macOS

format = "macos" builds the same two artifacts as Linux — a portable tarball and a self-extracting .run installer — with the same per-user install model. Build a macOS target on macOS: an Apple Silicon host for macos-aarch64, an Intel host for macos-x86_64.

• <name>-<version>-<target>.tar{.gz,.bz2,.xz} — the image tree.

• <name>-<version>-<target>.run — the self-extracting installer.

Only platform = "macos-aarch64" or "macos-x86_64" may use this format.

Configuration

compression

Payload compression for the .tar and .run: "gzip", "bzip2" or "xz" (default "gzip", because xz is not preinstalled on macOS).

[[tool.pyappdist.targets]]
name = "macos-arm"
platform = "macos-aarch64"             # or "macos-x86_64" for Intel
format = "macos"
# compression = "gzip"                  # "gzip" | "bzip2" | "xz" (default "gzip")

Build requirements

None beyond pip and the chosen compressor — macOS launchers are relocatable shell wrappers (no MSVC/WiX). Build on macOS; on a non-macOS host the step is skipped (the image is still built).

Install behavior

The .run installer behaves exactly like the Linux one — it verifies the payload SHA-256, copies into <prefix>/lib/<name> ($HOME/.local by default), symlinks each launcher into <prefix>/bin, drops an uninstall.sh, and supports --prefix / --uninstall. No root is required.

$ ./myapp-1.0-macos-aarch64.run            # install into ~/.local
$ ./myapp-1.0-macos-aarch64.run --uninstall

macOS has no freedesktop equivalent, so launcher icon and gui are ignored — the installer creates the <prefix>/bin symlinks only. This format produces no .app bundle; it suits command-line tools launched by their bin name. For a double-click GUI app (a signed/notarized .app or .dmg), use format = “macapp” / “dmg” instead.