# Install Cloak Watch

> Install Cloak Watch on your Mac, walk through the four-step welcome, choose your code folders, run the first scan and pick which optional permissions to grant.

Source: https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/install/

Cloak Watch is a single Mac app. You install it, tell it where your code lives, and its first scan takes stock of the Mac in under a minute. Every other permission is optional and asked for only when you choose the feature that needs it.

## Check the requirements

| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| macOS | macOS 14 Sonoma or later |
| Processor | Apple silicon or Intel. The download is a universal app that runs natively on both. |
| Location | The Applications folder. Watch's network extension (AI traffic) only works from there. |
| Account | None. Cloak Watch is free, with no sign-in. See [Plans and pricing](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/plans/). |

## Download and install

Cloak Watch is signed with Subcloak's Developer ID and notarized by Apple. It's distributed outside the Mac App Store.

1. Go to [subcloak.com/apps/cloak-watch](https://subcloak.com/apps/cloak-watch) and click **Download for Mac**. `Cloak-Watch.dmg` downloads.

2. Open `Cloak-Watch.dmg` and drag **Cloak Watch** into your **Applications** folder.

3. Eject the disk image, then open Cloak Watch from Applications. Its welcome window opens.

### Install with Homebrew

If you use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh), install the same app from Subcloak's tap:

```bash title="Terminal"
brew install --cask subcloak/tap/cloak-watch
```

Update it with `brew upgrade --cask cloak-watch`, or from the app itself (see [Update Cloak Watch](#update-cloak-watch)).

## Walk through the welcome

The welcome window has four steps, shown along its top: **Welcome**, **Your code**, **First scan** and **Result**. You can run it again later from **Watch › Show Welcome…**.

1. **Welcome.** Watch explains its three promises: it checks everything you've installed, everything stays on this Mac, and it never deletes, only quarantines. Click **Get Started**.

   *[Screenshot: The Welcome to Cloak Watch window with three promises: checks everything you've installed, everything stays on this Mac, never deletes, only quarantines, and a Get Started button]*

2. **Your code.** Watch looks for the folders where you keep projects, using the projects Claude Code, your editors (VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, JetBrains IDEs) and Git have seen. It only reads. Turn folders on or off, expand one to see its projects, or click **Add Folder…**. Then click **Start Scan**.

   - If projects live in **Documents** or **Desktop**, Watch says so and offers **Allow Access…**. macOS asks once before any app can read those folders; Watch only reads project files there.
   - Under **Always checked, wherever they are**, Watch lists what it reads outside your code folders: download caches, editors, AI tools, browsers and startup items.

   *[Screenshot: The Your code step: ~/code with 31 projects, ~/Developer with 19 projects and Your home folder with 2 projects, each with a switch, an Add Folder button, and a row of things always checked: download caches, editors, AI tools, browsers and startup items]*

3. **First scan.** Watch takes stock of the Mac, reading files only. Counters show packages, editor extensions, browser extensions, MCP servers, agent skills and startup items as it goes. It takes 5 to 30 seconds on most Macs. Click **Continue** when it's done.

4. **Result.** Either **Your Mac is clear**, with a line saying what Watch checked, or **Watch found N things to fix**. Watch also asks whether you want a heads-up if something new shows up: click **Turn On** to allow notifications. **Opens when you log in** is on, so Watch keeps checking after a restart; turn the switch off if you'd rather open it yourself. Then click **Open Cloak Watch**, or, when something needs fixing, **Later** or **Fix It** / **Fix All** (see [Fix it](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/inbox/#fix-it-and-fix-all)).

   *[Screenshot: The Result step: Your Mac is clear, a summary of what Watch checked, and a prompt to turn on notifications]*

The first scan also records a **starting point**. Unusual things that are only worth a look or good to know, such as an old launch agent or a broad agent permission, stay quiet if they were already on your Mac; Watch tells you about changes from then on. Anything that needs fixing now always alerts, on day one too, and so does every feed match. You can see and reset the starting point in [Settings › Advanced](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/settings/#advanced).

