How to uninstall SnippetsLab on Mac

Export a complete snippet library before removing SnippetsLab. The current manual uses Library › Export › SnippetsLab Library for a full copy including attachments; JSON, XML or plain-text exports do not preserve the same complete library. This guide covers the Mac App Store app and optional tools you may have added separately.

Back up before removal

Finish editing and stop connected CLI or MCP clients from writing to your library. Export the native library outside every sync root and removal folder and verify the wanted snippets and attachments. If you use iCloud and have another synced Mac, check wanted library state there as well.

The backup manual provides Settings › Advanced › Back Up Now and backup inspection through Browse and Restore › Show Contents. Keep an independent backup outside the default location, which the vendor warns can be lost when the app is deleted. A custom library location is shown in Settings › Sync; keep that library too.

Quit SnippetsLab and its menu-bar Assistant, then copy the recorded local-data folders below if wanted. Keep originals until your backup is usable, and move SnippetsLab.app from Applications to the Trash in Finder after completing any optional tool cleanup below.

Review recorded app data

The test identified ~/Library/Containers/com.renfei.SnippetsLab, ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.renfei.SnippetsLab, ~/Library/Group Containers/346SFNV939.com.renfei.SnippetsLab and ~/Library/Application Scripts/346SFNV939.com.renfei.SnippetsLab. These are local sandbox/group data, not your published GitHub gists. Inspect existing paths with Finder's Go › Go to Folder and remove only unwanted confirmed-owned entries after backups are checked, keeping parents and custom library locations.

Optional CLI and agent integrations

The current tool manual places the bundled lab tool at /Applications/SnippetsLab.app/Contents/Helpers/lab. It leaves with that app copy. If you created /usr/local/bin/lab, inspect its symlink target and remove only a link to the SnippetsLab copy you are removing; another tool such as GitLab can also use that name.

Stop SnippetsLab MCP servers in your clients and remove only their snippetslab server entry, keeping other settings. If removing the separately installed SnippetsLab agent skill, remove only its verified snippetslab folder from the location you used: ~/.agents/skills/snippetslab, ~/.claude/skills/snippetslab, ~/.gemini/skills/snippetslab or ~/.gemini/config/skills/snippetslab. Keep other skills and all conversation archives. These integrations were not exercised in the recorded uninstall.

Check the result

pgrep -ifl SnippetsLab
command -v lab
ls -l /usr/local/bin/lab
ls -ld "$HOME/Library/Containers/com.renfei.SnippetsLab" "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/346SFNV939.com.renfei.SnippetsLab"

No process match means no arguments matched that name. command -v finds a PATH entry, not its owner; no output means none resolves in this shell. Inspect the printed symlink target before removal. Printed data folders remain, expected if retained; missing-path errors mean only those exact entries are absent. Permission or command errors are inconclusive, and these checks do not verify library recovery or every MCP configuration.

What Mole lists

The main container and scripts folder are selected by default, so back up and uncheck wanted data. The app group and its scripts folder require individual review and ownership checks; enabling Remove data and settings with apps does not automatically select shared-group rows. Check the optional launcher and client integrations separately rather than assuming app-data selection removes them.

What this test covered

The Mac App Store SnippetsLab 2.7 was removed on September 21 and retested on September 26, 2026. The later run removed selected main sandbox data but kept the group when exclusive ownership could not be confirmed. Native export/import, populated library recovery, iCloud sync, CLI and agent integrations were not tested.