mas is a command-line interface for the Mac App Store designed for scripting & automation.

Detailed documentation is available via man mas & mas --help.

App Store apps each have 2 unique IDs:

mas commands accept both types of app IDs as arguments.

By default, all-digit app IDs are considered ADAM IDs; other app IDs are considered bundle IDs.

--bundle forces all-digit app IDs to also be considered bundle IDs.

ADAM IDs can be found via:

1. mas search <term>…
2. mas list
3. The App Store:
   1. Open an app's App Store page
   2. Open the page's Share Sheet
   3. Choose Copy
   4. Extract the ADAM ID from the URL in the copied text
      • e.g., 497799835 from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt=12

list, outdated, get, install, lucky, update & uninstall obtain data for installed apps from the Spotlight Metadata Service (MDS).

Spotlight indexing thus must be enabled & valid for folders containing App Store apps.

Check if an app is properly indexed in Spotlight via:

## General format:
$ mdls -rn kMDItemAppStoreAdamID <path-to-app>
## Outputs the ADAM ID if the app is indexed
## Outputs nothing if the app is not indexed

## Example:
$ mdls -rn kMDItemAppStoreAdamID /Applications/Xcode.app
497799835

If an app is indexed in Spotlight, find the path to the app from its ADAM ID via:

mdfind 'kMDItemAppStoreAdamID = <adam-id>'

If any App Store apps are not properly indexed, index via:

# Individual app (if the omitted apps are known). e.g., for Xcode:
mdimport /Applications/Xcode.app

# All apps:
vol="$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print :PreferredVolume:name" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.appstored.plist 2>/dev/null)"
mdimport /Applications ${vol:+"/Volumes/${vol}/Applications"}

# All volumes:
sudo mdutil -Eai on

get, install, lucky, update & uninstall require root privileges.

If run without root privileges, mas requests them as necessary.

mas uses existing valid sudo credentials, falling back to prompting for the macOS user password, which is piped directly to a sudo process; the password is never visible to, nor stored by, mas.

Any sudo credentials used or established by mas remain valid after mas finishes, pursuant to the user-configured sudo timeout.

get, install, lucky, update & outdated --accurate require an Apple Account signed in to the App Store.

get requires an Apple Account signed in to the App Store.

Depending on the Apple Account settings, the Apple Account might need to be authenticated in the App Store for each gotten app, even if the Apple Account is already signed in to the App Store.

If System Settings > Touch ID & Password > Use Touch ID for purchases in iTunes Store, App Store and Apple Books is enabled, then you must authenticate (either via Touch ID or via the Apple Account password) for each previously ungotten app that is being gotten.

If that setting is disabled, then if System Settings > Apple Account > Media & Purchases > Free Downloads is set to Always Require, then you must authenticate via the Apple Account password for each previously ungotten app that is being gotten.

Licensed under the MIT license.

Originally created by Andrew Naylor (@argon on GitHub | @argon on X).