BIN-1 — ~/bin Command Reference

Introduction

This manual covers personal command-line tools installed in ~/bin. Scripts fall into two categories: standalone tools with no external dependency, and mrk tools — symlinks into ~/mrk/scripts/ managed by the mrk machine configuration system.

Note

All scripts are bash. Common behavior (logging, prompts, safe deletion) is provided by the shared library at scripts/lib.sh. See Section 3.1.

Standalone Scripts

no external dependency

1.1

audio-mode standalone

Pauses cloud sync services during recording sessions to prevent disk I/O noise and latency.

audio-mode on [--icloud] [--gdrive] [--all]
audio-mode off
audio-mode status

on — Pauses Dropbox (always), plus iCloud and/or Google Drive with flags. Snapshots pre-state so off only restores what was actually running.
off — Restores services to their pre-on state. Only resumes services that were running before on was called.
status — Shows current state of audio mode and each service.
State persisted at ~/.audio_mode_state.json (JSON, managed via jq).
Activity logged to ~/Library/Logs/audio-mode.log.

1.2

zoom-mode standalone

Prepares the system for a Zoom recording session: keeps the WiFi AP alive, prevents sleep, stops active Time Machine backups, and delegates cloud sync pausing to audio-mode.

zoom-mode on
zoom-mode off
zoom-mode status

on — Pings 8.8.8.8 every 30s in the background (prevents AP idle-timeout drops), runs caffeinate -d to block display and system sleep, stops any active Time Machine backup, then calls audio-mode on --all.
off — Kills the keepalive and caffeinate processes, then calls audio-mode off to restore sync services.
status — Shows whether zoom-mode is active and delegates to audio-mode status.
Background PIDs tracked at ~/.zoom_mode_pids.
Activity logged to ~/Library/Logs/zoom-mode.log.

1.3

nuke-mrk standalone

Removes all mrk artifacts for a fresh reinstall: ~/mrk, ~/.mrk, symlinks in ~/bin, and dotfile symlinks in $HOME.

nuke-mrk

Caution

Destructive operation. Interactive — confirms before deleting. Does not uninstall Homebrew packages or undo macOS defaults.

Prints reinstall instructions after completion.

1.4

snapshot standalone

Exports current app preferences as plists into ~/mrk/assets/preferences/.

snapshot [--brewfile] [--help]

Without --brewfile: exports plists only, prompts to commit if changes detected.
With --brewfile: also runs brew bundle dump (destructive — overwrites comments). Asks for confirmation.
Apps: AlDente, Amphetamine, BetterSnapTool, Descript, Fission, HandBrake, Helium, Ice, iTerm2, ScreenFlow

mrk Scripts

symlinked from ~/mrk/scripts/

Note

Symlinked from ~/mrk/scripts/ during make install. Part of the mrk machine configuration system.

2.1

check-updates mrk

Silently checks for mrk repo updates (at most once every 7 days). Prompts to update if behind.

check-updates

Only runs in interactive shells.
Exits silently on network failure or if up to date.
Timestamp cached in ~/.cache/mrk/.

2.2

doctor mrk

Verifies ~/bin is on PATH. With --fix, appends a conditional PATH export to ~/.zshrc.

doctor [check | --fix | fix]

check (default) — prints pass/fail and exits with status 0 or 1
--fix / fix — idempotent: only writes to ~/.zshrc if the line isn't already there. The exported line checks that ~/bin exists and isn't already in PATH before prepending it.

2.3

fix-exec mrk

Sets executable bits on all mrk scripts and ~/bin symlinks pointing into the repo. Idempotent.

fix-exec

2.4

generate-install-manifest mrk

Scans symlinks in ~/bin and $HOME that point into mrk, writes the list to ~/mrk/.install-manifest for the uninstaller.

generate-install-manifest

2.5

hardening.sh mrk

Applies opt-in macOS security hardening with automatic rollback script generation.

hardening.sh

Warning

Modifies system files. A rollback script is generated at ~/.mrk/hardening-rollback.sh before any changes are applied.

Touch ID for sudo — adds pam_tid.so to /etc/pam.d/sudo
Immediate password on wake — screensaver password delay → 0
Firewall + stealth mode — enables macOS application firewall

2.6

hide_tm.sh mrk

Hides Time Machine backup volumes from the Finder sidebar.

hide_tm.sh [volume_name]
TM_VOLUMES="Vol1,Vol2" hide_tm.sh

Default volume: TimeMachine.
Accepts comma-separated list via env var or argument.

