NAME

lsappinfo - Control and query CoreApplicationServices about the app state on the system

SYNOPSIS

lsappinfo [options] [ command [command options] ] ...

COMMON COMMANDS

front Show the front application.
find [ key=value ]+
Show the ASN of all applications which have the given key/value present in their application information. For key the actual CFString value for the key can be used, or any of the aliases described below under Key Strings. For value, see the rules below under Key Values.
info [-only information-item-key] [-app app-specifier] [-long][app-specifier]
Show the information for the application app-specifier
list
Show the application list and information about each running application
listen [+notificationcode]* [-notificationcode]* [-addasn asn] [-removeasn asn] [ -id # ] duration [--]
Listen for the given notifications ( those with ´+´, excluding those with ´-´ ) and display each one and its payload. Notifications are displayed when they receive when this tool is executing a wait or forever command.
launch [[launch-modifier=value]+ [launch-option=value]+ [-arg argument] [path-to-bundle] [--]
Launch an application with CoreApplicationServices in LaunchServices. At the minimum, the execpath must be included as one of the launch-options or -poseas and a path-to-bundle. This is a fairly low level operation and does not handle a number of conditions that the higher level functions do.
metainfo
Show the meta information, which is the session-wide information which CoreApplicationServices maintains for each login session.
processList
Show the application list, in ascending ASN order.
restart
Ask the launchservicesd to restart. The requestor must be privileged.
sharedmemory
Show the shared memory information page for this session.
unlisten [ -id ID ] [ -all ]
Unlisten to all notifications on notification ID.
visibleProcessList
Show the visible ( front-to-back ) application list.

UNCOMMON COMMANDS

allocateASN Ask launchservicesd to allocate an ASN, and print it out.
createFile PATH Create a file at the given path
disconnect disconnect from launchservicesd
file path Open the file at path and read lines, treating each one as if it were passed to lsappinfo on the command line.
forever Wait forever before executing the next command
log [ -d | -i | -n | -w | -e | -c | -a ] [ -B ] [ -sender *processname* ] [ string ... -- ] If an option is given, dump any LaunchServices logging information on the system until the process is terminated with control-C. If a string is provided, log that string to syslog.
removeFile PATH Remove the file at the given path
server [ -xpcservicename ARG ] [ -local ] [ -duration *DURATION* ] [ -file *FILEPATH* ] [ -gone FILEGONEPATH ] [ -forever ] Start up the launchservicesd server in process, with the optional given xpc service name or if -local then processing xpc requests from future commands for this same process. Terminate the server after the given DURATION seconds, or when the file at FILEPATH exists, or the file at path FILEPATHFONE is deleted, or never if -forever.
setinfo [-app app-specifier] [app-info-item=value]+ [--] Set the values for the given application information items in the specified application.
setmetainfo [meta-info-item=value]+ [--]
wait [ -duration duration ] [ -file FILEPATH ] [ -gone FILEPATHGONE ] duration Wait for duration seconds before executing the next command, or if FILEPATH is given until that file exists, or if FILEPATHGONE is given until that file no longer exists.
writePIDToFile PATH Write the current processes pid to a file at PATH.

OPTIONS

-v | --verbose Be more verbose about many operations
-q | --quiet Be less verbose about many operations
-defaultSession Use kLSDefaultSessionID as the sessionID passed to all calls (the default)
-currentSession Use kLSCurrentSessionID as the sessionID passed to all calls
-debug | -info | -notice | -warning | -err | -critical | -alert | -emergency Set the log level for this process to the given level

APPLICATION SPECIFIERS

There are different ways to indicate what application the commands operate on, collectively called the app-specifier. This may be one of the following.

"ASN:0xAAAA:0xBBBB:" where AAAA and BBBB are the values for an application ASN.
"0xBBBB" where BBBB are the values from the lower part of an application ASN for which the upper part of the ASN is 0x0
"#" where # is a decimal value above 10, representing the application with the pid #
"name" where name is the display name of a running application
"bundleid" where bundleid is the bundle id of a running application
"me" the asn of the lsappinfo tool

KEY STRINGS

Any string from this set will map to the corresponding constant from the LaunchServices header files.

