`list` doesn't search all sub directories of `/Applications`

[uurazzle]

Configuration

mas ▁▁▁▁ 2.3.0
arch ▁▁▁ arm64
from ▁▁▁ package
origin ▁ https://github.com/mas-cli/mas
rev ▁▁▁▁ c93a4fca67cc56585bea1650ba268503ea1883a6
driver ▁ 1.120.5
swift ▁▁ 6.1 (swiftlang-6.1.0.110.21 clang-1700.0.13.3)
region ▁ US
macos ▁▁ 26.0.1 (25A362)
mac ▁▁▁▁ MacBookPro17,1
cpu ▁▁▁▁ Apple M1

Bug description

Hi:

Thanks for developing & sharing the tool with the community.

mas list does search all sub directories under /Applications it appears only Applications/Utilities, but not others.

For example, for organizational purposes I have other Mac App Store applications in sub folders like "Audio", "Video", "Programming", etc.

/Applications/Audio/Logic Pro.app
/Applications/Audio/GarageBand.app
/Applications/Video/Compressor.app
/Applications/Video/Final Cut Pro.app
/Applications/Video/iMovie.app
/Applications/Video/Motion.app
/Applications/Programming/Copilot.app
/Applications/Programming/Xcode.app

But, all mas list outputs is these Mac App Store apps:

$ mas list             
1594183810  Shortery        (8.1)
425424353   The Unarchiver  (4.3.9)

mas list appears to not support sub folders is /Applications also would be nice support other locations like /Users/ACCOUNT_NAME/. Only appears to support applications directly in /Applications or /Applications/Utilities.

Steps to reproduce

Move Mac App Store applications to sub folders in /Applications, except /Applications/Utiltiies which is supported.

[rgoldberg]

@uurazzle I've verified that current mas (2.3.0) lists all MAS apps from all subfolders of /Applications on my Mac.

I don't recall any issues with this in previous mas versions.

Please run mdls /Applications/Programming/Xcode.app and reply with the output. mas 2.0.0+ finds installed apps from Spotlight data; that command will provide the Spotlight data for Xcode.

Also, please run mas config and reply with the output, so I can know what version of mas, macOS, etc. you're using.

Thanks.

[uurazzle]

Hi @rgoldberg:

Here is the requested information.

$ mdls /Applications/Programming/Xcode.app
_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions       = "Xcode.app"
kMDItemAlternateNames                   = (
    "Xcode.app"
)
kMDItemAppStoreAdamID                   = 497799835
kMDItemAppStoreCategory                 = "Developer Tools"
kMDItemAppStoreCategoryType             = "public.app-category.developer-tools"
kMDItemAppStoreHasReceipt               = 1
kMDItemAppStoreInstallerVersionID       = "878209332"
kMDItemAppStoreIsAppleSigned            = 1
kMDItemAppStoreParentalControls         = "4+"
kMDItemAppStorePurchaseDate             = 2025-09-30 16:32:58 +0000
kMDItemAppStoreReceiptIsMachineLicensed = 0
kMDItemAppStoreReceiptIsRevoked         = 0
kMDItemAppStoreReceiptIsVPPLicensed     = 0
kMDItemAppStoreReceiptType              = "Production"
kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier               = "com.apple.dt.Xcode"
kMDItemContentCreationDate              = 2025-08-09 01:58:51 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking      = 2025-08-09 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate          = 2025-09-30 16:39:19 +0000
kMDItemContentType                      = "com.apple.application-bundle"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                  = (
    "com.apple.application-bundle",
    "com.apple.application",
    "public.executable",
    "com.apple.localizable-name-bundle",
    "com.apple.bundle",
    "public.directory",
    "public.item",
    "com.apple.package"
)
kMDItemCopyright                        = "Copyright © 2025 Apple Inc. All rights reserved."
kMDItemDateAdded                        = 2025-09-30 16:40:57 +0000
kMDItemDescription                      = ""
kMDItemDisplayName                      = "Xcode"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier               = 0
kMDItemExecutableArchitectures          = (
    arm64,
    "x86_64"
)
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate              = 2025-09-30 16:39:19 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                   = 2025-08-09 01:58:51 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                    = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                    = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                  = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible                      = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden              = 1
kMDItemFSIsStationery                   = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                          = 0
kMDItemFSName                           = "Xcode.app"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                      = 1
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                   = 0
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                    = 0
kMDItemFSSize                           = 11402491203
kMDItemFSTypeCode                       = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking          = 2025-09-30 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemKeywords                         = ""
kMDItemKind                             = "Application"
kMDItemLogicalSize                      = 11402491203
kMDItemPhysicalSize                     = 4942602240
kMDItemVersion                          = "26.0.1"

