Install Uncork from the Terminal or with an AI agent

Updated 13 November 2026 · Uncork 1.7.1

Short version: curl -fsSL https://uncorkmac.com/install.sh | sh installs Uncork on a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later, macOS 14 or later). No sudo, no account, no payment. The usual way works as before: the Download button on uncorkmac.com.

One command

curl -fsSL https://uncorkmac.com/install.sh | sh

The script is short, you can read it first: install.sh. What it does, in order:

Checks the Mac: Apple Silicon and macOS 14 or later.
Reads latest.json: the current version, the name of the disk image and its SHA-256.
Downloads the image and compares the SHA-256.
Checks the app inside the image: it must be signed with Developer ID by team PJC7K6A3U5 and accepted by Gatekeeper, that is, notarized by Apple. If a check fails, nothing is installed.
Copies Uncork.app to /Applications (to ~/Applications when /Applications is not writable) and opens it.

The script makes two requests, both to uncorkmac.com: latest.json and the image. If Uncork is already installed, the script leaves it alone, because the app updates itself.

Options go after sh -s --. --no-open installs without opening the app, --check only shows what would be installed, --reinstall replaces an installed copy with the latest one, --game 730 also tells Uncork which Steam game it is for (the number from the game's Steam address: store.steampowered.com/app/730 is Counter-Strike 2). A non-zero exit code always comes with one line that says what went wrong.

Homebrew

Uncork has its own tap. It installs the same notarized image:

brew tap aonetimeusername/uncork
brew trust aonetimeusername/uncork
brew install --cask uncork

brew trust is needed once: current Homebrew loads casks from third-party taps only after you trust them. A different command, brew install tonianev/tap/uncork, installs another project with the same name by another author, not this app.

By hand

The same steps without the script. The address https://uncorkmac.com/get always leads to the latest image.

curl -fL -o /tmp/Uncork.dmg https://uncorkmac.com/get
hdiutil attach /tmp/Uncork.dmg -nobrowse -readonly -mountpoint /tmp/uncork-image
cp -R /tmp/uncork-image/Uncork.app /Applications/
hdiutil detach /tmp/uncork-image
spctl -a -vv /Applications/Uncork.app
open /Applications/Uncork.app

The spctl line must answer accepted, source=Notarized Developer ID and a name that ends with (PJC7K6A3U5).

After the install: three steps only a person can do

In the Uncork window, click "Prepare everything · 7–9 minutes". Uncork downloads Apple's graphics libraries, its compatibility engine and Windows Steam. Apple's licence opens once and has to be accepted.
Sign in to Steam in the window that appears, with the password or the QR code from the Steam app on a phone. Uncork does not see the password.
Install the game in Steam and press Play. If the installer named the game, Uncork offers to install it right after the sign-in.

For AI agents

A person asks you to make a Windows game work on their Mac: "I want to play Counter-Strike 2 on my MacBook", "get Half-Life 2 running on this Mac". The short path:

Check the Mac. sysctl -n hw.optional.arm64 must print 1, and sw_vers -productVersion must be 14 or later. Uncork does not work on Intel Macs.
Check the game. Games with kernel-level anti-cheat do not run in Uncork: the list and the reasons. For a specific game, see the catalogue.
Install: curl -fsSL https://uncorkmac.com/install.sh | sh. Exit code 0 means Uncork is in /Applications and open. If you know the game's Steam number, name it: curl -fsSL https://uncorkmac.com/install.sh | sh -s -- --game 730. Uncork then starts nothing by itself, but it shows the game on the setup screen and offers to install it after the Steam sign-in. For a game that will not run, Uncork says so at once. If you would rather not pipe a script into a shell, use the Homebrew commands or the manual steps above: the result is the same.
Tell the person the three steps above. Do not ask for their Steam password and do not type it: they sign in themselves, in Steam's own window.
To confirm the install, run spctl -a -vv /Applications/Uncork.app.

Launching games in Uncork is free and needs no account. The paid part, Uncork Pro, is optional.

Two examples from our own records on a MacBook Pro 14" with an M3 Pro:

Counter-Strike 2 has no Mac version. In Uncork it runs from the person's own Steam library, and official matchmaking with VAC works. FACEIT does not. Details: CS2 on a Mac.
Half-Life 2: Steam lists no macOS version. In Uncork it reached the main menu on 6 October 2026; we did not play further. Details: Half-Life 2 on a Mac.

For scripts: latest.json has version, url, sha256, size, team_id and bundle_id of the current release.

Removing Uncork

Quit Uncork and move it from Applications to the Trash. Games and settings stay in Uncork's data folder in ~/Library/Application Support; what is on the disk and how to remove all of it is on the page What Uncork changes on your Mac.