macos-accessibility_skill

Overview

This skill is an expert implementation for macOS Accessibility automation using AXUIElement and related ApplicationServices APIs. It focuses on secure, auditable desktop automation with strict TCC permission checks, process validation, and sandbox awareness. The skill enforces permission tiers, blocked-application policies, and operation-level auditing to minimize risk when interacting with system and user applications.

How this skill works

It validates Accessibility (TCC) permissions before any operation, verifies target application identity and code signatures, and creates AXUIElement references for system or application-level element access. Operations are gated by permission tiers (read-only, standard, elevated), blocked-app lists, and action allowlists. All interactions are logged with correlation IDs, timeouts are enforced, and sensitive attributes are redacted or blocked.

When to use it

• Automating macOS UI workflows where Accessibility APIs are required
• Building secure desktop automation or testing tools that must respect TCC and sandbox boundaries
• Monitoring or interacting with frontmost applications while enforcing security policies
• Implementing event-driven automation using AXObserver with debounced callbacks
• Performing element discovery and attribute reads without bypassing user consent

Best practices

• Always check AXIsProcessTrustedWithOptions and handle denial gracefully
• Use permission tiers: prefer read-only for attribute reads and require elevated only when absolutely necessary
• Maintain a blocked-application list (keychain, security agents, password managers) and enforce it on every operation
• Cache AX elements with TTL and limit search depth to improve performance and reduce user-facing latency
• Batch attribute queries and use async/thread pools for concurrent app-level operations
• Audit every operation with correlation IDs, include code signature checks and enforce timeouts to avoid hangs

Example use cases

• Securely extract window titles and roles across running apps for a monitoring dashboard (read-only)
• Implement automated UI tests that validate app behavior while asserting TCC permission handling (TDD)
• Create a safe action executor to perform non-destructive controls in standard tier and block dangerous actions in read-only
• Monitor frontmost application and trigger non-invasive workflows on UI changes using AXObserver with debounce
• Develop a desktop assistant that limits access to sensitive fields and redacts password-like attributes