Mac Files (File Operations via SSH)

Manage files on remote Macs over SSH. Access is restricted to allowed directories for safety.

Targets

• mini (default) — guym@doclib
• macbook — guymackenzie@guy-mac-m1

Allowed Directories

• ~/Documents
• ~/Desktop
• ~/Downloads
• ~/Projects

All paths must be within these directories. Paths outside them are rejected.

Script

scripts/mac-files.sh <action> <target-mac> [args...]

Actions

Finding files:

• search <query> [folder] — Spotlight search (mdfind) across allowed dirs, or within a specific folder
• grep <pattern> <folder> — Search file contents for text

Reading files:

• ls <path> — List directory contents
• tree <path> [depth] — Tree view (default depth 2)
• read <path> — Read entire file
• head <path> [lines] — First N lines (default 20)
• tail <path> [lines] — Last N lines (default 20)
• info <path> — File size, type, modified date
• du <path> — Disk usage of directory contents

Creating & editing:

• create <path> <content> — Create a new file (creates parent dirs)
• write <path> <content> — Overwrite a file
• append <path> <text> — Append text to a file
• mkdir <path> — Create a directory

Moving & organizing:

• mv <source> <dest> — Move or rename (both paths must be in allowed dirs)
• cp <source> <dest> — Copy (both paths must be in allowed dirs)
• trash <path> — Move to Trash (safer than delete)
• open <path> — Open file in its default macOS app

Examples

# Spotlight search for tax docs
bash scripts/mac-files.sh search mini "tax 2025"

# List Documents folder
bash scripts/mac-files.sh ls mini ~/Documents

# Read a file
bash scripts/mac-files.sh read mini ~/Documents/notes.txt

# Create a file
bash scripts/mac-files.sh create mini ~/Projects/ideas.md "# Ideas"

# Search file contents
bash scripts/mac-files.sh grep mini "password" ~/Documents

Notes

• Always use trash instead of deleting — confirm with user first
• search uses macOS Spotlight (mdfind) which is very fast and searches file names and content
• open requires the Mac to be unlocked to show the app window
• Paths can use ~ which expands to the target user's home directory