StowFeature parity: ArcZip → Stow
2026-11-06 follow-up: the user approved the ArcZip 1.1.5–1.2.2 assessment.
The roadmap follow-up tracks the first functional
wave and evidence limits. Zstd-in-7Z decoding (#316) now has a dedicated minimal official-source decoder-registration
implementation under review: exact-byte preview/extraction, encrypted/split, Delta, solid/multi-file
and corruption/cancellation tests are separate from standalone Zstd/TAR.ZST support. See the
decoder handoff for the 512 MiB per-window bound and release limits.
Physical FSKit exFAT publication (#317) now uses an exclusive-copy compatibility path when
RENAME_EXCL is unsupported. Sandboxed physical-volume acceptance covers extraction, metadata,
conflicts, cancellation/recovery, APFS-owned Tray export and split archive creation. Copy output
is temporarily visible; unknown filesystems and unrepresentable metadata fail safely. See the
repair and acceptance evidence. The earlier
image-mount limitation and #341 capacity diagnosis are historical. Older checkmarks remain scoped to stated evidence.
Goal: everything ArcZip does, done at least as well, plus what it doesn't do. Stow is open source
and free — there is no Free/Pro split, so every row below ships to everyone.
Sources (2026-10-20): arczip.app pages (features, formats, FAQ, changelog 1.0.0 → 1.1.1) and a
static look at the notarized ArcZip 1.1.1 (222) bundle — its Info.plists, entitlements, extension
points and English UI strings. No code was decompiled or run.
Current native evidence (2026-10-23): the initial comparison,
Pro trial comparison and
remaining native verification distinguish
baseline failures from exact-build fixes. Nested reads/Save, helper extraction, TAR statistics,
split reopening, installation recovery, Save Copy, window identity and search coverage have
additional native acceptance evidence. The Undo follow-up (#149)
repairs #113 beyond the partial #124 merge: native command routing, retained-window activation,
and hidden-view ownership are covered in the undo handoff.
Full Browser AX failure-state recursion (#93) remains open. Direct x86_64 7-Zip execution under Rosetta
also fails (#144). Implementation checkmarks do not override these failures or the report's
hardware, signing, drag and hover limits.
The Pro trial comparison adds actual search,
rename/undo/redo/save, Windows-purpose ZIP creation, encrypted 7Z interoperability and Open File
Flow evidence. It also records ArcZip's split-creation failure and the remaining untested scope.
Status update — 2026-11-02: v0.1.3 (592), release ref ec480387, is published.
Installed notarized-bundle verification passes, and real WeChat drag-in/double-click, RAR
extraction/CRC checks and bounded signed folder-grant behavior have evidence in #212.
#266 (ec0a2e1) subsequently fixes direct document launch, remembers Browser/Glance choice,
and repairs native window/menu crashes; it is merged but not in v0.1.3. It passed 655 tests
and all CI; signed repaired-build acceptance remains open. #160/#162 implementation/design
scope is closed; #161/#104 retain their specific native acceptance work. Dedicated VoiceOver
and Intel/Rosetta remain deferred. ROADMAP.md and #38 carry the current matrix.
Actions extensions and any plugin marketplace are only a demand-driven long-term candidate
(#268), not implemented parity or a 1.0 requirement.
