How to disable the diaglog box when saving a file from an action

An action can record a "helper script” for the save step, but then the action is no longer stand-alone and has this dependency.

Simple:

var c2t = function (s) {
	return app.charIDToTypeID(s);
};
var s2t = function (s) {
	return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
};
var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
var descriptor2 = new ActionDescriptor();
descriptor2.putEnumerated( s2t( "byteOrder" ), s2t( "platform" ), s2t( "IBMPC" ));
descriptor2.putEnumerated( s2t( "encoding" ), s2t( "encoding" ), s2t( "zip" ));
descriptor2.putBoolean( s2t( "saveTransparency" ), true );
descriptor2.putEnumerated( s2t( "layerCompression" ), s2t( "encoding" ), s2t( "RLE" ));
descriptor.putObject( s2t( "as" ), c2t( "TIFF" ), descriptor2 );
descriptor.putPath( c2t( "In  " ), new File( app.activeDocument.path.fsName + "/" + app.activeDocument.name.replace(/\.[^\.]+$/, '') + ".tif" ) );
descriptor.putInteger( s2t( "documentID" ), 82 );
descriptor.putBoolean( s2t( "lowerCase" ), true );
descriptor.putEnumerated( s2t( "saveStage" ), s2t( "saveStageType" ), s2t( "saveSucceeded" ));
executeAction( s2t( "save" ), descriptor, DialogModes.NO );

More robust:

/*
TIFF Save As to Source Directory.jsx
Stephen Marsh
v1.0 - 16th September 2026
https://community.adobe.com/questions-712/how-to-disable-the-diaglog-box-when-saving-a-file-from-an-action-1642176
Adapted from "JPEG Save As a Copy to Source Directory.jsx" to save TIFF instead.
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/saving-jpegs-via-an-action/idc-p/15002989
*/

#target photoshop

if (app.documents.length) {

    /*
    // Check if the bit depth is 32 bpc
    if (app.activeDocument.bitsPerChannel == BitsPerChannelType.THIRTYTWO) {
        //throw alert("Script cancelled!\rThe image mode is 32 bpc, tone mapping to 8 or 16 bpc is required before continuing.");
        mergeHDRto8bit(8, 6, 0, 1, false);
    }
    */

    var docName = app.activeDocument.name.replace(/\.[^\.]+$/, '');

    var docPath;

    try {
        // Use the previously saved path
        docPath = app.activeDocument.path;
    } catch (e) {
        // If unsaved, only prompt for an output folder once per Photoshop session.
        // $.global persists between script runs (e.g. across an Action or a batch of
        // unsaved documents) until Photoshop quits or the ExtendScript engine restarts.
        if (!$.global.tiffOutputFolder || !$.global.tiffOutputFolder.exists) {
            $.global.tiffOutputFolder = Folder.selectDialog("Unsaved base file, select the output folder:");
            // User cancelled the folder picker
            if (!$.global.tiffOutputFolder) {
                throw null;
            }
        }
        docPath = $.global.tiffOutputFolder;
    }

    // File Path & Naming
    var nameAndPath = new File(docPath + '/' + docName + '.tif');

    if (nameAndPath.exists) {
        // true = 'No' as default active button
        if (!confirm("File exists, overwrite: Yes or No?", true))
            // throw alert("Script cancelled!");
            throw null;
    }

    saveTIFF(nameAndPath);

} else {
    alert("You must have a document open!");
}


function saveTIFF(saveDetails) {
    var tiffOptions = new TiffSaveOptions();
    tiffOptions.imageCompression = TIFFEncoding.TIFFZIP;
    tiffOptions.byteOrder = (Folder.fs === "Windows") ? ByteOrder.IBM : ByteOrder.MACOS;
    tiffOptions.layers = true;
    tiffOptions.layerCompression = LayerCompression.RLE;
    tiffOptions.transparency = true;
    tiffOptions.embedColorProfile = true;
    app.activeDocument.saveAs(saveDetails, tiffOptions, false, Extension.LOWERCASE); // true for save a copy
}

function mergeHDRto8bit(depth, version, exposure, gamma, deghosting) {
	var s2t = function (s) {
		return app.stringIDToTypeID(s);
	};
	var descriptor = new ActionDescriptor();
	var descriptor2 = new ActionDescriptor();
	descriptor.putInteger( s2t( "depth" ), depth );
	descriptor2.putInteger( s2t( "version" ), version );
	descriptor2.putEnumerated( s2t( "method" ), s2t( "hdrToningMethodType" ), s2t( "hdrtype2" ));
	descriptor2.putDouble( s2t( "exposure" ), exposure );
	descriptor2.putDouble( s2t( "gamma" ), gamma );
	descriptor2.putBoolean( s2t( "deghosting" ), deghosting );
	descriptor.putObject( s2t( "with" ), s2t( "hdrOptions" ), descriptor2 );
	executeAction( s2t( "convertMode" ), descriptor, DialogModes.NO );
}

1. Copy the code text to the clipboard
2. Open a new blank file in a plain-text editor (not in a word processor)
3. Paste the code in
4. Save as a plain text format file – .txt
5. Rename the saved file extension from .txt to .jsx
6. Install or browse to the .jsx file to run (see below)

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

This is a hack to save in the same location, which isn't a standard feature of actions, but is something that a script is designed to do. I believe that this is forcing the dialog to open.