Andy Matthews

I'm running Catalina, and Alfred 4 (build 1118).

When typing "Photoshop" or "Illustrator" into the Alfred input field neither app shows up.

They both show up when using the Spotlight search.

I've checked the Spotlight settings and `/Applications` is indexed, and in fact other apps in that same folder show up just fine.

I've performed the `reload` command in Alfred several times. 

I've also completed the `rebuild macOS metadata` command.

Here's the Photoshop meta data using the Alfred metadata tool.

Quote

/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019/Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app

Internal File Metadata
======================

 Display Name: Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app
    Alt Names: Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app
    File Type: com.apple.application-bundle
     Comments: 
     Keywords: 
    Last Used: 2019-11-03 20:35:32 +0000

Raw mdls File Metadata
======================

_kMDItemDisplayNameWithExtensions      = "Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app"
_kMDItemEngagementData                 = {length = 11, bytes = 0x0900000080d6b5c1410001}
_kMDItemRenderData                     = {length = 13, bytes = 0x0900000080d6b5c14100420101}
kMDItemAlternateNames                  = (
    "Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app"
)
kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier              = "com.adobe.Photoshop"
kMDItemContentCreationDate             = 2019-08-27 12:29:42 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking     = 2019-08-27 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate         = 2019-08-27 12:29:42 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate_Ranking = 2019-08-27 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentType                     = "com.apple.application-bundle"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                 = (
    "com.apple.application-bundle",
    "com.apple.application",
    "public.executable",
    "com.apple.localizable-name-bundle",
    "com.apple.bundle",
    "public.directory",
    "public.item",
    "com.apple.package"
)
kMDItemCopyright                       = "© 1990-2018 Adobe. All rights reserved."
kMDItemDateAdded                       = 2019-08-27 12:31:17 +0000
kMDItemDateAdded_Ranking               = 2019-08-27 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                     = "Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app"
kMDItemDocumentIdentifier              = 0
kMDItemExecutableArchitectures         = (
    "x86_64"
)
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate             = 2019-08-27 12:29:42 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                  = 2019-08-27 12:29:42 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                   = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                   = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                 = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible                     = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden             = 1
kMDItemFSIsStationery                  = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                         = 0
kMDItemFSName                          = "Adobe Photoshop CC 2019.app"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                     = 1
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                  = 0
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                   = 0
kMDItemFSSize                          = 2408405555
kMDItemFSTypeCode                      = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking         = 2019-11-03 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemInterestingDate_RankingRepaired = 1
kMDItemKind                            = "Application"
kMDItemLastUsedDate                    = 2019-11-03 20:35:32 +0000
kMDItemLastUsedDate_Ranking            = 2019-11-03 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemLogicalSize                     = 2408405555
kMDItemPhysicalSize                    = 2428862464
kMDItemUseCount                        = 54
kMDItemUsedDates                       = (
    "2019-08-27 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-08-28 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-01 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-04 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-07 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-09 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-11 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-14 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-16 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-22 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-25 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-26 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-27 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-09-29 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-01 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-02 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-03 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-04 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-13 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-14 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-17 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-19 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-20 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-21 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-24 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-26 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-27 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-28 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-29 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-10-31 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-11-01 05:00:00 +0000",
    "2019-11-03 05:00:00 +0000"
)
kMDItemVersion                         = "20.0.6"

Aha, that was the problem. There were two files being symlinked to the previously mentioned `config` directory (which didn't exist). Surprised Alfred ran at all in fact. V4 is now installed!

I discovered one symlink hiding out in the /Application Support directory:

lrwxr-xr-x    1 andymatthews  Alfred -> /Users/andymatthews/Dropbox/github/config/alfred/Alfred

Edit: Scratch that, turns out it was a dotfiles repo I created many years ago that has since been deleted.

Is there a way to easily identify any other folders which Alfred is looking for that might be symlinks?

Thanks for the kind welcome, and for the offer of assistance, appreciated.

I've done a bit more digging and there's some oddities. I've dug into my use of Mackup and it appears that even though my Alfred backup files were in the Mackup directory, they weren't placed there by Mackup. I probably put them there myself. So I've turned on syncing in Alfred, and set it to back up to the root of my Dropbox folder:

$  ls Dropbox | grep Alfred
Alfred.alfredpreferences

Expecting that this should resolve the issue I then went to install Alfred 4.

1. Double clicked Alfred 4.app
2. Entered my Powerpack license information, clicked Activate Powerpack
3. Click Migrate Data…
   1. Found preferences now shows as ~/Dropbox/Alfred.alfredpreferences
   2. Found Local Data now shows as  ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred 2
   3. A warning is displayed at the bottom:
      1. Due to the significant differences between Alfred 2 & 4, a few settings won't be migrated.
      2. I backed up the settings just in case.
4. I get a few errors of the following types:
   1. “Alfred.alfredpreferences” couldn’t be moved to “Alfred” because either the former doesn't exist, or the folder containing the latter doesn't exist.
   2. “actions.alfdb” couldn’t be moved to “Databases” because either the former doesn't exist, or the folder containing the latter doesn't exist
5. I click macOS permissions
   1. I give access to Accessibility, Contacts, but Full Disk Access is greyed out
6. I click Restart Alfred and receive error (see attached image)
   1. Go to step #5

I'm not sure I mentioned this previously but I'm currently on OS 10.12.6. Does Alfred 4 require a newer OS?

I can't get Alfred 4 to complete the installation process. I've tried a half dozen times now and each time it fails with some variation of the following error.

Quote

“Alfred.alfredpreferences” couldn’t be moved to “Alfred” because either the former doesn't exist, or the folder containing the latter doesn't exist.

I'm currently using Alfred 2.9 (build 446).

I'm trying to install Alfred 4.0.4 (build 1111).

I'm syncing Alfred through Dropbox using the Mackup Python client.

Here's the steps I'm taking.

1. Download and unzip.
2. Drag Alfred 4 into /Applications
3. Double click icon
4. Click "Begin Setup…"
5. I have powerpack, so I include my PP details, click Activate Powerpack, get success page.
6. Click Migrate Data:
   1. Select Copy Preferences
   2. Select Migrate Local Data
   3. Click Begin Migration
7. Receive error.
   1. Note that I get variations on the error whether I select "No Migration", "Copy Preferences", or "Migrate Local Data".
8. On previous attempts I've updated my macOS permissions so allow Alfred to work it's magic.

At this point I can still use Alfred 2, but I'd really like to start using Alfred 4 since I've paid for it, and it's got some nice new features.

Can anyone offer input as to why this might be failing? I'm thinking it's got something to do with the aliasing that Mackup uses, but I'm not sure.