app-scanner

macOS App Discovery

Scan which apps are installed on the user's computer, and recommend the most suitable tools based on task requirements.

Use Cases

• The user says, "Is there any software on my computer that can edit PDFs?"
• The user says, "Help me open the video editing software."
• A task requires a certain app but it is uncertain whether the user has it installed.

Scanning Methods

List installed apps

# 方式 1：扫描 /Applications 目录（最常用）
ls /Applications/ | grep -i ".app"

Method 2: system_profiler (complete information, including version)

system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType -json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c " import json, sys data = json.load(sys.stdin) apps = data.get('SPApplicationsDataType', []) for app in sorted(apps, key=lambda x: x.get('_name', ''))[:50]: name = app.get('_name', '') version = app.get('version', '?') path = app.get('path', '') print(f'{name} (v{version}) — {path}') "

Method 3: mdfind (includes apps in non-standard locations)

mdfind "kMDItemContentType == 'com.apple.application-bundle'" | head -50

### 检查特定应用是否安装

```bash
# 检查应用是否存在
test -d "/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app" && echo "已安装" || echo "未安装"

# 通过 mdfind 查找
mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier == 'com.microsoft.VSCode'"

# 通过 CLI 检查
which code && echo "VS Code CLI 可用" || echo "VS Code CLI 不可用"

Get detailed app information

# 获取应用 Bundle ID
mdls -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier "/Applications/Safari.app"

# 获取应用版本
mdls -name kMDItemVersion "/Applications/Safari.app"

# 获取应用支持的文件类型
mdls -name kMDItemContentTypeTree "/Applications/Preview.app"

Recommend apps by file type

# 查找能打开 PDF 的应用
python3 -c "
import subprocess, json
result = subprocess.run(
    ['python3', '-c', '''
import CoreServices
from LaunchServices import LSCopyAllRoleHandlersForContentType
handlers = LSCopyAllRoleHandlersForContentType(\"com.adobe.pdf\", 0xFFFFFFFF)
if handlers:
    for h in handlers:
        print(h)
'''],
    capture_output=True, text=True
)
print(result.stdout)
"

# 简单方式：用 open 命令查看默认应用
open -Ra "Preview" 2>/dev/null && echo "Preview 可用"

Common Capability Mapping

User Need	Search Keywords	Common Apps
Edit PDF	PDF, Preview, Acrobat	Preview, Adobe Acrobat
Write documents	Word, Pages, Writer	Pages, Word, LibreOffice
Make spreadsheets	Excel, Numbers, Sheets	Numbers, Excel
Make PPTs	Keynote, PowerPoint	Keynote, PowerPoint
Edit images	Photos, Photoshop, GIMP	Preview, Photos, Pixelmator
Edit videos	iMovie, Final Cut, DaVinci	iMovie, Final Cut Pro
Write code	VS Code, Xcode, Sublime	VS Code, Xcode
Browser	Safari, Chrome, Firefox	Safari, Chrome

Output Specifications

• First answer the user's question (whether a certain app exists)
• If there are multiple options, briefly explain the differences and recommend one
• When recommending, consider: built-in system apps first, apps the user has already installed first
• If not installed, provide installation methods (App Store / brew / official website)