(! status in pluginkit, FinderSyncExtensionHost process missing)
macOS Version: 26.3.1 Beta (25D771280a) Xcode Version: 16.3 (17C529)
Steps to reproduce:
- Create a Finder Sync Extension project
- Build and install to /Applications
- Enable in System Settings → Extensions → Finder Extensions
- Extension shows ! in pluginkit output
- FinderSyncExtensionHost process never starts
- Context menu never appears in Finder
Expected: Extension loads and context menu appears Actual: Extension marked with ! in pluginkit, no process launched
pluginkit output: ! com.github.astronautJack.EasyNewFile.EasyNewFileExtension(1.0)
If you set up a VM that’s never seen your app before and repeat this test on that VM [1], does it have the same problem.
I’ve hunted app extension problems like this in the past, and it was always caused by weird issue on my main work Mac. Specifically, old school app extensions [2] rely PluginKit which relies on Launch Services, and it’s very common for Launch Services to behave weirdly on your main development Mac.
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Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
[1] You don’t need to build on the VM. Rather, build on your main Mac and then copy the built app to the VM.
[2] Modern app extension are based on ExtensionKit rather than PluginKit, but they also rely on Launch Services.