How to uninstall claude-devtools on Mac
Keep the Claude Code transcripts you want before removing claude-devtools. Its official project reads existing Claude Code logs from ~/.claude; those are source history, not disposable viewer caches. This guide covers the official Mac desktop app.
Quit and remove the app
Stop using the viewer, quit claude-devtools with Cmd + Q, then move claude-devtools.app to the Trash. Removing the viewer does not require stopping or uninstalling Claude Code.
Review viewer data
After quitting the viewer, open ~/Library/Application Support/claude-devtools, ~/Library/Caches/com.claudecode.context and ~/Library/Preferences/com.claudecode.context.plist with Finder Shift + Command + G. Copy wanted viewer settings outside the support folder, then move only the leaves you no longer need to the Trash. Skip missing paths and keep ~/.claude/projects and other source history.
~/Library/Application Support/claude-devtoolsheld viewer-local data in the test. Copy wanted configuration before reviewing the parent.- Its Electron
Cache,Code Cache,GPUCacheand related cache children are separate rows. ~/Library/Preferences/com.claudecode.context.plistheld viewer preferences. The cask also names~/Library/Caches/com.claudecode.context.- Keep
~/.claude/projectsand other Claude Code history; uninstalling this viewer is not authorization to delete them.
Check the result
pgrep -ifl claude-devtools
ls -ld /Applications/claude-devtools.app "$HOME/Library/Application Support/claude-devtools"
No process output means this name was not found, not that every helper has gone. Check any match against the app’s actual executable path. A missing-path error from ls means only that location is absent; permission errors leave its state unknown. A surviving folder can be intentional data to keep.
If you installed it with Homebrew
The Mac cask has no separate uninstall helper. Zap covers the viewer support parent, exact cache and preferences, not the Claude Code transcript archive.
To uninstall without zap, use:
brew uninstall --cask claude-devtools
Mole checks Homebrew's full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files or anything it cannot verify. It still removes the leftovers you selected. A direct brew uninstall --cask --zap claude-devtools runs Homebrew’s full zap list without consulting Mole’s checkboxes.
What Mole lists
Mole selects the app, exact preferences and attributable Electron caches by default. ~/Library/Application Support/claude-devtools is listed for review: with Default remove app data off it starts unchecked; with it on, eligible own data can start checked. Uncheck it to retain viewer settings. Claude Code archives are not this viewer’s uninstall data. The viewer’s exact recent-document-list file can be selected, while the shared parent directory stays protected.
What this test covered
On September 25, 2026, the official claude-devtools 0.5.0 app was copied from its Mac package and uninstalled with a development build of Mole. No attributed leftovers remained in the recorded window after selected data removal. Populated Claude Code transcript recovery and the published Mole package were not tested.