What Picasso puts on your Mac

Everything Picasso for Mac and the picasso command line install, run, read, write and talk to, and how to remove all of it. It is written from the code and checked against it by tests (WhatPicassoPutsOnYourMacTests in the Mac app, footprint.test.ts in the CLI). If something here is wrong, that is a bug.

In short: one app in /Applications, one folder in your home (~/.picasso), a few folders under ~/Library, a few Keychain items. No kernel extensions, no LaunchDaemons, nothing that runs as root, and nothing that starts at login unless you turn on "Keep threads running when Picasso quits" or ask the command line for it. Engine and relay listen on 127.0.0.1 only, unless you turn on remote access.

Installs and runs

The app bundle

/Applications/Picasso.app, bundle ID com.picassohq.picasso, Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later. Signed with a Developer ID, notarized and stapled, hardened runtime on, not sandboxed (it edits the projects you open). Inside:

There are no LaunchDaemons, privileged helpers, system extensions or XPC services. There is one optional background item: Contents/Library/LaunchAgents/com.picassohq.picasso.runner.plist, which macOS registers (System Settings › General › Login Items) only when you turn on Settings › General › "Keep threads running when Picasso quits". It runs the app's own signed engine, after the same checks the app runs, and turning the setting off removes it. It is off by default.

Processes

While Picasso for Mac is open you will see:

1. Picasso: the app.
2. The relay: PicassoEngine/bin/node PicassoEngine/relay/main.mjs, started by the app. It listens on

127.0.0.1 on a port the system picks. It only listens on your network when you turn on Settings › Remote › "Allow access from this network" and finish pairing (TLS).

1. The Picasso engine: started by the relay, on 127.0.0.1, on a port the system picks.
2. Language servers, only while the code editor has a file of that language open. Picasso uses the bundled ones,

plus pyright-langserver, gopls, rust-analyzer or a project's own ESLint/Ruff when they are already installed.

1. `ssh -N -T -L …`, only for a remote engine you added yourself (Settings › Engines).

Quitting the app stops all of them. Nothing keeps running after you quit.

The menu bar item is off by default (Settings › General). Schedules and pull-request watching run inside the engine while the app is open; they are not system services.

What the command line installs

npm install -g @picassohq/cli installs the picasso (and pic) command into npm's global folder. Then:

The engine updater checks the npm registry at most every 6 hours, never while a turn runs. Turn it off with engineAutoUpdate: false in ~/.picasso/settings/settings.json. Picasso for Mac only checks; it never downloads an engine. Its engine updates arrive with the app.

picasso about --footprint (or /about in the terminal app) prints this list from the command line.

Reads and writes

Files and folders

Release builds always use the .picasso folder in your real home folder, whatever $HOME says.

<!-- docs-freshness-ignore: legacy-dsh-home --><!-- reason: the one-time copy reads the old folder --> The first launch copies providers and sessions from an existing ~/.dsh folder into ~/.picasso/dsh-home, once, if there is one, and never changes it. Earlier sandboxed builds left data in ~/Library/Containers/com.picassohq.picasso; it is read once to migrate.

Picasso reads and edits files only in the projects you open (and files you attach).

Keychain items

All are generic passwords in your login Keychain.

Permissions it asks for

It never asks for camera, screen recording, accessibility, Apple Events or speech recognition.

Talks to

Usage telemetry is off: nothing about how you use Picasso is collected or sent. Sponsor impressions and clicks carry a random install ID that is not tied to your account.

Free tier: when you accept the free-tier terms, Picasso queues traces of your sessions in projects you work in and uploads them to api.picassohq.com for research. Settings › General › Data use and privacy shows what is queued and sent, and how to make a privacy request.

Removing it

Quit Picasso (and stop picasso in any terminal) first. Then:

# The app
rm -rf /Applications/Picasso.app

# The command line, if you installed it
npm rm -g @picassohq/cli

# Everything Picasso keeps
rm -rf ~/.picasso
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Picasso ~/Library/Logs/Picasso
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.picassohq.picasso ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.picassohq.picasso
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.picassohq.picasso
defaults delete com.picassohq.picasso

# The command line's service file, if you made one
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.picassohq.host 2>/dev/null
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/com.picassohq.cli.runner 2>/dev/null
rm -f ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.picassohq.host.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.picassohq.cli.runner.plist

# Keychain items
for service in com.picassohq.account-session com.picassohq.picasso picasso.repo-hosts \
  com.picassohq.memory-key com.picasso.research-outbox com.picasso.cli; do
  while security delete-generic-password -s "$service" >/dev/null 2>&1; do :; done
done

<!-- docs-freshness-ignore: legacy-dsh-home --><!-- reason: another tool's folder, named so readers know it is kept --> ~/Picasso, ~/Picasso Projects and any ~/.dsh folder are yours and are left alone.