How to use mole CLI to uninstall apps under /System/Applications?

[baggiponte]

I would like to script mole to uninstall Games, Journal and other apps. While I can uninstall GarageBand, I would like to remove also these ones. Can it be done? Thanks!

[starkmarkus]

I do not think this is something Mole should try to handle as a normal uninstall case.

GarageBand is different because it is a removable app under the regular applications area. Apps under:

/System/Applications

are part of the sealed/protected macOS system area. Apple treats many of those built-in apps as system components, so they are not the same kind of target as a normal third-party app or something installed from the App Store.

So my understanding is:

• uninstalling regular apps like GarageBand: reasonable for Mole
• cleaning leftovers from normal app removals: reasonable for Mole
• removing Apple system apps from /System/Applications: probably not supported, and not something I would expect Mole to automate safely

There are ways people try to remove or hide system apps by disabling macOS protections or modifying the sealed system volume, but I would not recommend that as an uninstall workflow. It can break updates, be reverted by macOS updates, or leave the system in an unsupported state.

For scripting, the safer options are probably:

# hide from Dock / Launchpad workflows rather than uninstall
# or manage what is visible/allowed via MDM / restrictions if this is for managed Macs

So the short answer is: Mole can uninstall normal removable apps, but I would not expect it to uninstall protected apps from /System/Applications. For Games, Journal, and similar built-in apps, hiding/restricting them is safer than trying to delete them.

[baggiponte]

Thank you very much for the reply!