$ mas config
mas ▁▁▁▁ 2.3.0
arch ▁▁▁ arm64
from ▁▁▁ package
origin ▁ https://github.com/mas-cli/mas
rev ▁▁▁▁ c93a4fca67cc56585bea1650ba268503ea1883a6
driver ▁ 1.120.5
swift ▁▁ 6.1 (swiftlang-6.1.0.110.21 clang-1700.0.13.3)
region ▁ US
macos ▁▁ 26.0.1 (25A362)
mac ▁▁▁▁ MacBookPro17,1
cpu ▁▁▁▁ Apple M1

And for example, mas only shows the following Mac App Store applications in mas list

$ mas list
1462114288 Grammarly for Safari (9.90)
1496833156 Swift Playground   (4.6.4)
425424353  The Unarchiver    (4.3.9)

But, using the following mdfind command outputs all Mac App Store applications installed on this Mac...

$ mdfind "kMDItemAppStorePurchaseDate >= 0"
/Applications/Video/Motion.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Termius.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Shortery.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Goodnotes.app
/Applications/Grammarly for Safari.app
/Applications/Utilities/Staff/Amphetamine.app
/Applications/Swift Playground.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Apple Configurator.app
/Applications/Graphical/Seashore.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Developer.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Otter.app
/Applications/Audio/GarageBand.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Remote Desktop.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Bear.app
/Applications/Programming/Xcode.app
/Applications/Video/Final Cut Pro.app
/Applications/Programming/Copilot.app
/Applications/Audio/Logic Pro.app
/Applications/Utilities/The Unarchiver.app
/Applications/Programming/Swift Playground.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Spark.app
/Applications/Utilities/Staff/Teleprompter.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Download Shuttle.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Trello.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/MindNode.app
/Applications/Video/iMovie.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Push Diagnostics.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Drafts.app
/Applications/Video/Compressor.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Sandkorn.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Keynote.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Pages.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Numbers.app

[rgoldberg]

@uurazzle Thanks for the info.

Can you reply with the output for:

mdfind -onlyin /Applications 'kMDItemAppStoreAdamID == *'

The following might fix the issue (but please run the prior command first so I can see its output based on the Spotlight metadata from before you run the following):

sudo mdutil -Eai o

After the above command finishes, please try mas list again.

Thanks.

[uurazzle]

HI @rgoldberg:

Here is output...

mdfind -onlyin /Applications 'kMDItemAppStoreAdamID == *'
/Applications/Grammarly for Safari.app
/Applications/Utilities/The Unarchiver.app
/Applications/Swift Playground.app

This command gave an error sudo mdutil -Eai o, for example...

sudo mdutil -Eai o
Error: unexpected indexing state (o)

So, did the following commands instead...

Erase and rebuild Spotlight indexes for all volumes:

sudo mdutil -E -a
/:
	Indexing enabled. 
/System/Volumes/Data:
	Indexing enabled. 
/System/Volumes/Preboot:
	Indexing enabled. 

Verified Spotlight indexing is enabled everywhere afterward

sudo mdutil -i on -a
/:
	Indexing enabled. 
/System/Volumes/Data:
	Indexing enabled. 
/System/Volumes/Preboot:
	Indexing enabled. 