What the bundle shows about ArcZip's architecture
| Piece | ArcZip | Stow |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | Bundled official 7zz + ZIPFoundation |
Bundled official 7zz (pinned, checksum-verified) |
| Parsing process | ArcZipArchiveService.xpc (no sandbox entitlements) |
StowEngine.xpc, sandboxed, gets a read-only file handle, never a path |
| Main app | Not sandboxed; onboarding asks for Full Disk Access | Sandboxed, user-selected files only. Finder actions ask once per folder (security-scoped bookmark, ARCHITECTURE › Sandbox and Finder actions); installs use a one-time folder grant |
| Extensions | Finder Sync (com.apple.FinderSync), Quick Look preview (zip/7z/tar only) |
Both; Quick Look covers all 34 registered types and runs its own sandboxed engine copy |
| Services menu | 5 Finder services | Same set |
| Updates | Sparkle | Sparkle (open-source appcast on GitHub Releases) |
| Licensing | Ed25519-signed licenses, device seats, trial, Keychain | None — open source |
| Languages | English, Simplified Chinese | English, Simplified Chinese at launch (String Catalog) |
| OS | macOS 14+ | macOS 26+ (decision recorded in DEVELOPING) |
Legend: ✅ verified within the stated scope · ❌ confirmed native failure · 🎨 designed, UI only (simulated) · 🧪 remaining acceptance · ⏳ deferred · ⬜ not started · ➕ Stow goes further
1. Opening & browsing
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes / how Stow goes further |
|---|---|---|
| 30+ formats: zip zipx 7z rar cbr tar tgz tbz tbz2 txz gz bz2 xz lzma lz dmg iso cab cpio arj lha lzh xar rpm msi pkg jar apk spk exe(SFX) swf .001 | ✅ via 7zz; 34 types registered (Shared/ArchiveTypes.swift), disk images & installers as Alternate | ➕ add zstd/.tar.zst, .deb, .cbz/.cb7, .epub/.docx “Show Package Contents” |
| Icon, list, column views | ✅ icons, list, columns (⌘1 ⌘2 ⌘3) | Column view shows folders only; a selected file previews in Details beside it (#160) |
| Folder navigation, back/forward history, Up One Level, path bar | ✅ | ⌘[ ⌘] ⌘↑ ⌘↓; going back selects where you came from; the path bar spans nested archives |
| Marquee selection, arrow-key navigation, Shift-extend, scroll-into-view | ✅ | Grid: arrows by row/column, ⇧ extends, ⌘/⇧ click, marquee (⇧/⌘ adds), type-to-select, Return opens, Space Quick Look. No animation on keyboard moves |
| Archive search by name or path, background full-file index with progress | ✅ | Terms match anywhere in the path (“docs/ handoff”), case/accent/width-insensitive, name matches first. Index builds in the background in chunks; the search field reads “Indexing… 12,000 of 40,000” and results grow while you keep browsing. ✅ search across nested archives: one level in, read once into the preview cache, matches listed as “Inner.7z/path”, Show opens the inner archive with the match selected; password-protected inner archives are skipped |
| Nested archives opened in place, depth limit, encrypted nested containers | ✅ | Depth limit 8. Passwords use the shared password sheet through an injectable PasswordHook; without a hook, “needs a password” is reported |
| Archive details / inspector, archive overview | ✅ | ➕ Checkup; Details is always beside the files with real previews and the item's real location; several selected stack real thumbnails |
| Show/hide macOS auxiliary items (__MACOSX, .DS_Store) | ✅ View › Show macOS Helper Items (⌘⇧.) | Hidden by default, dimmed when shown, never extracted |
| Mixed / legacy filename encodings (GBK etc.), garbled-name repair | ✅ | ➕ Raw name bytes come from a second listing under a Latin-1 locale, so nothing is lost; each name is read in the encoding that suits it (mixed archives read right), a banner says how, and Read Names As… previews every encoding live. Extraction renames to the shown names |
| Extension ≠ real format detection; ZIP with prepended/appended data; SFX RAR/7Z | ✅ | Checkup says it in words: “Named .zip, but it’s really 7Z”, “Self-extracting 7Z archive” (stub size, never run), extra data before/after the archive (left out when extracting). ZIPs with unadjusted offsets and large media prefixes use an explicit ZIP search after normal detection fails (#207), consistently for listing, extraction and verification. ZIPs with surrounding bytes are read-only; extract/repack creates an ordinary archive |
