Release new version

[MikeMcQuaid]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
#496 was merged but no stable release contains the fix for mas outdated so tools like brew bundle still cannot rely on the output.

Describe the solution you'd like
A new mas release.

Describe alternatives you've considered
Wait patiently.

Additional context
See Homebrew/homebrew-bundle#1308 for the homebrew-bundle PR blocked on a new release.

Thanks for the great work on this project, I personally rely on it and love it! ❤️

[wzzrd]

So ehm, I can't write a single line of Swift or Objective C, but if there's anything I can do to push this forward, I would be more than happy to. It seems the release PR is hanging on some jobs not having run, is it understood why that's not happening?

[rgoldberg]

The project lead, @phatblat, has been sporadically working on betas for 1.8.7.

1.8.7 includes some fixes for mas itself, plus many updates to the build, testing, GitHub actions / workflows, and release scripts.

I'm now triaging & deduplicating existing PRs & issues, and I'm starting to work on some bug fixes.

Hopefully, @phatblat will return soon to finish 1.8.7, review & merge additional bug fixes, document all the release & admin procedures, prioritize outstanding issues, and decide amongst solutions for various issues.

Someone will update when people have gotten in touch & we all know more about the current & future status of mas.

[ylluminate]

It would be very nice to see a beta release of mas on Homebrew vs having to install --head. Beta fixes a number of important issues.

[rgoldberg]

I think that getting a stable release out should be almost as easy as getting a beta release out. The build scripts, release scripts, etc., just need to be finished, reviewed & merged.

[MikeMcQuaid]

Sounds great! Note that Homebrew will only update to a stable release, not a beta one, in case that affects anything.

[juanlazarde]

Hello, unsure where to post this. I’ve installed the latest beta version of mas-cli using:

curl -L -o mas.pkg https://github.com/mas-cli/mas/releases/download/v1.8.7-beta.35/mas.pkg
sudo installer -pkg mas.pkg -target /

After installation, the mas version confirms as 1.8.7-beta.35.

But, when I run mas outdated or mas upgrade, I get Error: Search failed. Yet, I can install new packages (e.g., mas install <some package>).

Version 1.8.6 was working fine, except I couldn't upgrade certain apps like "Canva" and "CapCut," which showed as outdated but didn't update, over and over, hence the update to a beta.

Could you please guide me on the proper installation method and troubleshooting steps for these issues? Thank you!

[rgoldberg]

@juanlazarde

Thanks for the heads up about this issue.

You should use the code from the main branch in this mas GitHub repo instead of any of the betas, because the code in main has many improvements that are not in the betas. (see the last section of this comment to learn about this)

2 options to use main branch from GitHub

Option 1: Homebrew

If you use Homebrew, you can install what is in main via the following command line:

brew install --HEAD mas

That will build mas from GitHub main instead of installing pre-built binaries. Building main requires Xcode >= 13.3 & macOS >= 12.

Option 2: Manual build of clone of mas GitHub repo

Using Homebrew (Option 1) would be much simpler than this Option 2.

Homebrew is also very handy in everyday usage, having nothing to do with helping you install main mas. You probably should look into using Homebrew if you aren't using it already.

If you can't/won't use Homebrew, you can clone the repo & build manually.

I think the procedure for setting up a new clone of the repo (after the repo has been cloned; all commands run in the root of the repo) then building the executable is:

$ ./script/bootstrap
$ ./script/build
# I haven't run the following script
$ ./script/install

The install script above should put the newly built mas in your path, but I haven't used it as I prefer using built executables from inside the repo since I'm rebuilding frequently. If you want to use mas builds from your repo, you can run:

/path/to/mas/repo/clone/.build/release/mas

Obviously, replace /path/to/mas/repo/clone in the above with the correct path to your clone of the mas repo.

Notes about beta vs. main

I'm working on the main branch in GitHub; @phatblat is working on the betas. If I can confirm the problem in the newest beta & fix it easily, I'll let @phatblat know.

None of the betas are as good as what is in main, because main has many fixes that haven't been rebased into the betas. @phatblat probably should rebase the beta on main. I'll see if that is easy, then let him know.

[rgoldberg]

I'll provide more troubleshooting steps if the problem exists for you in main, but here is useful info for you to report if the problem occurs for you in main:

• macOS version
• Xcode version
• Mac model & architecture
• shell & version
• what apps are reported as outdated in the Mac App Store
• output of mas list

Not all of the above are strictly necessary, but since GitHub communication is asynchronous, having a dump of too much info is more helpful than too little.

mas outdated works fine for me from main. I'm not upgrading anything now to facilitate testing, but, last I tried, that worked in then-current main, too.

[rgoldberg]

@juanlazarde Also, normally it's best to open a bug report issue rather than jumping into an existing issue, unless the issue is exactly the same, but this isn't. I don't want to force you to make a new issue, but if this isn't resolved quickly, it would be helpful to have a separate issue.

[rgoldberg]

@juanlazarde mas outdated from the executable installed from the 1.8.7 beta 35 mas.pkg that you downloaded worked fine for me.

I installed it by double clicking on mas.pkg instead of running sudo (I didn't want to mess with what user owns the executable).

The executable compiled from the v1.8.7-beta.35 branch also worked for me. So there's something wrong with it and your system, not just in general.

Do you use the App Store for a country other than the US?

[rgoldberg]

1.8.7 was released.

It is available via Homebrew & via GitHub Releases.

It is not currently available via MacPorts.

[MikeMcQuaid]

Thanks @rgoldberg and @phatblat for all the hard work here!

@phatblat should #506 be merged considering this? I'm subscribed to that thread and found it a little confusing that it hasn't been.