Local-first principles
Your application inventory stays on your Mac.
VaultDog is built around a simple boundary: inspect local metadata, explain it in plain language, remember changes, and never read connection content or change the system without a clear user decision.
The scan happens locally
Application metadata, package receipts, background items, helpers, and related paths are inspected on the Mac where they already exist.
No inventory cloud
The MVP does not require an account and does not upload a list of installed applications or associated files to a VaultDog service.
Saved scans stay local
Saved app passports, later comparisons, network destinations, and visible-device history live in the user’s Application Support folder on that Mac.
Network content stays private
Network Watch records process, destination address, port, transport, and time. It does not decrypt HTTPS or inspect traffic payloads.
Changes require a decision
VaultDog never silently removes files or disables background items. Optional Privacy protection requires macOS approval and filters new outgoing connections according to your selected rules. Moving an app or selected related files to Trash requires an explicit review and confirmation.
Data is not called junk
App data, settings, rebuildable files, background components, and macOS records are kept separate. Personal data is never presented as safe cache.
Supporting downloads
The app downloads a country database from DB-IP and, if you choose tracker protection, a public domain list from pgl.yoyo.org. Country lookups and rule matching run locally; observed destinations are not sent to these sources.
Privacy rules stay local
Your rules and recent filter decisions stay on the Mac. The filter uses app identity and destination metadata supplied by macOS, without reading connection content. Domain rules depend on a hostname being available.