Vault CLI (macOS)

Goal: Make selected directories fully disappear from common macOS searchers (Spotlight/mdfind/uTools/VSCode/find/grep) and not show in Finder when hidden, with a simple Node.js CLI.

Two modes:

• rename_noindex: Rename folder to ..noindex to disable Spotlight indexing and hide from Finder.
• sparsebundle: Attach/detach an encrypted .sparsebundle image via hdiutil, optionally with -nobrowse and Spotlight disabled while mounted.

Install / Run

• Local dev: node bin/vault.js --help
• Global (recommended for users): npm install -g vault-cli, then use vault-cli

Publish & Global Install

• Publish (scoped, public): npm publish
• Install globally: npm install -g @huangjunsen/vault-cli
• Use: vault-cli (alias: vault)

Config Option A (no-config, pass paths directly):

• Hide by path: vault-cli off /abs/path/A /abs/path/B --dry-run
• Restore by path: vault-cli on /abs/path/A /abs/path/B

Option B (config file): use an array of folder paths (rename_noindex by default). Create ~/.vaultconfig.json

[ "/Users/you/Projects/Company", "/Users/you/Private" ]

Add paths to existing config

• Append paths: vault-cli add /abs/path/C /abs/path/D
• Works with array config or object config (appends targets[] with rename_noindex).

Edit config

• Open default config (auto-create if missing): vault-cli config --edit
• Open custom path (auto-create if missing): vault-cli config --edit --config /custom/path.json

Commands

• vault-cli add <absPath...>
• vault-cli config --edit
• vault-cli on <target...|--all|--group > [--dry-run]: Show folder(s) or attach sparsebundle(s)
• vault-cli off <target...|--all|--group > [--dry-run]: Hide folder(s) or detach sparsebundle(s)
• vault-cli status [<target...>|--all|--group ]: Show state
• vault-cli targets: List configured target names
• vault-cli sweep [--full-index]: Clear QuickLook cache and Recent Documents; with --full-index also rebuild Spotlight (expensive)

Why this works

• Finder visibility: A leading dot (.) hides items in Finder; detached volumes do not appear anywhere.
• Spotlight indexing: Folders ending with .noindex are excluded; unmounted images are not indexed at all. When mounted, you can also disable Spotlight for the mountpoint.
• Grep/find/mdfind/uTools/VSCode: With the folder renamed to .*.noindex it won’t be in the index, and most tools skip dotfolders by default; detached sparsebundles expose no plaintext files.

Operational notes

• rename_noindex is fast and reversible (atomic rename within same parent folder).
• sparsebundle offers encryption and complete off-state invisibility; attach uses your interactive password prompt (stdin), nothing is stored.
• sweep: By default clears QuickLook caches and Recent Documents. --full-index triggers mdutil -E / which is system-wide and slow.

Examples

• Hide: vault off company
• Show: vault on company
• Mount: vault on vault
• Detach: vault off vault
• Status: vault status

Safety

• This CLI targets macOS only. It runs hdiutil, mdutil, qlmanage under your user.
• Avoid using --full-index unless you truly need to guarantee Spotlight has purged past traces.