macOS Companion

A terminal-based macOS update console.

companion.sh runs a sequence of common update tasks for macOS so they can be kicked off with a single command.

What it does

The script runs the following tasks in order:

1. sudo softwareupdate -i -a — install all available macOS software updates
2. mas upgrade — upgrade Mac App Store apps via the mas CLI
3. mise upgrade — upgrade tools managed by mise
4. npm update -g — update globally installed npm packages
5. deno upgrade — upgrade the Deno runtime
6. bun update -g — update globally installed Bun packages
7. pnpm update -g — update globally installed pnpm packages
8. yarn global upgrade — upgrade globally installed Yarn packages
9. pipx upgrade-all — upgrade all pipx-managed Python applications
10. uv tool upgrade --all — upgrade tools installed via uv
11. rustup update — update installed Rust toolchains
12. cargo install-update -a — update all cargo-installed binaries (requires the cargo-update crate)
13. composer global update — update globally installed Composer packages
14. gh extension upgrade --all — upgrade installed GitHub CLI extensions
15. code --update-extensions — update installed VS Code extensions
16. cursor --update-extensions — update installed Cursor extensions
17. tldr --update — refresh the cached tldr pages
18. brew update — refresh the local Homebrew formula and cask index
19. brew upgrade — upgrade outdated Homebrew packages
20. brew cleanup — remove outdated Homebrew downloads and stale versions
21. docker pull for each local image — pull the latest version of every image known to the Docker daemon (skipped when Docker is not installed or the daemon is not running)

Steps that depend on a missing tool are skipped with a warning. Each step prints a clearly labeled header so progress is easy to follow.

Requirements

• macOS with the built-in softwareupdate command
• sudo access for softwareupdate
• All other tools are optional — their steps are skipped when the command is not on PATH:
  • Homebrew for the brew steps
  • mas for mas upgrade
  • mise for mise upgrade
  • Node.js / npm for npm update -g
  • Deno for deno upgrade
  • Bun for bun update -g
  • pnpm for pnpm update -g
  • Yarn for yarn global upgrade
  • pipx for pipx upgrade-all
  • uv for uv tool upgrade --all
  • rustup for rustup update
  • cargo-update for cargo install-update -a
  • Composer for composer global update
  • GitHub CLI for gh extension upgrade --all
  • VS Code for code --update-extensions
  • Cursor for cursor --update-extensions
  • tldr for tldr --update
  • Docker for the Docker image pull step; Docker Desktop itself is updated via the Homebrew cask step above

Usage

From the repository directory:

./companion.sh

The script will prompt for your password when sudo softwareupdate runs.

Installing to your PATH

To run companion from anywhere, install a copy to your local bin directory:

./companion.sh --install

By default this copies the script to ~/.local/bin/companion. If that directory is not already on your PATH, the installer prints the line to add to your shell profile.

Override the destination with the COMPANION_INSTALL_DIR environment variable:

COMPANION_INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin ./companion.sh --install

To remove an installed copy, run:

companion --uninstall

The uninstaller prompts for confirmation before deleting the file. It honours the same COMPANION_INSTALL_DIR override as --install.

Run ./companion.sh --help for a full list of options.

Installing via npm

The repository also ships with a package.json so it can be installed as a global npm package, which exposes companion on your PATH:

npm install -g @seangalie/companion

Or directly from the repository:

npm install -g git+https://code.galie.io/seangalie/companion.git

The package is marked "os": ["darwin"], so npm will refuse to install it on non-macOS systems.

Versioning

See CHANGELOG.md for release history. The project follows Semantic Versioning.