MakePass includes a command-line interface (CLI) on Mac to create and customize Apple Wallet passes, find passes in Wallet, and export them from Terminal, scripts, or AI agents. Command-line automation requires MakePass Ultra.

Get Started

Open “Automate with Command Line…” in the MakePass app. This section includes the tool’s path, your Automation Token, and commands ready to copy into Terminal.

Set your Automation Token and open the command help (these paths assume MakePass is installed in Applications):

export MAKEPASS_AUTOMATION_TOKEN='YOUR_TOKEN'
/Applications/MakePass.app/Contents/MacOS/makepass-cli --help

Replace YOUR_TOKEN with the token shown in the app. Commands require this token to ensure they come from a trusted source; the environment variable supplies it for this Terminal session.

Tip: To run makepass-cli by name, create a symbolic link:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -s /Applications/MakePass.app/Contents/MacOS/makepass-cli /usr/local/bin/makepass-cli

If /usr/local/bin is not in your PATH, add export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH" to your shell profile (~/.zprofile for zsh), then open a new Terminal window and set the token again.

The examples below use makepass-cli. You can always substitute the full path instead of creating the link.

Create a Pass

Create a pass with a QR code and open it in your default pass app:

makepass-cli create-pass --barcode-format qr --barcode-payload 123456 --header-title Example --open

Create a boarding pass with custom fields:

makepass-cli create-pass --pass-style boarding-pass --transit-type air --barcode-payload 123456 --front-fields From:BCN To:VGO --open

Use makepass-cli create-pass --help for all the options, including images, colors, dates, and importing an existing pass as a template.

File access: the tool reads and writes files inside its sandbox. For automatic transfers to and from other folders, install the optional helper script using the installation command shown by makepass-cli --help.

To get the generated file’s path as JSON, add --json:

makepass-cli create-pass --barcode-format qr --barcode-payload 123456 --header-title Example --json

The result contains the generated file’s path. For example:

{"path":"/path/to/generated-pass.pkpass"}

--silence returns just that path. Creation and export use this same output format. The default file is temporary; use --output to choose a destination for files you want to keep. Opening a pass does not add it to Wallet automatically.

Find and Export Passes

Find passes containing “Boarding” in their names, descriptions, identifiers, or fields, ignoring capitalization:

makepass-cli list-passes-in-wallet --filter-query Boarding --json

The output is an array of passes exposed by Wallet to MakePass, or [] if nothing matches; it is not a complete inventory of Wallet on another device. Records include id, name, organization, description, pass_type_identifier, and serial_number; relevant_date is included when available.

You can use jq to parse, filter, and transform the JSON output (install jq). For example, keep only the pass identifier, name, and organization:

makepass-cli list-passes-in-wallet --filter-query Boarding --json |
  jq '[.[] | {id, name, organization}]'

Illustrative output (the identifier is a placeholder):

[
  {"id":"PASS_ID", "name":"Boarding Pass", "organization":"Example Airline"}
]

Export a pass using an identifier returned by that command:

makepass-cli export-pass-from-wallet PASS_ID

Export Matching Passes in Batch

This Bash script finds matching passes, exports each one, and prints the resulting file paths. Set the token first; the script requires jq and the file-access helper described above so the tool can write to the selected folder:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

output_directory="$HOME/Downloads/Wallet Exports"
mkdir -p "$output_directory"
passes=$(makepass-cli list-passes-in-wallet --filter-query Boarding --json)

jq -r '.[].id' <<< "$passes" | while IFS= read -r pass_id; do
  makepass-cli export-pass-from-wallet "$pass_id" \
    --output "$output_directory" --json | jq -r '.path'
done

The script prints one exported file path per line. If no passes match, nothing is exported. Existing destination files are replaced. A failed command returns a nonzero exit code and stops the script; completed exports remain. In JSON mode, execution errors go to standard error as {"error":{"message":"…"}}, keeping standard output available for results. Startup and argument errors may use plain text.

Use with AI Agents

An agent with terminal access to your Mac can build a workflow from the same commands. Give it the tool’s path and configure the token in its environment, then ask:

Create one membership pass for each row in this CSV. Use the member number as a QR code, put the name in a front field, and save the passes in a folder on my Desktop.

The agent reads create-pass --help, maps the CSV columns to options such as --barcode-payload and --front-fields, and runs create-pass --json for each row. It collects each returned path and reports any failures. Writing to the Desktop requires the file-access helper above.