Guides App Maintenance

App Maintenance

App Maintenance installs verified single-app disk images, inventories regular apps in /Applications and ~/Applications, shows installed versions, and adds available Homebrew cask updates when an exact app-name match is available. Enable it from Edith's Extensions pane, then open its maintenance window from the extension settings.

Install from a disk image

Choose Install Disk Image and select a .dmg. Edith mounts it read-only and accepts exactly one regular top-level application. It validates the bundle and executable, rejects Apple apps and Edith, verifies the deep code signature, and requires an accepted Gatekeeper assessment when assessments are enabled.

The review sheet shows the verified app, version, bundle identifier, disk image, destination, and any existing app that would be replaced. Installation is explicit. The app is copied into a private staging directory and verified a second time before it moves into Applications. An existing app can only be replaced when its bundle identifier matches, the replacement toggle is selected, and its reviewed identity has not changed. The old app goes to the Trash.

After installation, Edith ejects the mounted image. The downloaded .dmg only moves to the Trash after a successful eject and a final identity check. You can keep the image from the review sheet. Failed ejection or changed input leaves the image in place.

Remove an application

Select an app to build a removal plan. Edith always shows the application bundle and every support item before enabling removal. Only exact bundle-identifier paths in these user Library folders are eligible:

• Application Support
• Caches
• Preferences
• Containers
• Logs
• Saved Application State
• HTTPStorages and WebKit

Every row can be unchecked or revealed in Finder. Confirmed rows move to the macOS Trash, so they remain recoverable until the Trash is emptied. Apple apps, Edith itself, symlinked bundles, nested application paths, display-name guesses, and files that change after review are rejected.

No macOS permission is required to inventory apps, install into ~/Applications, or remove user-owned files. Installing into /Applications, replacing administrator-owned apps, or removing administrator-owned files can be refused by macOS. App Maintenance reports the failure and never falls back to permanent deletion or privilege escalation.

The command line exposes the same installer, inventory, scan, and removal plans:

ed maintenance inventory
ed maintenance install ~/Downloads/Example.dmg
ed maintenance install ~/Downloads/Example.dmg --yes
ed maintenance scan /Applications/Example.app
ed maintenance remove /Applications/Example.app
ed maintenance remove /Applications/Example.app --yes

Installation and removal are previews unless --yes is present. Installer previews eject the image without installing. Pass --system to target /Applications, --replace to confirm a reviewed replacement, or --keep-image to preserve the download. Pass --only-app during removal to leave every support item in place. Use --json for a stable machine-readable plan or result.