FinderUtilities

FinderUtilities is a macOS App Extension (Finder Extension), which enables you to easily launch Terminal.app to the selected directory, create empty files in Finder’s folder hierarchy and also enables copying of selected file or directory paths to the pasteboard (clipboard) using right-click (or control-click). See chapter How to use FinderUtilities for more details.

For yet unknown reasons (related to PPPC / access to user folders) macOS Catalina seems to require FinderUtilities to have Full Disk Access rights in order to launch Terminal window to user’s directories.

How to install FinderUtilities

Just download the application from releses (or compile it from the sources), copy it to your /Applications directory and run it once to install the containing Finder Extension. The first time you run the application, it opens up System Preferences > Extensions so that you can enable it. See the picture below:

Alternative way of installing the App Extension

You can also install and remove the extension using the actual extension bundled into the app.

To install and approve the extension, run this:

pluginkit -a FinderUtilities.app/Contents/PlugIns/RightClickExtension.appex/

To remove it, run this:

pluginkit -r FinderUtilities.app/Contents/PlugIns/RightClickExtension.appex/

For more information on distributing and installing application extensions in macOS, read Apple’s App Extension Guide.

How to use FinderUtilities

After you have installed the extension, go to the Finder and if you right-click (or control-click) inside the folder structure, you’ll see the following options:

I guess the options speak for themselves. The first option launches a Terminal.app to the directory you are in, the second creates an empty text file (empty.txt) to the selected directory and the third one enables you to copy one or more file and/or directory paths to the pasteboard (clipboard).

How to remove FinderUtilities

You might need to kill the process (RightClickExtension), then delete the FinderUtilities.app from your computer. After this, FinderUtilities disappears from the System Preferences > Extensions.

If you are running and building the application and it’s extension in Xcode, you can get rid of the application and it’s extension by deleting Xcode’s archive and derived data folders containing FinderUtilities files (and you should also kill the RightClickExtension process(es) as well). It then also disappears from the System Preferences > Extensions.

Other useful info

The applications is signed, sandboxed and notarized. It uses the following entitlements:

com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write

com.apple.security.temporary-exception.files.home-relative-path.read-write

The actual application does not have a GUI, it’s only functionality is to install the bundled application extension and to show the Extension approval window (if needed).

Application’s deployment target has been set to macOS 10.14 Mojave.

Links and kudos

Read Apple’s App Extension Programming Guide / Finder Sync.

Check Janne’s FinderMate example.