Migrating from the App Store rcmd

If you previously installed rcmd from App Store, these are the steps needed to migrate to this version:

• delete rcmd.app using Finder (don't delete using Launchpad or app cleaners, we need to keep settings around)
• download rcmd.dmg from this page
• open the DMG and move rcmd.app in Applications
• launch rcmd

What will happen next:

• the old settings will be migrated to the new version (old settings are kept intact in case you want to go back to the App Store version)
• a 14-day trial starts with the Pro features enabled
• after 14 days, the app keeps working in Free mode

License transfer

There's no license transfer needed because rcmd now has a free tier which has the same features that were in the App Store version.

You would only need to pay if you want to use the newly added Pro features.

How can I see app logs?

You can do that either through Console.app or through the log Terminal command.

Terminal

Streaming logs for viewing:

log stream --level debug --source --style compact --predicate 'subsystem BEGINSWITH "com.lowtechguys.rcmd"'

Streaming and collecting logs to a file:

log stream --level debug --style compact --predicate 'subsystem BEGINSWITH "com.lowtechguys.rcmd"' | tee ~/Desktop/rcmd.txt

Console.app

1. Write com.lowtechguys.rcmd in the search bar and press Enter
2. Click on Any and choose Subsystem
3. Make sure Info and Debug messages are enabled in the Action menu
4. Start streaming logs

Saving Console logs

In the Console window, select 1 log line, then press Cmd-A and Cmd-C to copy all log lines to clipboard.

After that you can press Cmd-V to paste it in a Discord chat, the Contact form or in an editor like TextEdit to save it to a file.

License doesn't stay activated

Possible causes

• Tampered bundle (usually because of app cleaners deleting files from inside the app)
• App can't access internet (usually because of LuLu or Little Snitch, or VPN/DNS)
• Corrupt license files

Resetting app and license files

• delete the license files (.padl and .spadl) from ~/Library/Application Support/rcmd/
• delete the app from Applications
• restart the app and retry activating

First quit the app before doing any of these changes.

To delete the license files, press Cmd-Shift-G in Finder, paste this path and press Enter:

~/Library/Application Support/rcmd/

Delete the files ending in .padl and .spadl in that folder.

Re-download the app, open the DMG and move it to Applications replacing the existing app.

Launch the app and activate.

Make sure Paddle can be reached

Paddle is the licensing provider that rcmd is using.

If the issue persists, try checking if Paddle's servers are reachable by your Mac. Ensure the following domains are not blocked in your network:

• paddle.com
• paddleapi.com
• v3.paddleapi.com
• access.paddle.com
• checkout.paddle.com
• vendors.paddle.com
• paddle.s3.amazonaws.com

For example, loading v3.paddleapi.com/3.2/license/verify in a browser (or with curl) should show a response like the following:

{
    "success": false,
    "error": {
        "code": 102,
        "message": "Unable to authenticate"
    }
}

If it shows a browser error or if it keeps loading continuously, then the domain is blocked and that's preventing activation and license checking.

Firewalls

Try disabling LuLu, Little Snitch or try adding rcmd to the exclusion list of these firewalls.

What permissions does rcmd need?

Everything rcmd reads with these permissions stays in memory on your Mac. Nothing is sent outside your Mac.

Accessibility

Needed for reading your trigger key, and for focusing, moving, resizing, closing and minimizing windows.

Without it rcmd can't see any key press, so nothing works.

Screen Recording

rcmd uses it for:

• window titles: since macOS Catalina, reading another app's window titles is only possible with this permission, and without titles rcmd sees no windows at all
• window thumbnails in the window switcher, the window grid and Exposé
• Quick Look: pressing space on a window tile shows that window live, for as long as Quick Look is open
• Search window contents: the text in each thumbnail is read by Apple's on-device Vision models, so you can find a window by text contents

rcmd captures only single windows, not your whole screen, and it does not record video. The thumbnails and the text read from them are kept in memory only.

Automation (Apple Events)

macOS asks for this once for each app, the first time rcmd sends a command to that app.

rcmd uses it to:

• read the URL of the active tab in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and Opera
• read the folder of a Finder window and the working directory of an iTerm2 window
• run a Stage's terminal command in Terminal, iTerm2 or Ghostty when the Stage opens
• list and focus the tabs, panes and other items of the enabled Lenses (no lens is enabled by default)

Without it, rcmd still saves and opens the apps and windows of a Stage, but windows might open empty, without the document or page they had.

Only when you use them

• Full Disk Access: for Lens scripts that need access to protected locations (e.g. Safari history)
• Downloads folder (and other folders): for Lens scripts that may access those folders to list projects or files