Macos Connectivity Restore

Restores Universal Control and AirDrop settings on a managed Mac by resetting the relevant managed preference files and setting AirDrop discoverability to Contacts Only. Use when the user asks to reopen Link to Mac or iPad, re-enable Universal Control, unlock AirDrop, restore AirDrop receiving, or make these fixes persist after reboot.

Purpose

This skill restores the two settings we previously repaired on this Mac:

1. Universal Control / Link to Mac or iPad
2. AirDrop availability plus AirDrop receiving mode

It is designed for managed Macs where these settings are forced by files under /Library/Managed Preferences.

What This Skill Changes

Root-level managed preferences:

• com.apple.universalcontrol.plist
  • Disable = false
• com.apple.applicationaccess.plist
  • allowUniversalControl = true
  • allowAirDrop = true
• com.apple.NetworkBrowser.plist
  • DisableAirDrop = false

User-level preferences:

• com.apple.sharingd
  • DiscoverableMode = "Contacts Only"
• com.apple.NetworkBrowser
  • DisableAirDrop = false

Scripts

• scripts/restore-root.sh
  • Run as root. Fixes the managed preference files under /Library/Managed Preferences.
• scripts/restore-user.sh
  • Run as the logged-in user. Sets AirDrop receiving mode to Contacts Only.
• scripts/install-startup.sh
  • Installs a LaunchDaemon and LaunchAgent so these settings are restored automatically after reboot/login.

Default Workflow

When the user asks to reapply these settings:

1. Run scripts/restore-root.sh <username> with admin privileges.
2. Run scripts/restore-user.sh.
3. Read back the values to verify:
   • allowUniversalControl = 1
   • allowAirDrop = 1
   • DisableAirDrop = 0
   • DiscoverableMode = "Contacts Only"

Persist Across Reboots

When the user asks to make the change stick after every reboot:

1. Ensure this skill has been installed to a stable path under ~/.claude/skills/macos-connectivity-restore.
2. Run scripts/install-startup.sh.
3. Confirm these startup items exist:
   • /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.joseph.macos-connectivity-restore.root.plist
   • ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.joseph.macos-connectivity-restore.user.plist

Verification Commands

bash

defaults read '/Library/Managed Preferences/com.apple.applicationaccess.plist' 2>/dev/null | rg 'allowAirDrop|allowUniversalControl'
defaults read '/Library/Managed Preferences/com.apple.NetworkBrowser.plist' 2>/dev/null
defaults read com.apple.sharingd 2>/dev/null | rg 'DiscoverableMode'