OpenWith

Manage macOS "Open With" defaults from the terminal.

Releases · License

OpenWith is a small Rust-based macOS tool for inspecting and managing default apps for file types. It lets you see which app is currently set as the default for each file extension and update those associations from one place, without repetitive clicks or guessing bundle IDs. It ships as a terminal tool (CLI + interactive TUI) and a native GUI app, both driven by the same Rust core.

OpenWith ships in two flavors that share the same engine and change history — install either, or both:

• openwith (formula) — the openwith command: CLI plus interactive TUI. Pick this if you live in the terminal or want to script/dotfile your associations.
• openwith-gui (cask) — OpenWith.app: a native windowed app with a menu-bar popover. Pick this if you'd rather point and click.

brew install ColeMei/openwith/openwith

If you prefer installing from source with Cargo, install Rust via rustup, then run:

cargo install --git https://github.com/ColeMei/openwith openwith-cli

For local development builds from this repository:

cargo install --path crates/openwith-cli

brew install --cask ColeMei/openwith/openwith-gui

Or download the .dmg from the latest release.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/OpenWith.app

brew install --cask --no-quarantine ColeMei/openwith/openwith-gui

To build it from source instead: cd crates/openwith-gui && npm install && npm run tauri build.

Installed the cask as openwith (pre-v0.5.2)? It was renamed: brew uninstall --cask openwith && brew install --cask ColeMei/openwith/openwith-gui.

openwith                    # Launch interactive TUI (extensions view)
openwith list               # Same as above
openwith apps               # Launch interactive TUI (apps view)
openwith current pdf        # Show default app for .pdf
openwith set md Typora      # Set Typora as default for .md
openwith set md abnerworks.Typora  # Bundle IDs work too
openwith current -s http    # Show the default browser
openwith set -s http Firefox      # Set the default browser
openwith history            # Recent changes (recorded by CLI and GUI alike)
openwith undo               # Revert the most recent change

Run openwith --help to see all commands.

Run openwith with no arguments to browse all file extensions, see their current defaults, and change them interactively. The TUI has two tabs you can switch between with Tab:

• Extensions — browse all file extensions, see their current default app, and change defaults via an app picker
• Apps — browse all installed apps in a master-detail view, see which extensions each app supports and which it's the default for

Press ? inside the TUI for keyboard shortcuts.

You can export your current associations to a TOML file and import them on another machine — making your "Open With" preferences portable, like a dotfile.

openwith export -o openwith.toml    # Export
openwith import --dry-run openwith.toml  # Preview what would change
openwith import openwith.toml       # Import on a new machine

The export includes a [schemes] table for URL handlers (browser, mail client). Import is idempotent: associations already set correctly are left untouched, apps that aren't installed are skipped, and every change reports what it replaced — so the same config works across machines with different setups and is safe to run from a dotfiles script.

openwith list prints a plain table instead of launching the TUI when its output is piped, and --plain / --json force either format:

openwith list --json | jq -r '.[] | select(.app == "Preview") | .ext'
openwith current pdf --json

openwith completions zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_openwith"   # zsh
openwith completions bash > $(brew --prefix)/etc/bash_completion.d/openwith
openwith completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/openwith.fish

1. Scans /Applications, /System/Applications, and ~/Applications for .app bundles
2. Reads each app's Info.plist to discover supported file extensions and URL schemes
3. Queries and sets defaults via native macOS Launch Services APIs

• macOS associates defaults with file types (UTIs), not extensions. Some extensions share a type: .env resolves to public.plain-text, the same type as .txt, so changing one changes the other. openwith warns you and lists the affected sibling extensions whenever this happens.
• Finder occasionally caches icons/defaults; if a change doesn't appear immediately, relaunch Finder or log out and back in. The association itself is applied instantly.

MIT

Special thanks to linux.do