Apple has a utility in /usr/bin named tccutil, but it only supports one command, which is to reset the entire database. I wanted a command-line utility that would be able to add, remove, list, and take other actions.
tccutil.py can just be installed to /usr/sbin without any additional software.
It can then be run just like any other command line tool. I also wanted the syntax to be easy to remember without having to look it up in the help menu.
There are other solutions out there, but there were some things I did not like about them:
-
Privacy Manager Services has other dependencies that need to be installed.
-
tccmanager.py uses a
.plistto add items, which is inconvenient.
It is important that you either run this as root or use sudo, otherwise it won't work and you will end up with “permission denied” errors.
Usage:
tccutil.py [--help]
sudo tccutil.py [--list]
sudo tccutil.py [--insert | --remove | --enable | --disable] [<bundle_id | cli_path>] [--verbose]
tccutil.py reset <service> (pass through to OS X's built-in command)
<service> names: [ Accessibility | AddressBook | Calendar | CoreLocationAgent |Facebook | Reminders | Twitter]
Options:
-h | --help Displays this Help Menu.
-l | --list Lists all Entries in the Accessibility Database.
-i | --insert Adds the given Bundle ID or Path to the Accessibility Database.
-r | --remove Removes the given Bundle ID or Path from the Accessibility Database.
-e | --enable Enables Accessibility Access for the given Bundle ID or Path.
-d | --disable Disables Accessibility Access for the given Bundle ID or Path.
-v | --verbose Outputs additional info for some commands.
List existing Entries in the Accessibility Database
sudo tccutil.py --list
Add /usr/bin/osascript to the Accessibility Database (using UNIX-Style Option)
sudo tccutil.py -i /usr/bin/osascript
Add Script Editor to the Accessibility Database (using Long Option)
sudo tccutil.py --insert com.apple.ScriptEditor2
Remove Terminal from the Accessibility Database
sudo tccutil.py --remove com.apple.Terminal
Enable Terminal (must already exist in the Database)
sudo tccutil.py --enable com.apple.Terminal
Disable /usr/bin/osascript (must already exist in the Database)
sudo tccutil.py -d /usr/bin/osascript
- List existing Entries in Accessibility Database
- Insert new Item into Accessibility Database (even Command-Line Utilities)
- Remove an existing Item from the Accessibility Database
- Enable or disable an Entry
- Modify other parts of the
TCC.db.