Troubleshooting guide

macOS builds are reported as "damaged"

When you download an unsigned Electron build on macOS, Gatekeeper can show the error <AppName> is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Trash. if the com.apple.quarantine extended attribute is present on the .app bundle. This typically happens when the archive is created on one machine, unpacked on another, and then re-packed multiple times during a CI workflow.

To reduce the chance of the message appearing:

1. Build and package the .app, .dmg, and .zip entirely on the macOS runner. Avoid downloading, unzipping, and re-zipping the app on Linux or Windows runners because these tools strip the metadata that Gatekeeper expects.
2. Before creating the final DMG or ZIP, clear the quarantine attribute in your workflow (for example, xattr -cr InterlisIDE.app). When the attribute is absent at packaging time, Gatekeeper shows the standard “unidentified developer” dialog instead of the “damaged” message. Re-run xattr after every step that unpacks the bundle in CI.
3. Use ditto -c -k --sequesterRsrc --keepParent to generate ZIP archives. ditto preserves the bundle structure and extended attributes better than the default zip utility.
4. Document the manual workaround for users who still encounter the dialog, e.g. xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/InterlisIDE.app.

Ultimately, the only way to prevent the warning completely is to sign and notarize your macOS artifacts. Until that is possible, the steps above make the build behave more like an unsigned download from an “unknown developer” and avoid the more alarming “damaged” message.

Need more help?

Open an issue on the INTERLIS IDE GitHub tracker or join the community spaces linked in the footer of this site.