How can I add a file to the Dock in macOS using the Terminal?
Typically this is done using Finder, by dragging and dropping the file icon into the Dock. I am looking for a programmatic way using the command line / Terminal.
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To add file /path/to/file name.pdf to the right end of the Dock use the following while replacing file:///path/to/file%20name.pdf with the correct fully qualified pathname:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add "<dict><key>tile-data</key><dict><key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key><string>file:///path/to/file%20name.pdf</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key><integer>15</integer></dict><key>file-type</key><integer>32</integer></dict><key>tile-type</key><string>file-tile</string></dict>"; killall Dock
This answer is courtesy of user3439894, and was deeply buried in the comments of a related question about adding apps to the Dock: How to create Dock entries via Terminal in macOS Sierra?
Timur Shtatland
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dockutil works flawlessly. Download the .pkg from their github Releases page.
ijoseph
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This program is dead now. It doesn't work with python3. – The Quantum Physicist Dec 05 '22 at 22:23
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Confirmed. `❯ dockutil --help zsh: /opt/homebrew/bin/dockutil: bad interpreter: /usr/bin/python: no such file or directory` – ijoseph Dec 06 '22 at 21:08
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@TheQuantumPhysicist ok apparently they have a swift version now, updated with those instructions instead – ijoseph Dec 06 '22 at 21:17
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1just use their already built .dmg: https://github.com/kcrawford/dockutil/releases – Kipras Melnikovas Jan 05 '23 at 21:36