Binary Won't Run on macOS

Symptoms

• After downloading and attempting to run forge, macOS shows a dialog: "forge" cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.
• Running ./forge or forge in the terminal returns: forge: killed or zsh: killed: forge
• Right-clicking the binary and choosing “Open” shows an option to open anyway, but running from the terminal still fails.

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Cause

macOS Gatekeeper quarantines files downloaded from the internet by setting a com.apple.quarantine extended attribute. Binaries without an Apple-recognized code signature cannot run until the quarantine attribute is removed.

Forge binaries are not notarized with Apple (as of v1.3.0). The binary must be manually cleared of the quarantine flag.

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Step-by-Step Fix

Method 1: Remove the quarantine attribute (recommended)

After downloading forge to your local machine:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/forge

For example, if you downloaded to /usr/local/bin:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/forge

Or if still in your Downloads folder:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/forge
chmod +x ~/Downloads/forge
sudo mv ~/Downloads/forge /usr/local/bin/forge

Verify the attribute is gone:

xattr /usr/local/bin/forge

No output means no extended attributes remain. The binary will now run.

Method 2: System Settings (GUI)

1. Attempt to run forge once — the blocking dialog appears.
2. Open System Settings > Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down to the Security section.
4. Find the message about forge being blocked and click “Allow Anyway”.
5. Run forge again — a second dialog appears asking you to confirm. Click “Open”.

This method only needs to be done once. The override persists.

Method 3: Open dialog at download time

1. In Finder, right-click the downloaded forge binary.
2. Hold the Option key and click “Open”.
3. In the dialog that appears, click “Open”.

This approves the binary for future runs without needing to go through System Settings.

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Verify the Fix

After removing the quarantine attribute:

forge --version

Expected output:

forge 1.3.0

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When to Escalate

If the binary still fails to run after removing the quarantine attribute:

• Check if you are running on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): ensure you downloaded the macos-aarch64 binary, not macos-x86_64.
• Check if your organization uses an MDM policy that blocks unsigned binaries beyond what standard Gatekeeper does.

For the Apple Silicon vs Intel check:

uname -m
# arm64 = Apple Silicon → use forge-macos-aarch64
# x86_64 = Intel → use forge-macos-x86_64

Contact support at support@forge.ironpinelabs.com if the binary still does not run after trying the correct architecture and removing the quarantine attribute.