pluginkit(8) System Manager's Manual pluginkit(8)

pluginkit — plugin plug-in extension pluginkit

pluginkit -m [-ADv] [-p -protocol] [-i -identifier] [key=value] [...]

pluginkit [-ar] [-v] [file ...]

pluginkit -e election [-p -protocol] [-i -identifier] [key=value] [...]

pluginkit manages the PlugInKit subsystem for the current user. It can query the plug-in database and make limited interventions for debugging and development.

A list of flags and their descriptions:

--all-versions
Matches find all versions of a given plug-in known to the system. By default, only the latest (highest) version is returned.
Explicitly adds plugins at the file location(s) given, even if they are not normally eligible for automatic discovery. Note that database clean-ups may eventually remove them in that case.
election
Perform a matching operation (see -m) and apply the given user election setting to all matching plug-ins. Elections can be "use", "ignore", and "default". Elections are applied to all plug-ins with given identifier.
--duplicates
Matches find all physical instances of a given plug-in known to the system, even multiple copies with the same version.
--identifier identifier
Specifies a plug-in identifier to match, a short-hand for NSExtensionIdentifier=identifier.
--match
Requests pluginkit to scan all registered plug-ins for those matching the given search criteria (see DISCOVERY MATCHING below).

All matching plug-ins are returned, one per line. Each line may begin with any one of the following tags indicating the user election state:

+
indicates that the user has elected to use the plug-in
-
indicates that the user has elected to ignore the plug-in
!
indicates that the user has elected to use the plug-in for debugger use
=
indicates that the plug-in is superseded by another plug-in
?
unknown user election state

Add the -v option to get more detailed output. This is exactly reproducing the functionality of PlugInKit discovery, except that no host-specific restrictions are imposed. The -A and -D options affect the outcome.

--platform platform
Explicitly specifies a plug-in platform to match (macOS only). Can be provided multiple times on the command line and all specified platforms will be matched.

Available platforms: native, maccatalyst

--protocol protocol
Specifies a plug-in protocol to match, a short-hand for NSExtensionPointName=protocol.
Explicitly removes plugins at the file location(s) given. Note that automatic discovery procedures may add them back if they are still present.
Present replies from the management daemon (pkd) in raw XML form. This is primarily useful for debugging and for reporting full state in bug reports.
Asks for more verbose operation. For matching requests, more detail is printed about each matched plug-in. This option can be given more than once.

During plug-in discovery, PlugInKit matches plug-ins against match criteria and delivers matching plug-ins. Only plug-ins that match all given criteria are eligible. Criteria are expressed as "key" (must be present) or "key=value" (key must be present and have the given value). The -i and -p arguments are shorthands for the conventional identifier and protocol matching keys.

All matching plug-ins are reduced according to the -A and -D options given. With -D, all eligible plug-ins are returned. With -A, the last-registered (by timestamp) instance of each version is returned. By default, only the last instance of the highest version is returned. Note that this reduction is applied after matching.

The -a and -r options make changes to the system's plug-in registry. The registry is designed to operate automatically, and will update on its own as applications are installed, removed, and discovered. The options available through pluginkit are intended only for limited manipulation during plug-in development and for certain maintenance tasks. They cannot make permanent alterations of the automatic registry state.

launchd(8), pkd(8)

The pluginkit command first appeared in OS X 10.9.

1/22/14 Darwin