2.7

pull-prefs mrk

Clones or pulls the private mrk-prefs repo into ~/.mrk/preferences/. Auto-called by mrk post-install.

pull-prefs

2.8

snapshot-prefs mrk

Comprehensive preference export: plists for 15 apps plus Application Support files. Commits and pushes to the private mrk-prefs repo.

snapshot-prefs

Apps: BetterSnapTool, Ice, iTerm2, Raycast, Stats, Loopback, SoundSource, Audio Hijack, Farrago, Piezo, Typora, Hot, Keka, TimeMachineEditor, MacWhisper
App Support: Loopback (devices/routing), SoundSource (presets/sources)

2.9

status mrk

Interactive two-pane TUI health dashboard for the mrk installation. Also available as mrk-status.

status
mrk-status --help

Left pane: nine checks with ✓/⚠/✗ status — dotfiles, tool symlinks, macOS defaults, security hardening, backups, shell, PATH, Homebrew, Brewfile packages
Right pane: detail lines for the selected check, including the suggested fix command
f — run the fix command for the selected check
r — refresh all checks
tab / ←→ — switch panes

2.10

sync mrk

Compares installed Homebrew packages against the Brewfile, presents an interactive picker for new packages, and inserts them alphabetically into the correct section.

sync [--dry-run | -n] [--commit | -c] [--prune | -p]

--dry-run — shows what would be added/removed without modifying
--commit — auto-commits the Brewfile after updating
--prune — removes Brewfile entries for packages no longer installed (interactive selection)
Uses mrk-picker or gum for interactive selection

2.11

sync-login-items mrk

Diffs system login items against those tracked in scripts/post-install. Presents an interactive picker to add new items or remove stale ones, then updates post-install, docs/manual.md, and docs/index.html in one pass.

sync-login-items [--dry-run | -n] [--commit | -c]

--dry-run — shows the diff and selected changes without writing any files
--commit — auto-commits all changed files after updating with a descriptive message (login-items: add X; remove Y)
Uses gum for multi-select UI when available; falls back to y/N bulk prompts.
Login items are read from System Events via AppleScript. Paths are resolved automatically.

2.12

mrk-install mrk

Unified mrk installer. Runs setup, brew, and post-install phases. Entry point for a full bootstrap or targeted re-run.

mrk-install [phase] [options]

Phases: setup, brew, post-install, or omit for all
Options pass through to the selected phase

2.13

mrk-setup mrk

Phase 1: idempotent macOS bootstrap. Dotfile linking, ~/bin symlinks, shell config, backups.

mrk-setup [options]

2.14

mrk-brew mrk

Phase 2: Homebrew package and cask installation from the Brewfile.

mrk-brew [options]

2.15

mrk-post-install mrk

Phase 3: configure apps installed by Homebrew (post-install hooks, app-specific setup).

mrk-post-install

2.16

mrk-defaults mrk

Applies macOS defaults (Dock, Finder, keyboard, etc.) and generates a rollback script at ~/.mrk/defaults-rollback.sh.

mrk-defaults [--with-trackpad]

Without flags: applies all defaults except trackpad gestures
--with-trackpad — also applies trackpad gesture settings

2.17

mrk-uninstall mrk

Conservative mrk uninstaller. Removes symlinks and mrk state. Does not uninstall Homebrew packages or undo defaults.

mrk-uninstall

3.1

Shared Library

scripts/lib.sh

Sourced by scripts that need consistent logging, colors, and utilities.

Table 3.1-1. lib.sh Function Reference
Function	Purpose
`ok()`	Green checkmark success message
`warn()`	Yellow warning (stderr)
`err()`	Red error (stderr)
`info()`	Blue info message
`debug()`	Cyan debug (only when `DEBUG=1`)
`confirm()`	Interactive y/N prompt (auto-confirms when `YES=1`)
`is_running`	Check if a process matching a pattern is running
`require_cmd`	Exit with error if any listed command is missing
`human_bytes`	Convert bytes to human-readable (e.g. `1.5 G`)
`safe_rm`	Remove paths safely (refuses anything outside `$HOME`)

Note — Environment Variables

YES=1 — auto-confirm all prompts · DRY_RUN=1 — safe_rm prints instead of deleting · DEBUG=1 — enables debug() output

3.2

Quick Reference

all commands

Table 3.2-1. Command Summary
Command	What it does
`zoom-mode on`	Enable Zoom recording mode (WiFi keepalive, no sleep, pause sync)
`zoom-mode off`	Disable Zoom recording mode and restore all services
`audio-mode on --all`	Pause all sync services for recording (without network/sleep tweaks)
`audio-mode off`	Resume sync services
`snapshot`	Export app prefs to mrk
`snapshot-prefs`	Export + push prefs to private repo
`sync`	Add new Homebrew packages to Brewfile
`sync-login-items`	Diff & update tracked login items in post-install + docs
`status`	Interactive TUI health dashboard (dotfiles, tools, Homebrew, etc.)
`nuke-mrk`	Clean uninstall mrk for reinstall
`hardening.sh`	Apply macOS security tweaks
`doctor --fix`	Fix ~/bin PATH issues
`mrk-install`	Full mrk bootstrap (all phases)
`mrk-setup`	Phase 1: dotfiles, symlinks, shell
`mrk-brew`	Phase 2: Homebrew packages
`mrk-defaults [--with-trackpad]`	Apply macOS defaults (add trackpad gestures with flag)
`mrk-uninstall`	Remove mrk symlinks and state (does not touch Homebrew or defaults)