# CLI Tools launches Mac catalog for command-line software > Flavio Copes released a macOS app and companion CLI that shows installed tools, reference material, and human and agent usage. The MIT-licensed Swift package is Mac only and must be built from source. - Publication: Go Big News - By Go Big News Staff (Staff News) - Category: Technology - Published: 2026-09-09T15:31:31.858+00:00 - Canonical: https://www.gobignews.com/technology/cli-tools-launches-mac-catalog-for-command-line-software --- Developer Flavio Copes released [CLI Tools](https://flaviocopes.com) on Sept. 9, 2026, as a Mac-only app and companion command-line program that catalogs software installed on a Mac. He announced the project in a post on X and linked to its [public GitHub repository](https://github.com/flaviocopes/cli-tools). The catalog combines tool discovery, reference material and usage records. Its JSON output lets a coding agent on the same machine query which tools are installed and how to call them, Copes wrote in his launch note. The native app finds packages that users explicitly installed through Homebrew, npm and Cargo. It also scans trusted user command directories, including `~/.local/bin`, `~/.bun/bin` and `~/.deno/bin`. Commands from the same package remain grouped so that helper executables do not fill the catalog with separate entries. Each tool appears with its source, path and installation date. Users can filter the list to installations from today, the past 7 days or the current month, and can favorite or archive tools. Selecting a tool displays its version and help output. Homebrew packages also show a description and homepage. Examples come from the tool’s tldr page, when available, and the examples section of its `--help` output. CLI Tools reads zsh, bash and fish history, then groups commands by tool and shows them most recent first with a run count and last-used time. The results remain in memory and are not written to the catalog. The app can also search session transcripts stored on disk by Cursor, Codex and Claude Code for commands run by those agents. It reads those files only when requested. The CLI provides the same type of search with commands such as `clitools history gh --agents`. The app and CLI share a catalog at `~/Library/Application Support/CliTools/catalog.json`. The `clitools` command also supports scanning, searching, inspecting tools, retrieving examples and listing unused tools or JSON output. CLI Tools is a Swift package with no external dependencies. Building it from source requires macOS 14 or later and either Xcode 26 or a Swift 6.2 toolchain. Copes released it as free and open source software under the MIT license. Copes describes himself as an Italian computer-engineering graduate who has published online since 1999. His educational library includes a CLI Handbook and courses on shell commands, shell scripting, macOS development, Swift and SwiftUI. --- ## Companies in this story - Flaviocopes: https://www.gobignews.com/company/flaviocopes --- ## X profiles in this story - @flaviocopes: https://www.gobignews.com/profile/flaviocopes