Print File Manager

A local macOS library manager for large collections of .3mf 3D-printing files: it indexes, searches, tags and organizes them.

For Finder previews and thumbnails, install 3MF Quick Look alongside it. It used to ship from this repository and is now its own app, because wanting .3mf previews in Finder should not require a library manager.

Everything runs locally. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you explicitly turn it on.

Repository layout

Path	What it is
printfilemanager/	The Print File Manager app — indexing, search, tagging, previews, Auto Sort
docs/	Product requirements and dated review documents
scripts/	Local CI and the checks that run before a release is tagged

3MF parsing and preview extraction come from ThreeMFKit, pinned by exact version because this bundle is notarized and its inputs must be reproducible.

Installing

Download the latest signed build from Releases and drag it to /Applications. It is notarized, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning. To confirm before opening:

spctl -a -vvv --type exec /Applications/PrintFileManager.app
# PrintFileManager.app: accepted
# source=Notarized Developer ID

For Finder previews and thumbnails, install 3MF Quick Look as well. It is a separate app and independent of this one.

Requirements

• macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel
• Xcode 26 or later (Swift 6 language mode)
• XcodeGen — brew install xcodegen

Each project's .xcodeproj is generated from its project.yml and is also committed. After changing project.yml, regenerate and commit the result:

cd printfilemanager && xcodegen generate

Build and test

CI runs on every push and pull request. scripts/ci-local.sh runs the same pipeline locally, plus the two release checks that CI cannot perform, so a change can be validated before it is pushed:

scripts/ci-local.sh            # lint, tests, broker profile check, conformance record

Or run the steps individually:

xcodebuild -project printfilemanager/PrintFileManager.xcodeproj \
           -scheme PrintFileManager -destination 'platform=macOS' test

Privacy

Both network features are off by default and are enabled independently in Settings:

• AI enrichment — sends the file name, its folder path, extracted metadata and, optionally, the preview image to an endpoint you configure. Any http or https endpoint works, including a server on your own network. API keys are stored in the Keychain, never in preferences.
• Web source lookup — sends the project or file name to a web search engine and fetches the matching page from MakerWorld, Printables, Thingiverse or Cults.

The full .3mf file is never uploaded.

If your library looks empty after an update

Nothing is deleted. Versions before 0.2.2 stored the library outside the App Sandbox, and enabling the sandbox changed where the app reads. 0.2.2 and later adopt the old library automatically on first launch and tell you they did.

If you are on an older build, the data is at ~/Library/Application Support/Print File Manager, and the app now reads ~/Library/Containers/com.printfilemanager.PrintFileManager/Data/Library/Application Support/Print File Manager.

Scanned folders need to be re-authorised afterwards, because macOS folder permissions are not part of the index. A folder the app cannot read shows Grant Access… in the sidebar; the panel opens at that folder, so confirming it is enough. Until then its files are listed as missing even though they are untouched on disk.

What is stored, and for how long

The app keeps a library index and a preview store, both under ~/Library/Application Support, and API keys in the Keychain. Their exact paths are shown in Settings → Your Data.

Nothing is stored anywhere else, and nothing expires on its own — there is no retention period because there is no server to retain anything on. Data lives until you remove it:

• Removing a scanned folder drops everything indexed from it.
• Settings → Your Data → Delete All Data removes the index and every stored preview. Your own model files are not touched.
• Export Library writes the whole index as plain JSON first, if you want a copy.

Safety model

The original files are treated as valuable source artifacts:

• Auto Sort defaults to Copy; Move is a separate, explicit action.
• Every move, copy and rename is shown in a review sheet before anything touches the disk.
• Deletes go to the Trash, behind a confirmation.
• Destination paths proposed by an AI model are sanitized before use.
• Every batch produces a result report and can be undone with Cmd-Z: moves go back, copies are removed from the managed library, and originals are never deleted.
• If the library index cannot be read, it is preserved under a .corrupt-<timestamp> name and writes are blocked rather than overwriting it.
• The app runs in the App Sandbox. It can only reach folders you explicitly choose, and it keeps that access across launches with security-scoped bookmarks.

Rolling back

Every release is a signed, notarized artifact that installs by drag-and-drop, so rolling back is downloading an older one. Nothing in the app requires a matching version on disk.

1. Quit Print File Manager.

2. Download the previous release from Releases and replace the copy in /Applications.

3. Confirm what you installed before opening it:

   spctl -a -vvv --type exec /Applications/PrintFileManager.app
   /Applications/PrintFileManager.app/Contents/MacOS/PrintFileManager --version 2>/dev/null \
     || defaults read /Applications/PrintFileManager.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString

4. If you also use 3MF Quick Look, it versions and rolls back independently of this app.

The library index is versioned and migrated forward on load. A newer version may therefore write an index an older version will refuse to read — it quarantines it as *.corrupt-<timestamp>.json and blocks writes rather than damaging it. If you plan to move between versions, export the library first from Settings → Your Data → Export Library; that JSON is plain and readable independently of the app.

Compatibility before 1.0

While the version is below 1.0 the interface is not stable, and minor releases may change behaviour. Two guarantees hold regardless:

• Your files are never the migration. The app changes only its own index and preview store. Model files on disk are moved or copied solely through an action you confirm in a review sheet.
• The index migrates forward, never destructively. A readable older index is upgraded on load. An index that cannot be read is preserved under a .corrupt-<timestamp> name and writes are blocked, so a failed migration is recoverable rather than final.

From 1.0 onward, breaking changes to the index schema or to documented behaviour will require a major version.

Support status

Actively developed by a single maintainer as a personal project. Issues and pull requests are welcome but carry no response commitment. See SECURITY.md for reporting vulnerabilities privately.

Repository stats

Project conventions

The user-facing language is English and the app is English-only; there are no string catalogs and no planned localization. Repository and contributor surfaces are English too.

Contributions, ownership and the validation commands are described in CONTRIBUTING.md. Automated agents should read AGENTS.md first. Security reporting and the threat model are in SECURITY.md.

This repository is assessed against the trsdn Repository Quality Standard; the current result is Healthy — 78 pass, 0 partial, 0 fail, 6 not applicable — with the evidence in docs/self-assessment.md.

Documentation

• CHANGELOG.md — user-facing and operational changes
• docs/self-assessment.md — conformance evidence against the repository standard
• docs/enrichment-benchmark.md — measured comparison of the AI enrichment prompt and models
• docs/prd-3mf-library-manager.md — library manager requirements
• docs/app-review-2026-05-03-print-file-manager.md — earlier product review
• docs/assessment-2026-08-28-multi-agent.md — current technical assessment and roadmap

License

MIT — see LICENSE.