Description

I’m trying to run the WordPress Contributor Toolkit.app on macOS, but the app won’t launch even after moving it to /Applications.

I attempted to remove the quarantine flag, but ran into permission errors across multiple internal files in the app bundle.

Steps to reproduce

1. Download the app build
2. Move it to /Applications
3. Try to open it → app does not launch
4. Attempt to remove quarantine:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/"WordPress Contributor Toolkit.app"

Actual behavior

The command fails with multiple permission errors:

xattr: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '...Electron Framework.framework/...'

Even after that, the app still won’t open.

Expected behavior

App should launch after download, or at least after removing quarantine without requiring elevated permissions or manual intervention on internal bundle files.

Environment

• macOS: 15.7.3 (24G419)
• Installation method: downloaded from GitHub workflows
• Location: /Applications

Additional context

This might be related to:

• Missing code signing / notarization
• macOS Gatekeeper restrictions on Electron apps
• App bundle containing protected files that xattr cannot modify recursively

Suggestion

It would be helpful if:

• The app was properly signed/notarized, or
• Documentation included a reliable workaround for macOS users without requiring deep system permissions

Notes

This could be a blocker for onboarding new contributors during events like Contributor Day, since setup friction is high on macOS.