Developer Tools lets an app run software that doesn't meet macOS's security policy; the list is in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Developer Tools. If you don't write code you likely need nothing there, so remove any app you didn't add yourself.
Last reviewed · 2 sources
Where to find it
System Settings › Privacy & Security › Developer Tools
Apple describes Developer Tools as allowing apps to run software that doesn't meet the system's security policy. Developers add Terminal or an editor here so the programs they build and run from it aren't held to the checks Gatekeeper applies to downloaded software, which verify an identified developer and Apple's notarization.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
The list shows apps allowed to run software that doesn't meet the security policy.
Terminals and code editors you work in. Anything else, remove.
Software you start from it goes back to the normal checks.
If you only build code now and then, switch it on for that work and off after.
CoreLock's free Privacy report covers Screen Recording, Accessibility, Full Disk Access, Input Monitoring, camera and microphone. Developer Tools is listed in System Settings; if you don't write code, you likely need nothing there.
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Almost certainly not. The permission exists so developers can run what they build. If an app you don't recognize is on the list, remove it.
Apple's description is that it allows apps to run software that doesn't meet the system's security policy. In practice, programs started from a listed app skip checks Gatekeeper would apply, such as notarization.
Only if you run unsigned builds or tools from its built-in terminal and macOS is blocking them. Everything you run there gets the same pass, so be careful which extensions and scripts you install.
The Privacy report and the scan are free, with no account, on macOS 13 or later.
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