Mas

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mas is a command-line interface for the Mac App Store designed for scripting &
automation.

Installation

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Provider	Method	mas	macOS
Homebrew Core	brew install mas		14+ (recommended)
Homebrew Tap	brew install mas-cli/tap/mas		13+
MacPorts	sudo port install mas		13+
GitHub Releases	Installers & source archives	All	Release-dependent

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Commands

Detailed documentation is available via man mas & mas --help.

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Command	Functionality	Notes	Aliases
search <term>…	Search for App Store apps	json
lookup <id>…	Output App Store app details	json	info
list [<id>…]	Output installed apps	spotlight, json
outdated [<id>…]	Output outdated apps	spotlight, json
outdated --accurate [<id>…]	Output outdated apps	spotlight, account, json
get <id>…	Get free apps, install any apps	spotlight, root, account	purchase
install <id>…	Install gotten or purchased apps	spotlight, root, account
lucky <term>…	Install first matching app	spotlight, root, account
update [<id>…]	Update outdated apps	spotlight, root, account	upgrade
update --accurate [<id>…]	Update outdated apps	spotlight, root, account	upgrade
uninstall (<id>…|--all)	Uninstall apps	spotlight, root
signout	Sign out from App Store
open [<id>]	Open app App Store page
home <id>…	Open app web pages
seller <id>…	Open seller app web pages		vendor
reset	Reset App Store processes
config	Output config	json
version	Output version

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Integrations

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Tool	Functionality
Homebrew Bundle	Include installed apps in Brewfile; get, install & update Brewfile apps
Topgrade	Update apps

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Known Issues

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Issue	Solution
Manage system software (macOS, Safari…)	Use softwareupdate
Inconsistent app data	Wait hours – days (the App Store uses eventual consistency)
Cannot purchase paid apps	<a id="paid-apps"></a>Purchase paid apps directly in the App Store; submit a PR
iOS & iPadOS apps are unsupported	Submit a PR
Hangs	Index apps in Spotlight; open a bug report if hangs persist
Undetected installed apps	Index apps in Spotlight
This redownload is not available for this Apple Account… error	Sign in the correct Apple Account to the App Store, or uninstall the app & get it with the current Apple Account
Other bugs	Subscribe to an existing, or open a new, bug report

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Development

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Action	Command
Build	Scripts/build or Xcode 26+
Set up zsh wrapper	Scripts/setup_libexec
Run zsh wrapper	Scripts/mas
Test (Swift Testing)	Scripts/test

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App IDs

App Store apps each have 2 unique IDs:

Type	Format	Example (for Xcode)
ADAM ID	Integer	497799835
Bundle ID	String	com.apple.dt.Xcode

mas commands accept both types of app IDs as arguments.

By default, all-digit app IDs are considered ADAM IDs; other app IDs are
considered bundle IDs.

--bundle forces all-digit app IDs to also be considered bundle IDs.

ADAM IDs can be found via:

• mas search <term>…
• mas list
• The App Store:
  1. Open an app's App Store page.
  2. Open the page's Share Sheet.
  3. Choose Copy.
  4. Extract the ADAM ID from the URL in the copied text. e.g., 497799835 from
     https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt=12.

JSON App Output

list, outdated & search normally output tabular data, with a few fields
for each app on its own row.

lookup normally outputs fields as key-value pairs—one per line—in a contiguous
block for each app, with a blank line between apps.

If --json is supplied, these commands output a stream of JSON objects—one per
app—each containing all fields provided by Apple for that app.

Many of the keys provided by Apple are poorly named, so they are mapped to
better names by an algorithm.

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Mapped keys are sorted.

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Each key should be unique within an object; if duplicate keys exist in an
object, their relative ordering in the input is preserved in the output.

For tabular output, if an object contains duplicate keys, the last value is
used.

If Apple renames or adds keys, suboptimal keys might be output until the mapping
is updated.

JSON Config Output

config normally outputs settings as key-value pairs, one per line.

If --json is supplied, config outputs all settings in a single JSON object.

Since the keys are defined by mas, they are guaranteed to be unique & correct.

Spotlight

list, outdated, get, install, lucky, update & uninstall obtain
data for installed apps from the Spotlight Metadata Service (MDS).

Spotlight indexing thus must be enabled & valid for folders containing App Store
apps.

Check if an app is properly indexed in Spotlight via:

consoleCopy
## General format:
$ mdls -rn kMDItemAppStoreAdamID <path-to-app>
## Outputs the ADAM ID if the app is indexed.
## Outputs nothing if the app is not indexed.

## Example:
$ mdls -rn kMDItemAppStoreAdamID /Applications/Xcode.app
497799835

If an app is indexed in Spotlight, find the path to the app from its ADAM ID
via:

shellCopy
mdfind 'kMDItemAppStoreAdamID = <adam-id>'

If any App Store apps are not properly indexed, index via:

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shellCopy
# Individual app (if the omitted apps are known). e.g., for Xcode:
mdimport /Applications/Xcode.app

# All apps:
vol="$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :PreferredVolume:name" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstored.plist 2>/dev/null)"
mdimport /Applications ${vol:+"/Volumes/${vol}/Applications"}

# All volumes:
sudo mdutil -Eai on

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Root Privileges

get, install, lucky, update & uninstall require root privileges.