kCFBundleNameKey
kLSASNKey
kLSASNToBringForwardAtNextApplicationExitKey
kLSAllowedToBecomeFrontmostKey
kLSApplicationBackgroundOnlyTypeKey
kLSApplicationBackgroundPriorityKey
kLSApplicationCountKey
kLSApplicationDesiresAttentionKey,
kLSApplicationForegroundPriorityKey
kLSApplicationForegroundTypeKey
kLSApplicationHasRegisteredKey
kLSApplicationHasSignalledItIsReadyKey
kLSApplicationInStoppedStateKey
kLSApplicationInThrottledStateAfterLaunchKey
kLSApplicationInformationSeedKey
kLSApplicationIsHiddenKey
kLSApplicationListSeedKey
kLSApplicationReadyToBeFrontableKey
kLSApplicationTypeKey
kLSApplicationTypeToRestoreKey
kLSApplicationUIElementTypeKey
kLSApplicationVersionKey
kLSApplicationWasTerminatedByTALKey
kLSApplicationWouldBeTerminatedByTALKey
kLSArchitectureKey
kLSBundleIdentifierLowerCaseKey
kLSBundlePathDeviceIDKey
kLSBundlePathINodeKey
kLSBundlePathKey
kLSCheckInTimeKey
kLSDebugLevelKey
kLSDisplayNameKey
kLSExecutableFormatCFMKey
kLSExecutableFormatKey
kLSExecutableFormatMachOKey
kLSExecutableFormatPoundBangKey
kLSExecutablePathDeviceIDKey
kLSExecutablePathINodeKey
kLSExecutablePathKey
kLSExitStatusKey
kLSFileCreatorKey
kLSFileTypeKey
kLSFlavorKey
kLSFrontApplicationSeedKey
kLSHiddenApplicationCountKey
kLSLaunchTimeKey
kLSLaunchedByLaunchServicesKey
kLSLaunchedByLaunchServicesThruForkExecKey
kLSLaunchedByLaunchServicesThruLaunchDKey
kLSLaunchedByLaunchServicesThruSessionLauncherKey
kLSLaunchedInQuarantineKey
kLSMenuBarOwnerApplicationSeedKey
kLSModifierLaunchedForPersistenceKey
kLSModifierRefConKey
kLSNotifyBecameFrontmostAnotherLaunchKey
kLSNotifyBecameFrontmostFirstActivationKey
kLSNotifyLaunchRequestLaunchModifiersKey
kLSOriginalExecutablePathDeviceIDKey
kLSOriginalExecutablePathINodeKey
kLSOriginalExecutablePathKey
kLSOriginalPIDKey
kLSPIDKey
kLSParentASNKey
kLSParentASNWasInferredKey
kLSPersistenceSuppressRelaunchAtLoginKey
kLSPreviousASNKey
kLSPreviousPresentationModeKey
kLSPreviousValueKey
kLSRecordingAppleEventsKey
kLSRequiresCarbonKey
kLSSessionIDKey
kLSShellExecutablePathKey
kLSUIDsInSessionKey
kLSUIPresentationModeAllHiddenValue
kLSUIPresentationModeAllSuppressedValue
kLSUIPresentationModeContentHiddenValue
kLSUIPresentationModeContentSuppressedValue
kLSUIPresentationModeKey
kLSUIPresentationModeNormalValue
kLSUIPresentationOptionsKey
kLSUnhiddenApplicationCountKey
kLSVisibleApplicationCountKey
kLSVisibleApplicationListSeedKey
kLSWantsToComeForwardAtRegistrationTimeKey
launchedThrottled

Likewise, these short strings also make to the corresponding constants.

allowedtobecomefrontmost
applicationTypeToRestore
applicationWasTerminatedByTAL
applicationtype
arch
asn
bundleid
bundlelastcomponent
bundlename
bundlenamelc
bundlepath
changecount
creator
debuglevel
displayname
execpath
executablepath
filecreator
filename
filetype
hidden
isconnectedtowindowserver
isready
isregistered
isstopped
isthrottled
launchedForPersistence
launchedinquarantine
name
parentasn
pid
presentationmode
presentationoptions
psn
recordingAppleEvents
session
shellpath
supressRelaunch
version

KEY VALUES

In numerous places a key can be set to a value. The format of value can be any of the following

"string" A string, surrounded by double quotes.
numeric-digits | -numeric-digits | numeric-digits.numeric-digits[E]numeric-digits A numeric value, either an integer type or a double floating point type.
$hex-digits A numeric value given by the hex value hex-digits.
"ASN:0xAAAA:0xBBBB:" An ASN, where AAAA and BBBB are the values for an application ASN.
App:str An ASN, where str matches one of the application-specifier formats.
( [[str,] str] ) A CFArrayRef, where each str is converted as if it were a key value.
true The kCFBooleanTrue value.
false The kCFBooleanFalse value.
null The kCFNull value.
Any of the application information item, or launch modifier strings The equivalent, exported LaunchServices CFStringRef key for the item or launch modifier.

