Supercharge Your Workflow: Chrome shortcut for Jira & Instant UUID Generation on Mac

Quickly Search Jira Tickets Using Google Chrome Shortcuts

Did you know that Google Chrome supports site search shortcuts? By default, Chrome includes shortcuts for Bookmarks, Gemini, and History.

However, you can add your own custom shortcuts — it’s simple and incredibly powerful.

1. Go to Settings > Search Engine, then scroll to the Site Search section.
2. Add a new shortcut for Jira. For example, I created one called “sp” because all our Jira tickets use the prefix SP.

Use the following URL template:

https://your-jira-url.com/browse/YOURPREFIX-%s

Now, I can simply type sp followed by the ticket number (without the prefix), and Chrome will open the corresponding Jira ticket.

This approach works not just for Jira but for any website or app that supports search or has predictable URL patterns. It’s a quick and effective way to streamline navigation!

Generate UUIDs on Mac Without Installing Any App

If you work with modern applications, you’ve probably used UUIDs as unique identifiers for databases, tests, mocked data, and more. I wanted a quick and easy way to generate UUIDs on my Mac without installing third-party apps.

I explored several solutions — many were either overcomplicated or paid. I even tried building a simple macOS app with ChatGPT’s help, but it quickly felt like diving into the complexities of Mac development.

Thankfully, I discovered a smarter and simpler solution using the Shortcuts app, which comes pre-installed on macOS. Let me introduce UUDi, the custom shortcut I created!

How It Works

At its core, UUDi runs a shell script to generate a UUID, copy it to the clipboard, and display a notification:

getuuid() {
    uuid=$(uuidgen | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z' | tr -d '\n')
    (osascript -e "display notification with title \"⌘-V to paste\" subtitle \"$uuid\"" &) >/dev/null 2>&1
    echo -n "$uuid" | pbcopy
}

getuuid

Setting It Up

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your Mac.
2. Add a new automation that runs the shell script above.
3. Assign a keyboard shortcut — I chose Ctrl-Shift-U because it’s unlikely to conflict with other system shortcuts.

How It Works in Action

Now, whenever I press Ctrl-Shift-U, a fresh UUID (v4) is generated, and copied to the clipboard, and a notification reminds me that I can press Command-V to paste it wherever I need.

These small tweaks simplify and speed up everyday tasks.

What productivity hacks or shortcuts do you use? Share your favourites in the comments below!