| Lazy browsing of huge archives (browse before index finishes) | ✅ | 100,500 entries open in 2.8 s (Release; 7-Zip's own listing is ~0.9 s of that), browse at once while search indexes (0.18 s). Scrolling 100,000 items: grid median 4.0 ms / p95 6.3 ms of main-thread work per step, list median 5.3 ms / p95 8.2 ms (-StowScrollBenchmark). ✅ streaming listing chunks over XPC (#78): first rows before the final reply; cancel stops 7zz. See StreamingListingBenchmark for 100k first-chunk / complete timings (macOS run required) |
| iCloud placeholders: wait for download, cancel | 🧪 (pending verification) | Placeholders (iCloud's not-downloaded status, or a File Provider's dataless file) are asked for, then a card shows the progress iCloud reports (a moving bar when it doesn't) with Cancel; opens when the file is here |
| Open Recent menu, clear history | ✅ (#83) | Welcome and File › Open Recent share real security-scoped bookmark history and Clear; missing/trashed files are hidden, not forgotten. Sample entries only via -StowScene recents → recents.preview(...) for screenshots |
| Read-only preview of DMG/ISO (mount read-only, verify, skip installer extras like the Applications alias) | ✅ through the engine, no mounting (HFS+, APFS, ISO; zlib/LZFSE/LZMA) | ➕ nothing is attached, so nothing to detach or report busy; opens at the volume with the app selected; background art, volume icon and "drag here" shortcuts hidden and left out; checksums checked in the background; encrypted images explained with an Open in Finder way out; unfinished downloads caught |
| Compressed tarballs; documents that are ZIPs | ✅ | ➕ .tar.gz/.tgz/.tar.xz/.tar.bz2/.tar.zst/.tar.lz… browse as the tar inside (two 7zz piped, nothing written to disk), so the inner-.tar fallback no longer shows for them. ➕ “Show Package Contents” on .docx/.xlsx/.pptx/.epub/.pages opens them as the ZIPs they are |
2. Previews
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Space → Quick Look of an entry; arrow keys switch target | ✅ | System Quick Look panel; arrow keys move the browser's selection and the panel follows; several selected page with ← →; ⌘Y too |
| Hover preview after ~1 s (images, PDF, Office, text, Markdown, CSV, code, audio artwork, video frames); toggle in Settings | ✅ content paths · 🧪 hover timing/settings | Real content read from the archive: images (downsampled), PDF/Office/others (Quick Look), Markdown (rendered), CSV (table), code/logs (monospaced, unwrapped), fonts (the real face), audio (artwork, title, length), video (a frame, length). ➕ design target: 450 ms, then immediate warm neighbors; actual pointer timing remains unverified |
| Thumbnails in icon view | ✅ | Quick Look thumbnails, only for tiles on screen, batched into one engine trip; files over 48 MB keep their icon |
| Quick Look extension for archives in Finder | ✅ | ➕ all 34 types, not just zip/7z/tar; one-line Checkup, encryption, sizes; 3 s timeout with fallbacks; Open in Stow. .tar.xz/.tar.gz show the inner .tar until tarballs are unwrapped |
| Encrypted entries: preview after unlock | ✅ | The Browser and Glance expose a lock/password action. Explicit unlock verifies encrypted file data; Space Quick Look and Open can ask and retry directly. Hover never prompts. Previews refresh after a password changes; passwords are shared with extraction and nested levels, with optional Keychain storage |
| Extract to temp & open with default app | ✅ | Open / double-click / ⌘↓. Files land read-only in a per-window cache (512 MB, least recently used first, keyed by archive identity + entry path + date), removed on close and quit, swept at launch |
| Drag out to Finder | ✅ | NSFilePromiseProvider per item; extracted only when dropped, through the usual staging and no-clobber placement, progress in Actions |
3. Extraction
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Extract all / selected / drag-out to Finder | ✅ native all/selected extraction · 🧪 real drag-out | File promises are implemented; reliable native icon/list drag gestures remain in #38 |
| Extract All → folder named after archive | ✅ automatic (one item lands as itself) or always | |
| After Extract All: keep / move archive to Trash / ask | ✅ with “Don’t ask again” | |
| Auto-close window after extract / install | ✅ setting | |
| Same-name folder conflicts: Merge / Keep Both; file Replace | ✅ Merge / Keep Both; Replace / Keep Both / Skip; “do the same for the rest” | ➕ replaced items go to the Trash; stopping undoes everything placed so far; apps are never merged |
