Mac App Management

# Mac App Management Launch, quit, manage, and automate macOS applications remotely via SSH. ## IMPORTANT: AppleScript Over SSH **Never use `tell app "AppName" to <window command>` over SSH** — it hangs. Always use the System Events process wrapper for window operations. Simple commands like `activate` and `quit` are fine. ## Launching Apps ```bash ssh bots 'open -a Safari' ssh bots 'open -a "Google Chrome"' ssh bots 'open -a Terminal' ssh bots 'open -a "Visual Studio Code"' # Open a file with default app ssh bots 'open ~/Documents/report.pdf' # Open a URL ssh bots 'open https://example.com' # Open with a specific app ssh bots 'open -a "Google Chrome" https://example.com' # Open Finder at a path ssh bots 'open ~/Downloads' ``` ## Quitting Apps ```bash # Graceful quit (works over SSH) ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"Safari\" to quit"' # Force quit ssh bots 'pkill -9 Safari' ssh bots 'killall Safari' ``` ## Listing Running Apps ```bash # All visible apps ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to get name of every process whose visible is true"' # Frontmost app ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to get name of first process whose frontmost is true"' # Check if an app is running ssh bots 'pgrep -q Safari && echo "Running" || echo "Not running"' # Process list ssh bots 'ps aux | grep -i safari' ``` ## Window Management (via System Events) All window operations MUST go through System Events: ```bash # List all windows for an app ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to tell process \"Google Chrome\" to get name of every window"' # Get window count (JXA — more reliable) ssh bots 'osascript -l JavaScript -e "Application(\"System Events\").processes.byName(\"Google Chrome\").windows.length"' # Bring app to front ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"Google Chrome\" to activate"' # Move window (via System Events) ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to tell process \"Google Chrome\" to set position of window 1 to {100, 100}"' # Resize window (via System Events) ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to tell process \"Google Chrome\" to set size of window 1 to {1200, 800}"' ``` Always wrap in timeout to catch hangs: ```bash timeout 5 ssh bots 'osascript -e "..."' || echo "Timed out" ``` ## Finder Operations ```bash # List files ssh bots 'ls -la ~/Downloads/' # Move file ssh bots 'mv ~/Downloads/file.txt ~/Documents/' # Create folder ssh bots 'mkdir -p ~/Documents/NewProject' # Reveal file in Finder ssh bots 'open -R ~/Documents/file.txt' # Open Finder window at path ssh bots 'open ~/Downloads' ``` Note: Finder AppleScript commands (`tell app "Finder" to ...`) hang over SSH. Use `open` command and `ls`/`mv`/`cp` instead. ## App Installation ```bash # Via Homebrew (preferred) — remember to source brew ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew install --cask google-chrome' ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew install --cask visual-studio-code' ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew install --cask firefox' # List installed casks ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew list --cask' # Update all ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew upgrade --cask' # Uninstall ssh bots 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)" && brew uninstall --cask firefox' ``` ## App Settings and Preferences ```bash ssh bots 'defaults read com.apple.Safari' ssh bots 'defaults export com.apple.Safari /tmp/safari-prefs.plist' ssh bots 'defaults import com.apple.Safari /tmp/safari-prefs.plist' ``` ## Notification Center ```bash ssh bots 'osascript -e "display notification \"Build complete\" with title \"Factory\" sound name \"Glass\""' ``` ## Login Items (Apps that start on boot) ```bash # List login items ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to get name of every login item"' # Add login item ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to make login item at end with properties {path:\"/Applications/MyApp.app\", hidden:false}"' # Remove login item ssh bots 'osascript -e "tell app \"System Events\" to delete login item \"MyApp\""' ```