I am over on the Write.as CLI tool page, and I am attempting to install the W.a CLI tool for macOS (Monterey 12.6, Intel) and I cannot install the executable because Apple is telling me that it is “untrusted software” (which happens quite often in recent macOS versions, unfortunately), and I was seeing if something needs to be done on the W.a side to get that “approval” so macOS doesn’t think the application is malware?
After that, I think I can get everything in the $PATH and get the CLI tool running ok, as the steps to do so seem to be similar to that of both bash and zsh, which new versions of macOS are zsh now, but again the executable has to be working for me to do anything.
Just pointing this out, seeing if anyone can look into it
Unfortunately this is ultimately something write.as will have to fix, as it’s the result of the CLI tool not being signed by an Apple Developer account.
If you want to use it (and trust Write.as not to do anything nefarious), you need to remove the “quarantine” from the file. There are two ways to do this:
Once you get the warning pop-up about it (and don’t hit “Move to Trash”), go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy. On the General tab (which should be the default), there’s a section towards the bottom that says that “writeas” was blocked. If you click Allow Anyway, you’ll get another warning, but after that you’ll be good to go.
If you prefer the CLI approach, just run this: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine [filename]
It’s worth checking with @matt &co. to see if a fix is in the works too.
Yes that did it Thanks for the tip. I knew I had done something like that before, but this time I wasn’t prompted to delete the app right away. Instead I just went ahead to the Security & Privacy settings and allowed it to run. I trust Write.as by now.
Still, I hope @matt is able to get the cert signed, or whatever. It is from the Website I linked, so it isn’t from the App Store, so it may not be a Apple Developer issue, but more of a “you got a thing from the Web - DANGER” issue. LOL! Either way, hope it can get sorted.
I’ve had the W.a CLI tool installed for a while, though I haven’t used it much, but yea, there was a malware “flag” that popped up on the initial install. Could have to do with macOS being overzealous (or/and anti-competitive, but I digress) on things from the Web, but idk.
@tmo What you’re seeing is a macOS feature called Gatekeeper:
When a user downloads and opens an app, a plug-in, or an installer package from outside the App Store, Gatekeeper verifies that the software is from an identified developer, is notarized by Apple to be free of known malicious content, and hasn’t been altered. Gatekeeper also requests user approval before opening downloaded software for the first time to make sure the user hasn’t been tricked into running executable code they believed to simply be a data file.
I’m pretty sure we just need to sort out the notarization bit and that’ll be it.
Yea, it’s about 50/50 in terms of what is allowed (by default) to be installed and what I have to go to Security in Settings and give “manual” approval for with macOS. I’m not exactly against something like Gatekeeper, but I wish there were a way to turn it on/off, or customize it, or something. Still, not sure how Apple (on macOS) differentiates what can be installed straight away and what needs “manual” approval. Guessing the notarization element you speak of is what will “do” it, haha.
Thanks for looking into it, @angelo ! I appreciate it!