| Skip system metadata (__MACOSX, AppleDouble, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, desktop.ini) while keeping dotfiles like .gitignore | ✅ setting, on by default | ➕ Finder tags, comments and other Mac details in AppleDouble are put back on the files, from every format a Mac writes them into (ZIP, 7Z, TAR and compressed TARs), also when extracting one folder |
| Unsafe paths, special files (FIFO, sockets, devices), links | ✅ containment | ➕ explained in Checkup |
| Password archives (incl. RAR), incorrect-password retry, CJK passwords (show-password for IME) | ✅ sheet with retry for opening (encrypted 7z file lists), extracting and nested archives; password kept in memory while the archive is open · ✅ optional Keychain vault (off by default; Settings › Passwords) · 🧪 (pending verification) show-password-by-default setting | ZIP passwords outside ASCII get a warning when packing |
| Batch extraction queue, stacked progress windows | ✅ File › Extract Archives… or drop several; compact progress stack | conflicts and keep/trash asked once per batch |
| Staged writes, cleanup on cancel/failure | ✅ | |
| Integrity check of disk images before browsing | ✅ in the background (browsing doesn’t wait) |
4. Creating archives
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Create ZIP / 7Z / TAR (+gz/bz2/xz/zst) | ✅ | Sandboxed engine; files stream in as an Apple Archive, the archive streams back. ➕ .tar.zst: the bundled 7zz only reads zstd, so 7zz writes the TAR and Stow compresses it with the linked reference zstd (1.5.7, BSD), including volumes and the 7-Zip check |
| Purpose presets: General sharing, Windows, Mac-to-Mac (xattrs), Linux & servers (Unix attrs), smaller archive | ✅ Windows/Mac/Linux/Web | ➕ each audience changes the archive itself: Windows/Web get safe names, NFC, no Finder files, no links; Linux keeps links and modes; Mac keeps tags/xattrs as __MACOSX AppleDouble (ZIP) |
| Compression levels: Store, Fastest, Fast, Balanced, Maximum, Smallest (LZMA2 solid block sizes, store incompressible files) | ✅ More Options | -mx 0/1/3/5/7/9 with 7-Zip's solid-block defaults; ZIP stores incompressible files per entry |
| Each preset remembers its level; default preset & level in Settings | ✅ remembered · 🧪 Settings UI (pending verification) | Last audience is remembered too |
| Windows filename check with editable suggested names | ✅ | ➕ clashes after renaming (incl. case-only) are numbered; edited names are made safe too |
| AES encryption (ZIP), header/filename encryption (7Z), AES-256 disk images (DMG); ZIP passwords ASCII-only warning | ✅ ZIP/7Z · ⏳ DMG (#84) | Password goes to 7-Zip on stdin, never argv. DMG AES packing deferred: sandbox blocks MediaKit attach (#84, following #77) |
| Split volumes, default volume size | ✅ 100 MB / 700 MB / 4 GB · 🧪 default in Settings (pending verification) | Name.7z.001…; Archive Utility can't open split ZIPs |
| Verify integrity after creating | ✅ More Options | Failed test keeps nothing |
| CPU core limit for compression | ✅ PackCPUCores key (0 = all) · 🧪 Settings UI (pending verification) |
|
| Replace / Keep Both when archive exists | ✅ | Replace moves the old archive and its volumes to the Trash |
| Create disk image (DMG) | ✅ Pack › DMG (for Macs) | Default HFS+ via hdiutil makehybrid (no mounting, sandbox-safe), compressed by level (Store → UDRO, Fast → UDZO-1, Balanced → UDZO, Maximum → ULFO, Smallest → ULMO); optional APFS with HFS+ fallback; Applications → /Applications shortcut (#77). Optional Finder window chrome implemented (#85; 🧪 macOS/Finder validation pending): .DS_Store icon positions, solid-color background, best-effort app-derived volume icon, all staged without mounting. Picture backgrounds excluded (Carbon Alias needs a mounted volume; sandbox). No split. ⏳ AES password (#84; sandbox MediaKit) |
| Quick Compress with defaults (Finder) | ✅ Services and Finder menu pack through the create engine (EnginePacker) |
names like Finder (“Report.zip”, “Archive 2.zip”) |
New Archive (⌘N) and Welcome Create open an editable draft; Save uses the shared packing engine.
Welcome drops and Tray Pack retain the quick-pack path. See #293 for workflow and native acceptance.
Progress and result appear in an Actions-style capsule (Stop, Show in Finder).