APPLICATION INFORMATION ITEM KEYS

asn An application ASN, which is unique identifier assigned to each application when the application is launched and persists until the application exits, and likely is unique for the entire time a user is logged in. When displayed, an ASN looks like "ASN:0x0-0x1f01f:".
parentasn The ASN of the application which launched this application.
bundlename The bundle name, if one exists, for the application.
bundlenamelc The bundle name, if one exists, for the application, but with every upper case character converted into the equivalent lower case character.
bundlepath The bundle path, if the application is bundled
executablepath The executable path of the application
filetype The file type of the application, if it has one.
filecreator The creator type of the application, if it has one.
pid The pid of the application.
filename The filename of the executable (the last component of the executable path), converted into a lowercase string
bundlelastcomponent The last component of the bundle path, converted into a lowercase string.
displayname | name The display name of this application
bundleid The bundle identifier of the application, if one exists.
applicationtype The type of the application (generally "Foreground", "Background", or "UIElement")
allowedtobecomefrontmost The application is allowed to be frontmost.
version The version string for the application, if it has one
presentationmode The UIPresentationMode for this application (only for foreground applications), generally one of "Normal", "ContentSupressed", "ContentHidden", "Suppressed", "AllHidden"
presentationoptions
session A number indicating which audit session this application is running in.
hidden If this application is a foreground application, then if it is hidden, "true", or "false" if it is not hidden
changecount A number which changes whenever any items in the application´s information dictionary is changed.
debuglevel
isregistered If this application has registered, then "true", otherwise "false".
isready If this application has entered its main runloop and is able to respond to requests to hide or show itself, "true", otherwise "false".
isstopped If this application was launched stopped, and if it has not been started yet, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present.
launchedinquarantine If this application was launched in a quarantined state, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present.
arch The architecture of the code running this application, generally "x86_64" or "i386".
recordingAppleEvents If this application is recording AppleEvents, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present.
supressRelaunch If this application should not be re-launched after a logout and login, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present.
applicationTypeToRestore
applicationWasTerminatedByTAL
isthrottled If this application was launched in the throttled state, and if it has not been unthrottled, then "true", otherwise false or not present.
applicationWouldBeTerminatedByTALKey
launchedhidden If the application was launched hidden, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present. This is not whether the application is currently hidden, just whether at the time it was launched the request was to have it hide itself.
launchandhideothers If the application was launched and asked to hide all other application, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present. This is not whether the application is currently hidden, just whether at the time it was launched the request was to have it hide all other applications.
launchForPersistence If the application was launched with launchForPersistence=true, then "true", otherwise "false" or not present.

LAUNCHMODIFIER KEYS

async=[true|false] Launch asynchronously
refcon=[#] Launch with the given numeric refcon.
nofront=[true|false] If true, do not bring the application to the front when it finishes launching
stopped=[true|false] Launch the process but do not start it.
launchandhide=[true|false] Launch the process and cause it to hide itself when it finishes launching
\launchandhideothers`=[true|false] Launch the process and couse it to hide all other applications when it finishes launching
launchForPersistence=[true|false]
launchWithASLRDisabled=[true|false]

NOTIFICATION CODES

Notifications are sent out by LaunchServices when various conditions arrive. Each notification has a type, called the notification-code, a dictionary of data items which are specific to the notification, a time the notification was sent, and an optional affected ASN.

•: launch

Sent when an application is launched

•: creation

Sent when an entry for an application is created on the system and associated with an ASN.

•: birth

Sent when an

•: death

Sent when an application exits.

•: abnormaldeath

Sent when an application exits with a non-zero exit status.

•: childDeath

Sent when an application exits, with affected ASN set to the parent ASN of the application which exited.

•: abnormalChildDeath

Sent when an application exits with a non-zero exit status, with affected ASN set to the parent ASN of the application which exited.

•: launchFailure

Sent when an application launch fails, after a launch notification has been sent out.

•: appCreation

Sent when an application is "created", which happens immediately after the application is created and certain items are added into the application information dictionary.

•: childAppCreation

Sent when an application is "created", which happens immediately after the application is created and certain items are added into the application information dictionary, with affected ASN set to the asn of the parent ASN of this application.

•: appReady

Sent when an applications signals to LaunchServices that it is ready to accept hide/show events, generally when it has entered its main runloop.

•: childAppReady

Sent when an applications signals to LaunchServices that it is ready to accept hide/show events, generally when it has entered its main runloop, with affected ASN set to the parent ASN of the application which signalled ready.

•: readyToAcceptAppleEvents

Sent when an application signals that it is ready to accept AppleEvents.

launchTimedOut
launchFinished
allTALAppsRegistered

Sent when talagentd decides that all applications which were launched for persistence have registered.

