macOS Permissions (Security View)
This is the security-facing summary of the macOS permissions Ghast may request. For the operational "how to grant them" walkthrough, see Computer Use: macOS Permissions.
Permission catalogue
| Permission | What Ghast does with it | Threat if compromised |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | The Swift daemon walks AX trees and posts CGEvents to drive macOS apps | Full UI control over your Mac (within the app blocklist) |
| Screen Recording | The daemon takes pixel-fidelity screenshots of any app | Exposure of any on-screen content during a screenshot call |
| AppleEvents (per app) | Specific app adapters (Calendar, Mail, Music) drive via AppleScript | App-specific scripting (e.g. Calendar event creation) |
| Microphone | Voice input via Whisper | Audio capture during recording sessions |
Ghast does not request:
- Camera
- Contacts
- Calendars (for reading — the Calendar adapter writes via AppleEvent)
- Reminders
- Photos
- Full Disk Access
If you ever see a prompt for one of these, that's not the official build. Verify the DMG hash.
Defense-in-depth on top of macOS permissions
The Accessibility permission is a powerful grant. The daemon layers extra constraints on top:
| Layer | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Per-app approval gate (UI) | First modifying action against a new app surfaces a modal. |
| Daemon hard blocklist | Refuses certain apps (password managers, sensitive system tools) regardless of UI approval. |
| Event delivery defaults | preserveFocus mode — daemon "draws" cursor without taking your real one. |
| Action shape constraints | Calendar writes need an explicit allow_calendar_write=true. Drags need start+end coords. |
| Action logging | Every action recorded in the local Action Log, with approval state and result. |
Revoking
Any permission is revocable in System Settings → Privacy & Security. After revoking:
- Accessibility → all Computer Use calls return
permission_denieduntil re-granted. - Screen Recording →
skyshotreturns partial results or typed errors. - AppleEvents (per app) → that adapter falls back to generic click/type or fails.
- Microphone → voice input fails; text input still works.
Settings → Computer Use shows the live state of each permission with a "Reconfirm" deep link.
Managed Macs
For Macs administered via MDM, the IT team must pre-approve Accessibility and Screen Recording via a PPPC configuration profile. Without that, you cannot grant the permissions yourself. The bundle ID to whitelist is ai.ghast.desktop.
What the permissions do not let Ghast do
- They do not extend to incognito Chrome tabs (those are the browser extension's concern; see Browser Extension: Capabilities).
- They do not survive across user accounts on the same Mac. Each macOS user must grant separately.
- They do not give Ghast the ability to escalate to root.