5. Editing existing archives
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Add, delete, replace, rename items; save; undo/redo | ✅ native ZIP edits/Save/Undo/Redo | Four single-step edits, text undo isolation, full/Glance switching, failed-save retry and exact bytes/CRC/empty folders; #149 completes the #124 repair. Wider editable-format acceptance remains scoped separately |
| Original untouched until save; rollback on failure | ✅ native staged ZIP preservation and Save | Fault injection remains automated; native staged/external-change/cancel paths preserved original hashes |
| Detect archive changed on disk → reload or save a copy | ✅ native watcher / Reload / Save a Copy | New-path sandbox failure fixed and natively verified in #141; source hash and saved contents checked |
| Rename the archive itself (incl. SMB/NAS) | 🧪 File › Rename Archive…; sibling staging for other volumes | pending SMB hand-test |
| Keep browsing position after save | 🧪 | Folder, selection and history; pending macOS verification |
| Read-only formats; extract and repack as ZIP / 7Z | 🧪 | RAR, compressed TAR, split and nested archives; pending macOS verification |
6. Actions (ArcZip “Flow”)
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Install app from archive/DMG to /Applications; replace existing; reveal in Finder | ✅ one-time folder grant (see ARCHITECTURE › Installing) | replace shows both versions, old copy to the Trash; refuses while the app is running |
| Signature & notarization check (unsigned / ad-hoc / unnotarized / unknown) with warnings | ✅ SecStaticCode + requirements | ➕ plain-word verdict in Checkup and Details (“Check Signature” before installing) |
| Optional quarantine-flag removal | ✅ off by default, explained | installed apps keep the archive’s quarantine so Gatekeeper still checks them; if macOS refuses removal, Checkup says so |
| Honour developer “drag to X” DMG layouts | ✅ | APFS images give the target; HFS+ ones only reveal a link named “Applications” |
| Show the DMG author's installer window (background art, app icon, positions, Applications target) | ✅ (#344) | Read from the volume's .DS_Store without mounting; versioned volume names (App-v2.7.1) recognised; drop the app on the target or choose Install App, same checks; unplaced items under the art; List/Columns unchanged. Opens straight onto the layout (no plain-grid flash); apps in any archive show their own icon in every view and Details. 🧪 native drag-to-install hand test pending |
| Install fonts (OTF/TTF/TTC) to user library, replace existing | ✅ native scratch Replace / Skip · 🧪 global activation | Valid TTF bytes and unsupported WOFF2 reporting passed; real user font library remained untouched |
| PKG: prepare safely, hand off to Installer | ✅ native current-user-only original fixture | Apple Installer completed the no-script text package; exact payload and handoff cleanup checked; vendor/admin/signed release matrix remains in #38 |
| After install: keep/trash archive, close window | ✅ | |
| Alternative actions list; customise which actions show; restore suggestions | ✅ the Actions stack and its More menu (⋯); Settings › Actions | like ArcZip's stack, the front action (Install for apps, fonts and packages, otherwise Extract; with nothing selected, Install App when the archive is one app, as in ArcZip) has the others behind it, fanned out by pointing at it or clicking its edges; More lists every step but the front one with the menu bar's icons and keys, hidden ones included; show or hide each step, or Actions itself; Restore Defaults ➕ Pack… for a selection (off by default). Observed in ArcZip 1.1.4: opens at once on hover, folds ~0.5–1 s after leaving, no keyboard or menu path to Install; Stow opens after 140 ms, folds after 450 ms and adds File › Actions (see the brief) |
7. Compact window (ArcZip “Mini”) → Glance
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Opens near the pointer, compact browse/extract | ✅ | clamped to the visible screen; name + size list, Actions, Extract All |
| Pin on top | ✅ | remembered |
| Switch Glance ↔ full window keeping location, selection, history | ✅ | one shared browser; ⌥⌘G |
| Choose Browser or Glance for archive opens | ✅ fixed choice in v0.1.3; ✅ last-used mode on main | #266 adds Last Used Window (initially Browser), fixed Browser/Glance and explicit switch persistence across relaunches. Settings › Glance; signed post-#266 acceptance remains open. |
| Liquid Glass / classic material; colourful window controls option | ✅ | Glass, solid under Reduce Transparency; optional red Close / yellow Pin / green Open in Full Window controls (#86), off by default in Settings › Glance. Replaces the traffic lights and plain pin/expand controls while on |
8. Collecting files (ArcZip “File Box / Shelf”) → Tray
The 2026-11-04 Tray implementation intentionally
replaces ArcZip-style idle dismissal with outside-click/application-switch dismissal
when unpinned. Functional code is local; Claude Code visual/motion review remains pending.