•: becameFrontmost

Sent when an application is made into the front application.

•: lostFrontmost

Sent when an application which previously was the front application is no longer the front application.

•: orderChanged

Sent when the front-to-back order of the application list changes.

•: bringForwardRequest

Someone has requested that the application with affected ASN make itself frontmost.

•: menuBarAcquired

Sent when the application which is responsible for drawing the menu bar (generally the frontmost foreground application) changes

•: menuBarLost

Sent when the application which was responsible for drawing the menu bar (generally the frontmost foreground application) is no longer responsible

•: hidden

Sent when the application is hidden

•: shown

Sent when the application is shown

•: showRequest

Someone has requested that the application with the affected application asn should show (un-hide) itself.

•: hideRequest

Someone has requested that the application with the affected application asn should hide itself.

•: pullwindowsforward

Someone has requested that the application with the affected application asn should show itself and pull all of its windows forward.

•: appInfoChanged

Sent when the information for the application is changed.

•: appInfoKeyAdded

Sent when a key is added to the information for the application. The data for the notification will include the key being added and its value.

•: appInfoKeyChanged

Sent when a value for an item in the application information is changed. The data for the notification will include the key being changes and its new and old value.

•: appInfoKeyRemoved

Sent when the value for an item in the application information is removed. The data for the notification will include the key being removed and its value.

•: appTypeChanged

Sent when the "ApplicationType" key in the application information is changed.

•: appNameChanged

Sent when the application name in the application information is changed.

•: wantsAttentionChanged

Sent when the LSWantsAttention key in the application information is changed.

•: presentationModeChanged

Sent when an application changes its presentation mode.

•: pidChanged

Sent when an application changes its pid. In practice this can never happen, except when LaunchServices launches a process which itself forks or spawns a new process, and then checks-in from that new pid.

•: frontPresentationModeChanged

Sent when the presentation mode of the system changes, generally when the foreground application changes its own presentation mode or when the front application changes and the old and new applications have different presentation modes.

•: presentationModeChangedBecauseFrontApplicationChanged

Sent when the presentation mode of the system changes only because the front application changed and the old and new applications have different presentation modes.

launchrequest
started

Sent when a formally stopped application is started.

•: sessionLauncherRegister

Sent when the ASN of the session launcher application registers with LaunchServices.

•: sessionLauncherUnregistered

Sent when the application registered as the session launcher unregisters or exits.

•: nextAppToBringForwardAtQuitRegistered

Sent when the meta-information item for the next application to bring forward ASN is changed

nextAppToBringForwardAtQuitUnregistered
systemProcessRegistered

Sent when the system process (generally loginwindow) registers with LaunchServices.

•: systemProcessUnregistered

Sent when the system process (generally loginwindow) unregisters with LaunchServices.

•: frontReservationCreated

Sent when a front-reservation is created.

•: frontReservationDestroyed

Sent when a front reservation is destroyed.

•: permittedFrontASNsChanged

Sent when the array of permitted-front-applications changes.

•: suppressRelaunch

Sent when an application changes its "LSSupressRelaunch" key.

•: terminatedByTALChanged

Sent when an application changes its "TerminatedByTAL" key.

•: launchedThrottledChanged

Sent when an application changes * applicationWouldBeTerminatedByTALChanged * applicationProgressValueChanged * applicationVisualNotification * wakeup

Request that the application with affected ASN resume running its main runloop.

•: sessionCreated

Sent when a session is created, generally when the first application registers inside the session. Affected ASN is always NULL, since this does not refer to any particular application.

•: sessionDestroyed

Sent when a session is destroyed. Affected ASN is always NULL, since this does not refer to any particular application.

•: invalid

This represents an invalid notification code, and is never sent.

•: all

This represents all notification codes, and is never sent, but gets used when specifying which notifications to listen for.

EXAMPLES

•: List all of the running applications

lsappinfo list

•: Show all the notifications which are being sent out

lsappinfo listen +all forever

•: Show the notifications sent out whenever the front application is changed, for the next 60 seconds

lsappinfo listen +becameFrontmost wait 60

•: Launch TextEdit.app, asyncronously, and don´t bring it to the front

lsappinfo launch nofront=true async=true /Applications/TextEdit.app/

•: Find the ASN for the running application "TextEdit", by bundle id

lsappinfo find bundleid=com.apple.TextEdit

•: Find the ASN for the running application "TextEdit", by name

lsappinfo find name="TextEdit"

•: Show the information for the running application "TextEdit"

lsappinfo info "TextEdit"