Files & Paths¶

Everything the installer reads and writes is listed here. No files are created outside these locations without explicit user input.

Path reference¶

Item	Default path	Created by	Removed by
Upstream source clone	`~/Library/Application Support/MLX Training Studio/source`	`install`, `update`	`uninstall` (if user confirms)
Install manifest	`~/Library/Application Support/MLX Training Studio/manifest.json`	`install`, `update`	`uninstall` (always)
Installed app	`/Applications/MLX GUI.app`	`install`, `update`	`uninstall`
Xcode derived data	`<source_dir>/.build/`	`build_app`	Not removed by installer — clear manually to free space
Homebrew shim	`$(brew --prefix)/bin/mlx-training-studio`	Homebrew	`brew uninstall`
Homebrew cellar	`$(brew --prefix)/Cellar/mlx-training-studio/`	Homebrew	`brew uninstall`

All paths can be overridden with environment variables — see Environment Variables.

`~/Library/Application Support/MLX Training Studio/`¶

This directory is the installer's home base. It contains:

~/Library/Application Support/MLX Training Studio/
├── manifest.json          ← installer manifest (written by this installer)
└── source/                ← upstream git clone (stevenatkin/mlx-lm-gui)
    ├── .build/            ← Xcode derived data (large; safe to delete)
    ├── MLX GUI.xcodeproj/
    └── ...

The app itself may also write data to this directory (or a subdirectory) for its own storage of training configs and venv files. The installer only manages manifest.json and source/ — it does not touch anything else inside this directory.

Manifest schema¶

The manifest is a plain JSON file written without requiring jq. Schema:

{
  "installer_version": "0.1.0",
  "installed_at": "2026-04-30T18:42:00Z",
  "upstream_commit": "a3f9c21b84d7e05c1f2843b6d9a0e1f3c5d2e4b8",
  "upstream_remote": "https://github.com/stevenatkin/mlx-lm-gui",
  "app_path": "/Applications/MLX GUI.app",
  "source_path": "/Users/jay/Library/Application Support/MLX Training Studio/source"
}

Field	Type	Description
`installer_version`	string	SemVer of this installer at the time of install/update.
`installed_at`	string	ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of the last install or update.
`upstream_commit`	string	Full commit SHA of the upstream source at install time.
`upstream_remote`	string	The git remote URL that was cloned.
`app_path`	string	Absolute path to the installed `.app` bundle.
`source_path`	string	Absolute path to the upstream source clone directory.

The update command reads source_path and app_path from the manifest to recover the correct install paths even if the user has changed the defaults since the original install.

Xcode derived data¶

Xcode writes build artifacts to <source_dir>/.build/Build/Products/Release/. After a successful install, this directory is no longer needed and can be deleted to recover several gigabytes of disk space:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/MLX\ Training\ Studio/source/.build

The next update or install will recreate it.

Homebrew paths¶

When installed via Homebrew:

# The shim that sets MLX_TS_LIB_DIR
$(brew --prefix)/bin/mlx-training-studio

# The actual script and lib/ directory
$(brew --prefix)/Cellar/mlx-training-studio/<version>/bin/mlx-training-studio
$(brew --prefix)/Cellar/mlx-training-studio/<version>/lib/

The Homebrew formula creates a shim at $(brew --prefix)/bin/mlx-training-studio that sets MLX_TS_LIB_DIR to the cellar's lib/ directory before delegating to the real script. This ensures the CLI finds its libraries regardless of where Homebrew is installed (/opt/homebrew on Apple Silicon, /usr/local on older setups).