Howdy %Name%,

I’m trying to help people see that AutoHotkey still makes a lot of sense for automating the mundane.

Yes, AI can automate a lot but the decision process hasn’t really changed. You still need to choose the right tool for the job.

AI has real downsides: it’s expensive, slower to execute, and not deterministic (meaning the results are not always predictable and reliable (sadly hallucinations are still a thing 😟).

Before AI, I would decide to automate something based on how often I did it or how many people would use it

That logic still holds❗

What has changed is that AI makes it much cheaper and faster to create tools . I use AI all the time to build things—but I rarely use it to actually do the work.

If it’s a one-off task, AI can be fine. Quick, easy, done. That’s the exception .

But if it’s something you’ll do repeatedly , it almost always makes more sense to build a tool (AutoHotkey or otherwise) and let that handle it—rather than paying for AI to do it over and over.

This is something we talk about a lot in the Hero Group.

If you’re wanting to see how easy it is to create a tool to do your work instead of worrying about how many tokens you’re burning , I highly recommend you join.  The first month is just $1.99.

Now on with the show…

Customizing your System Tray Menu

Connie, a Hero member, mentioned in the system tray of our File XP Search tool it should not say “edit script”.  I agreed but wanted a more sophisticated approach so we show how you can use logic to dictate what items show up in your system tray in this video.

🛠️ AutoHotkey Pros Reveal the Secret to Custom Tray Menus |Hero Extract

What in the world is a “Smoke test”

Claude has been helping me level up my AutoHotkey code like crazy!  So much so I rarely fully read what it says it is going to do (and with our AHK MCP server it is debugging itself).

Over the past couple of weeks I did happen to notice it kept saying it was going to perform a “Smoke Test”.

So I finally had to ask it “what in the world is a Smoke test” and what other tests should we make?

Check out what it is and the other tests Claude helped me make in this video.

What is a Smoke Test? 💨 AI Revealed Testing Methods I Never Knew |Hero Extract

🍪Why Firefox Cookies Taste Best

I was using AI to automate scraping our subtitles from YouTube when Claude mentioned that I should use Firefox to login because the cookies were easier to “borrow”.

I asked Irfan to explain the “why” behind the cookie grab which you can see in this video

Firefox Has Unencrypted Cookies 🍪 and It Changes Everything |Hero Extract

Let AI guide you around the Registry and WMI

Last week we showed off a couple more tools that have AI integration.

Our Registry Inspector lets you ask AI where to find values in the Windows Registry

Our WMI Inspector let’s you chat with AI regarding where you would find data via the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

Both let you select information and create AutoHotkey code to run on and extract on other computers!   Both are amazingly helpful because both the Registry and WMI are insanely large!

Check out the Registry tool in this video.

AI + Windows Registry = Pure MAGIC 🪄 AutoHotkey Tool Walkthrough

Improving People’s Lives: Story #94

While out in Los Angeles I showed a good friend the benefits of using Claude code via VS Code extension over instead of a browser.   It’s an enormous game changer and is far easier than you think!

We also discussed the AI workflow chart which, btw, we discussed during a Hero call in this video

The Aha Moment That Completely Changed How I Use AI Tools 🎯 |Hero Extract

📚 What we’re reading

• Virtual Desktops in Windows are definitely worth learning about!
• 5 Word formats that solve real world problems
• Stop trusting Google Drive with your backups
• Google TV apps that have nothing to do with streaming

🤖 AI News that you Need to Know

• AI Legal Agent (Thanks Ryan)
• Real time Global Intelligence dashboard
• 📺 Watch The Scariest AI ever Built (Claude Mythos)

The SCARIEST AI Ever Built (Claude Mythos)

⚡️Productivity tips:

In VS Code use Control+Shift+P to open the command Palette

🤣 A spot of Humor:  Man takes his wife’s texts and uses AI to turn them into a song

What we 🅰utomated this week with AutoHotkey #131

In this week’s video I walk you through two weeks of automation wins.

From ditching slow AHK file loops for a C++ XP Style search tool that rips through 10,000+ files in seconds, to a foot pedal that fires off voice prompts to AI, to “Ask AI” buttons baked right into my Registry and WMI inspectors.

I also get into where AHK Script Maker is headed (AI skills + an AHK MCP server so non-programmers can actually build stuff that works), plus the training gig where I’ll be teaching up to 50 people a week at a national agency . The whole thing really comes back to my favorite mantra:

AI Brains 🧠, AutoHotkey Hands 🫲🏻

What We Automated with AI and AHK #131

Clients say…

Without the introductory course on udemy.com I wouldn’t have had any idea of how to setup a hotkey to quickly change my Audio output device from speakers to headset–something I do at least a half-dozen times per day. In the forums I found most of what I needed and the course pointed me in right direction for the edits needed to effect this change on my computer. Thank you! — Robert Rosewald

AHK Hero 🦸

Consider joining the 🦸Hero club! Members receive 25% off courses, consultations, tutoring, done for you project work, etc.    Currently we have over 557 hours of recordings teaching AutoHotkey that is exclusive to Hero members❗

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

• Help Hero Members with their Questions & Code
• Claude Scheduler (maybe not needed because of Claude Routines?)
• Live Creating Skills and Testing
• Major new features we’re adding to AHK Script Maker Pro
• Follow up on AI workflow : Discussing Massive Upgrade video
• Using Try/Catch in your code
• Cool AHK script showing Ripple Effect
• Showing /Branch and /Resume in Claude Code
• Continue to Automate creating Downloads on the-Automator
• Creating your own Claude Code Commands

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

🗣️ 💭 Quotable quotes

• If you have to remember how it works, you’ve over complicated your script — Joe Glines
• I wish I had an answer to that because I’m tired of answering that question — Yogi Berra
• The best is always the enemy of the good — Sigmund Freud

⏩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’re struggling understanding when to use AI and when to switch to a “deterministic approach” you should join our Hero club and ask us directly.  The first month is $1.99 so there is very little to risk!