## Choose optional permissions

Watch works fully with access to your code folders. Each other permission adds something you can see. **Settings › Permissions** lists them with their state (**On**, **Off**, **Optional** or **Waiting for Apple**) and a button that opens the right place.

| Permission | What it adds | How to grant it |
|---|---|---|
| **Code folders** | Reads lockfiles, `node_modules` and virtual environments in the folders you chose. | The welcome window, or [Settings › General](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/settings/#general). Folders in Documents or Desktop make macOS ask once. |
| **Notifications** | Tells you when something needs fixing, plus at most one reminder a day for things worth a look. | **Turn On** at the end of the welcome, or **Turn On in System Settings…** (macOS asks only once). |
| **Full Disk Access** | Fills two gaps: Safari's extensions, and launch items in protected folders. Everything else works without it. | **Open Full Disk Access**, then turn on Cloak Watch in **System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access**. |
| **Watch AI traffic** | A network extension that sees which apps and agents talk to AI providers, and how much. It never decrypts. | See [Network extension](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/ai-activity/network-extension/). |
| **Connect Claude Code** | Claude Code's prompts, tool calls and config changes, and Guard rules that can stop them. | **Preview Change…** shows the exact change to `~/.claude/settings.json` before anything is written. See [Connect your AI tools](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/ai-activity/connections/). |
| **Endpoint Security monitoring** | Would catch short-lived processes. | Not available: it needs an entitlement from Apple that Subcloak has requested. Watch works fully without it. |

Home's **Get more from Watch** line offers the two AI extras, **See what AI tools send** and **Connect Claude Code**. Each opens a sheet that says what it adds, what it never does and what macOS will ask, with **Not Now** and **Set Up…**.

*[Screenshot: The See what AI tools send sheet: what it adds, what it never does, what macOS will ask, and Not Now and Set Up buttons. Each optional extra explains itself before anything is set up.]*

## What runs after setup

- Watch opens at login, quietly in the menu bar, unless you turned that off. Change it with **Open at login** in [Settings › General](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/settings/#general). If macOS needs you to allow it, Watch says so and offers **Open Login Items**.
- Closing the window keeps Watch running in the menu bar. Quit it from the menu bar or with <kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>Q</kbd>.
- Watch downloads the feed when it starts, then checks it every 15 minutes (every 5 minutes with the paid live feed, and every minute while the Feed tab is on screen). When the feed adds detections, Watch matches what's already on your Mac against them at once, without scanning the disk again.
- **It watches for changes as they happen.** Watch checks a project within seconds of an install or a change to its settings, so a known-bad install gets a Fix now incident in about a second. See [How Watch keeps checking](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/security-and-faq/#how-watch-keeps-checking).
- **It runs a full scan** at launch if the last scan is more than an hour old (otherwise a quiet one about 90 seconds after launch), once a day while the Mac is idle and on power, after waking if the last full scan is more than a day old, when you change exclusions, after a fix, and whenever you click **Scan Now** (<kbd>⌘</kbd> <kbd>R</kbd>). While you've [paused](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/menu-bar/#pause) Watch, changes and automatic scans wait until the pause ends.

## Update Cloak Watch

Watch checks for a new version at launch and once a day, with a plain request to `download.subcloak.com` that sends nothing about your Mac.

- When an update is out, Home shows **Cloak Watch 1.0.x is available · Download**, the menu bar lists it, and [Settings › About](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/settings/#about) shows **Release Notes** and **Download**. **Download** opens the download page; install the new version over the old one in Applications. Homebrew users can run `brew upgrade --cask cloak-watch`.
- A security fix shows a bar across the main window, **Cloak Watch 1.0.x is a security fix**, and a row in the menu bar until you install it.
- If Subcloak's signed feed says your version is too old to read it, a bar says **Update Cloak Watch** with **Download**. It can't be dismissed, because that version can no longer keep your Mac protected.
- Check by hand with **Cloak Watch › Check for Updates…** or **Check Now** in Settings › About. Turn off **Check for updates automatically** there if you'd rather not.

What's new in each version is in the [release notes](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/release-notes/).

## Uninstall

See [Uninstall Cloak Watch completely](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/troubleshooting/#uninstall-cloak-watch-completely): put back anything you still want from Quarantine, undo the AI tool connections and cooldowns, turn off the network extension, deactivate a license key, then delete the app and its data folder.

## Related

  - [Home, Inbox and incidents](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/inbox/): Read what Watch found and fix it.
  - [Settings](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/settings/): Folders, alerts, permissions and privacy.
  - [Menu bar](https://docs.subcloak.com/cloak-watch/menu-bar/): Status, recent events and quick commands.