How to uninstall WorkBuddy on Mac

WorkBuddy is Tencent's AI office agent. Almost everything it keeps on your Mac sits in ~/.workbuddy (701 MB in this test): your conversations and scheduled automations in a local database, the agent's memory files, plugins, logs, and its own copies of Node and Python. Files it produces for you go into a visible ~/WorkBuddy folder, which WorkBuddy's FAQ calls the place to look for earlier task output. Removing the app leaves both, so copy out any document you want before deleting them. It also installs a Python for the command-line tool uv, outside its own folders; the last part of this guide explains how to decide about that. This guide covers WorkBuddy downloaded from workbuddy.cn, whose bundle ID is com.tencent.workbuddy.mac (older builds used com.workbuddy.workbuddy), and the Homebrew cask workbuddy-cn. The international WorkBuddy AI keeps its data in ~/.workbuddy-ai and was not tested.

Before you quit

1. Open WorkBuddy's automation list. Scheduled tasks can push results to WeChat or a WeCom bot. In this test no background job was left after quitting; that observation does not establish how other versions or cloud tasks run. If you plan to reinstall and keep ~/.workbuddy, delete the tasks you no longer want so they do not start again.
2. Copy anything you want from ~/WorkBuddy to another folder.
3. Uninstalling does not delete your WorkBuddy account. WorkBuddy's account cancellation page describes deletion from the account settings in the desktop app or on the web; it needs phone verification, is refused while a paid plan or auto-renewal is active, and becomes final after a 15-day cooling-off period.

Quit WorkBuddy and remove the app

1. Quit WorkBuddy with Command-Q. It ran about 20 processes in this test, including a Node plugin process and a sandbox process. In Activity Monitor the main process may show as Electron; wait until WorkBuddy's processes have exited.
2. WorkBuddy added no login item, launch agent or launch daemon in this test. If System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions still shows a WorkBuddy entry, turn it off.
3. Open the Applications folder in Finder and move WorkBuddy to the Trash.

Where WorkBuddy keeps its files

In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and check each location. Skip the ones that do not exist.

The ~/WorkBuddy folder is described in WorkBuddy's FAQ. The other paths come from the Homebrew cask's zap list and this test; WorkBuddy's documentation does not describe them.

The Python WorkBuddy installed for uv

On first use WorkBuddy set up a Python 3.12 through uv, the Python package manager from Astral, in the same places uv uses when you run it yourself:

• ~/.local/share/uv/python: the Python installation (127 MB in this test).
• ~/.local/bin/python3.12: a link to it. ~/.local/bin is usually on your PATH, so from then on python3.12 in Terminal runs this copy.
• ~/.cache/uv: uv's download cache (48 MB), which every project using uv shares.
• ~/.config/uv/uv-receipt.json: the record uv's own installer keeps.

These locations belong to your toolchain, not to WorkBuddy, and Mole does not list them. Check them before removing anything:

ls -l ~/.local/bin/python3.12
ls -lt ~/.local/share/uv/python
command -v uv

• ls -l shows where python3.12 points. A path inside ~/.local/share/uv/python means it is uv's Python; "No such file or directory" means nothing is installed there.
• ls -lt lists each installed Python with its date. A single entry dated the day you first used WorkBuddy is most likely the one WorkBuddy installed. Entries from other dates, or projects of yours with a .venv built on Python 3.12, mean you or another tool use it, so keep it.
• command -v uv printing a path means uv is installed. Then uv python list --only-installed shows the managed versions and uv python uninstall 3.12 removes the 3.12 one; run ls -l ~/.local/bin/python3.12 again afterwards, and if a broken link is left, delete that link in Finder. No output means this shell cannot find uv on its PATH; it may still be installed elsewhere. After checking that possibility and confirming this Python was used only by WorkBuddy, move its folder under ~/.local/share/uv/python and the python3.12 link to the Trash in Finder.

Leave ~/.cache/uv alone unless you know no other project uses uv; uv cache clean empties it for every project. The uv commands are described in uv's Python versions guide.

Check the result

pgrep -lf WorkBuddy.app
ls -d /Applications/WorkBuddy.app
ls -d ~/.workbuddy ~/WorkBuddy ~/.workbuddy-key-fallback ~/.venv-html-to-docx

• No output from pgrep means no WorkBuddy process is running. WorkBuddy's main process is named Electron rather than WorkBuddy, which is why the command matches the app's path instead of its name. A listed line means a WorkBuddy process is still running; quit WorkBuddy again before deleting more.
• ls -d /Applications/WorkBuddy.app printing the path means the app is still there.
• The last command prints each folder that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest. A surviving ~/.workbuddy is expected if you chose to keep your history.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The workbuddy-cn cask quits WorkBuddy when it uninstalls. Its zap list trashes ~/.workbuddy with your conversations and automations, ~/Library/Application Support/com.tencent.workbuddy.mac, ~/Library/Application Support/WorkBuddy, the cache, web storage, WebKit data, the preferences file and WorkBuddy's entry in the recent-documents list. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap workbuddy-cn yourself moves them to the Trash whatever you ticked in Mole. It does not include ~/WorkBuddy, ~/.venv-html-to-docx or the uv Python. Homebrew WorkBuddy cask

To keep ~/.workbuddy, remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask workbuddy-cn

Mole never adds --zap for this cask, because ~/.workbuddy sits outside ~/Library. It removes the app and the rows you selected instead.

What Mole lists

When you remove WorkBuddy with Mole, whether its bundle ID is com.tencent.workbuddy.mac or the older com.workbuddy.workbuddy:

• The preferences file, cache, web storage, WebKit data, Application Support/com.tencent.workbuddy.mac, the WeChat share extension's container and scripts folder, the recent-documents entry and temporary caches are selected by default.
• ~/Library/Application Support/WorkBuddy, ~/.workbuddy, ~/.workbuddy-key-fallback, ~/.venv-html-to-docx and ~/WorkBuddy are listed for review. With Default remove app data off they start unchecked; with it on, eligible rows can start checked. Copy wanted output and back up conversations before removal, or uncheck those data rows.
• ~/.codebuddy is listed for review only when CodeBuddy CN is not installed. It can start checked with Default remove app data on; uncheck it if the CodeBuddy command-line tool still uses it or you want its configuration.
• The uv Python in ~/.local/share/uv/python, the ~/.local/bin/python3.12 link, ~/.cache/uv and ~/.config/uv are not listed.

What this test covered

WorkBuddy 5.6.2 was downloaded from workbuddy.cn, signed in on September 28, 2026, and every feature was tried once, including one scheduled automation. It was quit and removed on September 29 with a development build of Mole, in a run with other AI apps. Before removal Mole's Status page showed it as one row of 20 processes using 1.84 GB of memory; it added no login item or launch agent. With every row ticked, the app, ~/.workbuddy, ~/.workbuddy-key-fallback, ~/.venv-html-to-docx and ~/WorkBuddy went to the Trash. ~/.codebuddy was not listed at the time; it is listed now as described above. The uv Python stayed. Earlier checks removed version 5.1.2, which used the bundle ID com.workbuddy.workbuddy, and version 5.6.2 on September 25, 2026. Signing out, the Homebrew cask, account cancellation, and whether conversations deleted inside WorkBuddy also leave its database were not tested.