Unable to run on mac

[pedrowow]

Sequoia allows install but on opening, it returns "“Novel Engine” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should move it to the Bin." No option appears under Privacy & Security to select 'open anyway'.

[john-paul-ruf]

I don't have a mac developer license. Here is the solution if you don't build from source.

This is the Gatekeeper quarantine attribute blocking an unsigned/unnotarized app. Sequoia tightened this up — there's no "Open Anyway" button anymore for apps that fail signature verification entirely (only for apps that have a developer signature but aren't notarized).

The fix is to strip the quarantine flag from Terminal:

xattr -cr /Applications/Novel\ Engine.app

Or if it's elsewhere:

xattr -cr "/path/to/Novel Engine.app"

The -c clears all extended attributes, -r recurses into the bundle. After that it should launch.

If you get permission denied, prefix with sudo. If xattr -cr alone doesn't do it (sometimes the com.apple.quarantine flag is stubborn on Sequoia), try the more targeted version:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Novel\ Engine.app

Quick sanity check before running — verify the attribute is actually there:

xattr /Applications/Novel\ Engine.app

You should see com.apple.quarantine listed. If you don't see it but still get the "damaged" error, the app bundle's code signature is genuinely broken (incomplete download, corrupted DMG, or ad-hoc signature mismatch), and you'd need to redownload or rebuild rather than work around Gatekeeper.

Since this is an unsigned Electron app, the long-term fix is signing with a Developer ID cert and notarizing through notarytool. Otherwise every user hits this same wall on Sequoia.