Waiting (🍿)for re-indexing to complete, and re-executed command mas list

mas list
937984704   Amphetamine           (5.3.2)
1037126344  Apple Configurator    (2.18)
1091189122  Bear                  (2.6.3)
424390742   Compressor            (4.11)
6738511300  Copilot               (23.8.431015005)
640199958   Developer             (10.8.3)
847809913   Download Shuttle      (2.5)
1435957248  Drafts                (48.1)
424389933   Final Cut Pro         (11.2)
682658836   GarageBand            (10.4.12)
1444383602  Goodnotes             (7.0.8)
1462114288  Grammarly for Safari  (9.90)
408981434   iMovie                (10.4.3)
409183694   Keynote               (14.4)
634148309   Logic Pro             (11.2.2)
1289197285  MindNode              (2023.7)
434290957   Motion                (5.11)
409203825   Numbers               (14.4)
6479258228  Otter                 (1.0.1)
409201541   Pages                 (14.4)
689859502   Push Diagnostics      (3.2)
409907375   Remote Desktop        (3.10)
1377973524  Sandkorn              (1.9.1)
1448648921  Seashore              (3.43)
1594183810  Shortery              (8.2)
1176895641  Spark                 (2.11.56)
1496833156  Swift Playground      (4.6.4)
1496833156  Swift Playground      (4.6.4)
417605357   Teleprompter          (3.1.1)
1176074088  Termius               (9.32.2)
425424353   The Unarchiver        (4.3.9)
1278508951  Trello                (2.15.13)
497799835   Xcode                 (26.0.1)

Do you have any fallback code, in cases there are issues with Spotlight, something like...

find /Applications -path '*Contents/_MASReceipt/receipt' -maxdepth 6 -print | sed 's#.app/Contents/_MASReceipt/receipt#.app#g'
/Applications/Video/iMovie.app
/Applications/Video/Final Cut Pro.app
/Applications/Video/Compressor.app
/Applications/Video/Motion.app
/Applications/Grammarly for Safari.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Spark.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Numbers.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Drafts.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/MindNode.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Keynote.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Bear.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Pages.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Goodnotes.app
/Applications/Office & Productivity/Trello.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Download Shuttle.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Remote Desktop.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Termius.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Sandkorn.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Shortery.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Apple Configurator.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Push Diagnostics.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Otter.app
/Applications/Utilities/Admin/Developer.app
/Applications/Utilities/The Unarchiver.app
/Applications/Utilities/Staff/Amphetamine.app
/Applications/Utilities/Staff/Teleprompter.app
/Applications/Audio/Logic Pro.app
/Applications/Audio/GarageBand.app
/Applications/Programming/Copilot.app
/Applications/Programming/Xcode.app
/Applications/Programming/Swift Playground.app
/Applications/Swift Playground.app
/Applications/Graphical/Seashore.app

And probably a good idea to search the user folder too?

[rgoldberg]

@uurazzle thanks for the info.

There isn't yet a fallback method. Maybe mas could just check all folders under the root applications folders for MAS Spotlight data, rather than relying on a Spotlight query to find the folders.

Supporting additional application folders should be an existing issue. I can find it later.

It would probably be best to create a config system to allow configuring paths for root applications folders, as mas cannot yet be configured. Apple just released a config library, but it requires macOS 15+ to build. mas must support macOS 14+ until 14 is EOL in 2026.

Purchase/install/upgrade might also break irrevocably in macOS 26.1 (see #1029), so I might not spend too much time on mas in the future.

[rgoldberg]

@uurazzle The command I gave you to reset the Spotlight cache cut off the last character. It should have been:

sudo mdutil -Eai on

[uurazzle]

@rgoldberg , ok, understand, thanks for your support and feedback.

[rgoldberg]

@uurazzle I fixed the macOS 26.1, 15.7.2 & 14.8.2 issue, so I'm continuing to work on mas. Other issues are a higher priority than this, but I'll eventually look into it.

Is everything continuing to work fine for you?

If you ever run into this problem again, instead of rebuilding Spotlight MDS indexes or doing anything else to fix it, can you reply to me here so we can investigate the Spotlight state when this problem occurs?

e.g., I want to determine if kMDItemAppStoreAdamID values are available from mdls, but not from mdfind, or if they're not available from either. etc.

[uurazzle]

Hi @rgoldberg:

Thanks for the mas-cli update and reply with more details. I will let you know if I run into the issue again.