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Menu-bar icon, auto-show on drag, collapse after inactivity (configurable), pin open | 🧪 menu-bar icon (optional), takes files dropped on its icon, and shows when they're held over it for the spring-loading delay — the icon is the only drag target, so passing drags open nothing; no reveal without an icon (mouse-drag monitor + drag pasteboard, no Accessibility permission); goes back when a drag that brought it out ends with no drop; hides on outside clicks/application switches unless Keep Tray Open is enabled | ArcZip’s Box opens when the drag comes near its icon; Stow waits for a hold or a drop on it, which suits laptop screens (#180). Stow protects active drags and related surfaces; its idle setting is retired. |
| Folder browsing, previews, multi-select, drag out | 🧪 browse into folders, Quick Look (Space) and Finder thumbnails, ⌘/⇧ selection, drags every selected item out | |
| Actions: compress, extract, collect into a folder (then rename), share, reveal, send to main window | 🧪 Pack, Extract Here, Collect into a Folder (name asked first), Share, Show in Finder, Send to Main Window, Clear | ➕ Collect copies — the originals stay where they were |
| Border colour setting | 🧪 Settings › Tray | accent, blue, green, pink, purple, graphite |
9. System integration
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Finder context menu (Finder Sync) incl. optional external drives; Repair Finder menu (re-register, restart Finder) | ✅ menu, external-drive setting · 🎨 repair (sandbox: LSRegisterURL/pluginkit refused, so it opens the extension switch and explains relaunching Finder) | Extract Here, Extract To…, Open in Stow, Compress with Stow… |
| Services: Extract Here, Extract To…, Quick Compress, Compress…, Send to app | ✅ (Quick Compress waits on the create engine) | results revealed in Finder; progress on the Dock icon |
| File associations UI: choose formats, set/restore default app, report result | ✅ implemented; user exercised per-type confirmation · 🧪 exact result/restore matrix | Settings › File Types; remembers previous apps, skips types already assigned and reports refusals. User confirmed the macOS confirmation-per-type flow; full selected-format/restore acceptance is not claimed. |
| Launch at login, optional Box-only residency | 🧪 optional Tray residency (#289); login remains opt-in | Last-window/active-work coordination implemented; full native/signed matrix remains #38 |
| URL scheme for extension → app hand-off (one-time requests) | ✅ | ➕ 128-bit one-time tokens, 60 s, no paths in URLs |
| Reading files dropped from other apps (WeChat etc.), scoped source authorization | ✅ real WeChat drag/double-click and bounded signed grant checks · 🧪 remaining matrix | #214/#223 add scoped file/folder selection and retry; #264 provides a non-modal unsaved-bookmark notice. User-performed WeChat drag and double-click opened a real RAR; source and drag-copy hashes matched. Signed folder restart/sibling/removal checks passed; remaining repaired-build, split and entry-point cases stay in #212. |
10. Settings, onboarding, maintenance
| ArcZip | Stow | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General: appearance (light/dark/auto), default view, CPU cores | 🧪 pending verification | |
| Compression defaults, Extraction defaults, Flow, Box, Mini panes | 🧪 built, pending verification | Packing, Extraction, Installing and Actions panes; Glance has its own page and Tray has its own page and master enable switch (#288). #162 is closed; broader native keyboard acceptance remains #38 |
| Password field: show by default (for CJK input) | 🧪 pending verification | |
| Advanced: temp-file usage & cleanup, reset all preferences | 🧪 pending verification | |
| Onboarding: intro, file associations, Finder extension, permissions, interactive Box demo | 🧪 pending verification | |
| Updates: automatic check, install after tasks finish | 🧪 pending verification | Sparkle 2.10 (#35): Check for Updates…, General › Updates (check / download automatically), relaunch held until running tasks finish. Notarized releases through v0.1.3 shipped on GitHub Releases with appcasts; the live update/relaunch hand-test remains (ROADMAP Tests #21) |
| Open-source licence viewer | 🧪 pending verification | |
| Native dialogs, detailed error codes + request IDs for support | ✅ codes + Copy Details | Stable AREA-NNN codes (ERROR-CODES.md) on every failure card, failed capsule and batch row (right-click); Copy Details copies code, what people saw, the error's own words and domain/code chain, Stow and macOS versions and the time. No request IDs: Stow has no server to correlate them with |
Deliberately not copied
- Trials, activation codes, device seats, refunds — Stow is free and open source.
- Full Disk Access as a default ask — Stow stays sandboxed and asks for the narrowest access a flow needs.
Where Stow already goes further
- Contextual archive findings in plain words, with ordinary findings available on demand.
- Pack sentence with a live compatibility report (ArcZip shows a preset picker).
- Engine never sees a path; extraction is streamed and audited twice.
- Warm hover previews (instant once one is open).