Golf story told by Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson & Redd Foxx Share Hilarious Jack Nicklaus Story 🤣⛳ #Shorts #Golf

Johnny Carson & Redd Foxx Share Hilarious Jack Nicklaus Story 🤣⛳ #Shorts #Golf


What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #122

This week was a busy one from Client wins to tool updates, and some pretty cool new AI-powered automation.

In this week’s video I walk you through everything from a radiologist who was losing $1,000 a day in productivity (we fixed that in 2 hours) to a brand new video segmentation tool that uses AI to automatically chop up footage based on what’s being said.

Check out this week’s video to see all the tools we’ve been building and the updates we’ve been shipping.

What we Automated with AutoHotkey #122
What we Automated with AutoHotkey #122


Clients say…

Having a resource like Joe is priceless. To all programmers out there, stop wasting time with useless programming languages and useless YouTube videos that just simply waste your time and get into AutoHotkey with Joe Glines! I guarantee you will not be disappointed. — Dwight Arroyo


Cartoon superhero mascot in green costume beside the bold text AHK Hero on a yellow background AHK Hero 🦸

Consider joining the 🦸AHK Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 524 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to AHK Hero members❗

During this Friday’s call we’re planning to discuss:

  • Help AHK Hero Members with their Questions & Code
  • AHK Script Maker: Copying paths copied to the clipboard when Dragged from Explorer
  • Media Segmenter
  • Fake Drive Creator : Icons, Labels, etc.
  • Changing DavPath to DevPath: Thank you GrepWin
  • Playing videos with FFmpeg
  • Adding all buttons to my MS 4000 Keyboard with this script
  • Merging PDFs
  • Improvements to Effortless Video Reducer
  • Newsletter Link library

They also have access to exclusive & pre-released content and 3 hours a week where we help people with their AHK issues (the Saturday calls are geared towards people new to AutoHotkey.)


🗣️ 💭 Quotable quotes

  • The true price of anything you do is the amount of time you exchange for it — Henry David
  • Don’t interfere with people disciplining their kids. Do interfere when clear abuse is occurring next door — John Carlton
  • Work first, reward second, in order — Dan Kennedy

AHK Newsletter⏩SHARE WITH A FRIEND⏩

Do you know someone that would benefit from learning useful automation tips like the gems in today’s issue?  Take a second and forward this newsletter and bask in the glow of their undying gratitude.  Was this email forwarded to you?

Sign up for this Newsletter here.  We never share your email with anyone.  Ever!


the-Automator  Dedicated to Multiplying your Income

Joe, Isaias, Irfan and staff


P.S. While the introduction may be extreme, it is real.   Besides being best-in-class Automation experts, we’re also incredibly professional and reliable.    Book a call and find out❗