If run without root privileges, mas requests them as necessary.

mas uses existing valid sudo credentials, falling back to prompting for the
macOS user password, which is piped directly to a sudo process; the password is
never visible to, nor stored by, mas.

Any sudo credentials used or established by mas remain valid after mas finishes,
pursuant to the user-configured sudo timeout.

App Store Apple Account Requirements

get, install, lucky, update & outdated --accurate require an Apple
Account signed in to the App Store.

App Store Apple Account Requirements for get

get requires an Apple Account signed in to the App Store.

Even when an Apple Account is already signed in to the App Store, the system
security settings might require authenticating the Apple Account for each app
being gotten.

If System Settings > Touch ID & Password > Use Touch ID for purchases in iTunes Store, App Store and Apple Books is:

• Enabled: You must authenticate (via Touch ID or Apple Account password) for
  each app being gotten.
• Disabled: If System Settings > Apple Account > Media & Purchases >
  Free Downloads is:
  • Always Require: You must authenticate (via Apple Account password) for
    each app being gotten.
  • Never Require: Apps are gotten without additional authentication.

Note: App Store authentication is separate from any macOS user
authentication required to grant root privileges to get apps.

Outdated-App Detection

In outdated & update, the determination of whether an app is outdated is
configurable via 2 settings:

• Minimum macOS Check
• Accuracy

Concepts & Constraints

A release is a build of an app distributed to users.

A version is a label that orders a release relative to all other releases of
the same app.

The iTunes Search API
reports app data only for the latest release of which it is aware; eventual
consistency delays can prevent the API from knowing about the latest release
available from the App Store.

Minimum macOS Check

• --check-min-os (default): Filters outdated apps to include only those for
  which the release reported by the
  iTunes Search API is
  compatible with your current macOS.
• --no-check-min-os: Does not filter outdated apps. This is useful only when
  multiple newer releases are available, with some compatible with your current
  macOS, but the latest incompatible. With this setting, an app whose latest
  release is newer than the installed release but incompatible with your current
  macOS will:
  • outdated: Be reported as outdated, which avoids false negatives, but could
    cause false positives.
  • update: Display a dialog offering to install the newest release compatible
    with your current macOS, which might be the installed, or a newer (but not
    the latest), release.

Accuracy

The 2 outdated-app-detection modes are selectable via mutually exclusive flags:

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Feature	--inaccurate (default)	--accurate
Method	Query the iTunes Search API	Initiate App Store download to read metadata
Accuracy	Potential false positives or negatives	No false positives or negatives
Speed	Fast (~7ms per app)	Slow (~175ms per app)
Requirements	iTunes Search API	Apple Account signed in to the App Store
Dialogs	Only if --no-check-min-os	Various potential dialogs
Hangs	None	If checking 100+ apps in quick succession

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--inaccurate (default)

The inaccurate mode is optimized to:

• Be fast.
• Avoid hangs.
• Avoid dialogs (as long as --no-check-min-os is not supplied).
• Report outdated apps owned by any Apple Account without requiring an Apple
  Account signed in to the App Store (apps can be updated, however, only for an
  Apple Account signed in to the App Store).

It compares an installed app's version with the version reported by the
iTunes Search API as
Semantic Versions, with build metadata adjudicating ties.

This mode suffers from potential false positives & negatives:

• Inconsistent versions: For certain apps, the iTunes Search API
  consistently reports a different version for the same release than is reported
  by all other App Store systems & by installed apps, causing false positives or
  negatives.
• Eventual consistency delays: Lags between the App Store & the iTunes
  Search API can cause false negatives.

--accurate

The accurate mode is optimized to avoid false positives & negatives at the
expense of speed, potential hangs & potential dialogs.

It initiates a download of an installed app's latest release from the App Store
to obtain the correct latest version from the download metadata. Subsequent
behavior depends on the command:

• outdated: Each download is immediately cancelled; an app is reported as
  outdated if its version differs from the download metadata version.
• update: The download is cancelled iff the installed version is the same as
  the download metadata version. Otherwise, the update is allowed to complete.

This mode:

• Connects to the
  iTunes Search API iff
  --no-check-min-os is not supplied.
• Requires an Apple Account signed in to the App Store.
• Opens a dialog:
  • If no Apple Account is signed in to the App Store.
  • For each app owned by a different Apple Account.
  • For each app no longer available from the App Store.
  • If --no-check-min-os is supplied, for each app for which the release
    reported by the iTunes Search API is incompatible with your current macOS.
• Can hang: Initiating downloads for dozens of apps is safe, but for hundreds of
  apps can cause the App Store to stop responding. This is likely due to Apple
  rate limiting, for which the exact thresholds, durations & ramifications are
  currently unknown.

License

Licensed under the MIT license.

Originally created by Andrew Naylor
(@argon on GitHub |
@argon on X).