Little Snitch CLI
Control Little Snitch network monitor/firewall on macOS.
Setup
Enable CLI access in Little Snitch → Preferences → Security → Allow access via Terminal
Once enabled, the
littlesnitch
command is available in Terminal.
⚠️ Security Warning: The littlesnitch command is very powerful and can potentially be misused by malware. When access is enabled, you must take precautions that untrusted processes cannot gain root privileges.
Reference: https://help.obdev.at/littlesnitch5/adv-commandline
Commands
| Command | Root? | Description |
|---|
--version
| No | Show version |
restrictions
| No | Show license status |
log
| No | Read log messages |
profile
| Yes | Activate/deactivate profiles |
rulegroup
| Yes | Enable/disable rule groups & blocklists |
log-traffic
| Yes | Print traffic log data |
list-preferences
| Yes | List all preferences |
read-preference
| Yes | Read a preference value |
write-preference
| Yes | Write a preference value |
export-model
| Yes | Export data model (backup) |
restore-model
| Yes | Restore from backup |
capture-traffic
| Yes | Capture process traffic |
Examples
View Recent Logs (no root)
littlesnitch log --last 10m --json
Stream Live Logs (no root)
littlesnitch log --stream
Check License Status (no root)
littlesnitch restrictions
Activate Profile (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch profile --activate "Silent Mode"
Deactivate All Profiles (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch profile --deactivate-all
Enable/Disable Rule Group (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch rulegroup --enable "My Rules"
sudo littlesnitch rulegroup --disable "Blocklist"
View Traffic History (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch log-traffic --begin-date "2026-01-25 00:00:00"
Stream Live Traffic (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch log-traffic --stream
Backup Configuration (requires root)
sudo littlesnitch export-model > backup.json
Log Options
| Option | Description |
|---|
--last <time>[m|h|d]
| Show entries from last N minutes/hours/days |
--stream
| Live stream messages |
--json
| Output as JSON |
--predicate <string>
| Filter with predicate |
Notes
- macOS only
- Many commands require
sudo
(root access)
- Profiles: predefined rule sets (e.g., "Silent Mode", "Alert Mode")
- Rule groups: custom rule collections and blocklists
