Hello, I’m using Raycast and very like it, today I installed official bookmarks extension and it asks for a full disc access to show Safari bookmarks. I’ve already allowed access to my documents and downloads folders, but “full disc access” sounds a bit scarry, I’m not an experienced user and have 0 apps with such access now, so I want to ask, are Raycast developers are trusted enough? Does anyone using Raycast with full disc access?
I trust raycast for the most part. Less so the plug-ins. But, in this case it makes sense. Safari’s bookmarks are neither in your Desktop nor Downloads folder. They’re in ~/Library/Safari which is a protected folder that only a user or Safari can access. Full disk access let’s you bypass that.
4 Likes
Welcome to the MPU community! 
I am no Raycast user, but it does make sense that Raycast needs Full Disk Access to really work. MacPaw has published a well-written article about Full Disk Access:
https://macpaw.com/how-to/full-disk-access-mojave
An app working with and looking for files requesting Full Disk Access does make sense:
From there: for instance, full disk access is needed if Raycast has to look for files on external drives.
After having wiped my Mac Mini a few weeks ago, I am on the fence about all this permissions extravaganza MacOS is confronting us with during recent years. On the one hand, it is good to be aware of the necessities and permissions app do need to work. On the other hand, it can get quite annoying and even get in the way of apps working properly if the user does not understand what a permission actually means.
Regarding this particular extension: @dustinknopoff has explained it well.
EDIT:
Wow, that is amazing. I have just checked: 13 apps have Full Disk Access (one of them Alfred which is “my Raycast”). Don’t be afraid of Full Disk Access. It can make sense to grant that permission for software that is working with files outside of its own perimeters (of course only if it asks for it).
4 Likes
This is the key point for both Raycast plugins and Alfred workflows. While one may trust the ‘parent’ application, one needs to be cognizant that the extensions are from other sources. Thus as with any software you install, make sure it is from a reputable source and you should be fine.
2 Likes
Alfred is the same way — Safari bookmarks (as well as Contacts, etc) are buried in your Library folder, and macOS doesn’t have a way to specifically allow access to them directly.
1 Like
Thanks everyone for the replies, now I’m calm. Oh my God, what a responsive community here!
3 Likes
For this reason, and for many others I bought Little Snitch. This app can block every outgoing network call even at a port level. Plus you can actually see which apps are connecting to which country
Now I can just block network access to apps like Alfred/Raycast and give them permissions.
1 Like