utiluti

macOS command line utility to work with default apps.

What it does

You can use utiluti to inspect and modify default apps for url schemes and file types/uniform type identifiers (UTI).

Important notes:

• utiluti should be run as the current user

• when you attempt to set the default app for the http url scheme, macOS will prompt the user for confirmation. The user has the option to reject the change. The user must make a selection for the tool to continue. Consider this when using utiluti for automation.

• macOS connects the http and https url schemes and the public.html UTI. You can only set the default app for http and the default app for https and the public.html type will be set to the same app. Attempting to change the default apps for https or public.html will result in an error.

URL schemes

URL schemes are the part of the URL before the colon : which identify which app or protocol to use. E.g. http, mailto, ssh, etc.

Get the current default app for a given url scheme:

$ utiluti url mailto          
/System/Applications/Mail.app

Use the --bundle-id flag to receive the app's bundle identifier instead:

$ utiluti url mailto --bundle-id     
com.apple.mail

List all apps registered for a given url scheme:

$ utiluti url list mailto          
/System/Applications/Mail.app
/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app

Use the --bundle-id flag to receive the apps' bundle identifiers instead:

$ utiluti url list mailto --bundle-id 
com.apple.mail
com.microsoft.Outlook

Set the default app for a given URL scheme:

$ utiluti url set mailto com.microsoft.Outlook
set com.microsoft.Outlook for mailto

File Type/Uniform Type Identifiers (UTI)

Uniform type identifiers (UTI) are how macOS maps file and mime type. utiluti uses UTIs.

To get the UTI associated with a file extension, use get-uti:

$ utiluti get-uti txt            
public.plain-text

Get the default application for a UTI:

$ utiluti type public.plain-text
/System/Applications/TextEdit.app

List all applications registered for the given UTI:

$ utiluti type list public.plain-text
/System/Applications/TextEdit.app
/Applications/Numbers.app
/Applications/Pages.app
/System/Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app
/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/App/System/Applications/Safari.app
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Applications/Instruments.app
/Applications/Xcode.app
/System/Applications/Notes.app

Add the --bundle-id flag to receive bundle identifiers instead of paths.

Set the the default app for a given UTI:

$ utiluti type set public.plain-text com.barebones.bbedit
set com.barebones.bbedit for public.plain-text