assetutil(1) General Commands Manual assetutil(1)

assetutil process asset catalog .car files

assetutil [-VIiotsuphgkMcrTLUnZ] inputfile

assetutil processes a .car file generated from a image catalog. It can thin a .car file removing unrequested scale factors, device idioms, subtypes, performance and memory classes. It can also produce a JSON description of the contents of a .car file (-I), compare thinning attributes to determine if two sets of thinning parameters would produce the same result (-T), or validate the structural integrity of a .car file (-Z).

When thinning scale, idiom, subtype, performance, memory, and graphicsclassfallbacks can be given multiple times, the resulting file will contain all of the assets that match all of the parameters given. If scale, idiom, subtype and graphics class are given in one set, the same parameters must all be present in the subsequent set of parmeters. (IE the count must match)

Generate a resulting car file based on these parameters.

, --idiom idiom
Keep all assets that have idiom that is given on the command line. Can be one of universal/phone/pad/tv/car/watch/vision.
, --subtype integer
Subtype to keep (integer).
, --subtypefallbacks subtypes
Subtype fallbacks, specified as subtypes separated by ':'.
, --scale integer
Keep all assets that have scale factor that is given on the command line, present scale factors will not be removed if there is no fallback available.
, --display-gamut gamut
Keep all assets that have the display gamut that is given on the command line, present display gamuts will not be removed if there is no fall back available. Can be one of srgb/p3/all.
, --hostedidioms idiomlist
Process the hosted idioms list, this is a list of the idioms that must always be preserved in the car file. This list cannot contain universal, and the different idioms should be given in a comma separated list.
, --graphicsclass class
Keep all assets that have graphics class that is given on the command line. The present graphics class will not be removed if there is no fallback available.
, --graphicsclassfallbacks classes
Graphics class fallbacks, specified as graphics classes separated by ':'.
, --memory integer
Keep all assets that have memory class that is given on the command line, present memory class will not be removed if there is no fallback available.
, --deployment-target target
Set the deployment target for thinning.

No thinning is performed when these parameters are given. The thinning parameters can be passed here to narrow down the output.

, --info [name]
Produce a JSON description of the asset catalog object with the given name to --output directory if given or to stdout if no output path given. If no name is provided, report on the contents of the entire car file.
, --main-contents path
Main Assets.car file used to supply the names of the assets to the -I (--info) and the dump options -d (--dump) and -D (--dump-stack).
, --compare-thinning parameters
Compare thinning attributes. The parameters are given as ´scale=2:idiom=phone:hostedidioms=watch,car:memory=2:graphicsclass=MTL1,2/scale=2:idiom=phone:memory=1:graphicsclass=MTL2,2´. Will print to stdout if the file was thinned with the above thinning attributes, would the same Asset file result in both cases.
, --compare-thinning-batch path
Compare thinning attributes specified in a JSON file in batch.

, --output path
Output file name, if no output file is given then input file is overwritten.
, --version
Version information for assetutil.
, --update-bitmap
Update the bitmap index of inputfile.
, --preserve-assets-named names
Given a comma separated list of names, any assets in the car file that match one of the given names are preserved. Names are compared case insensitively. Uses the -o --output file to save the resulting .car file.
, --validate-file
Validate that the file is valid (structurally/renditions are accessible and loadable) (exit 2 if bad, 0 if okay).
April 19, 2026 Darwin