macOS app bundle

A .app on macOS isn't a binary — it's a directory with a specific layout that Finder treats as a single icon. Inside MyApp.app/Contents/ you find Info.plist (metadata: bundle ID, executable name, icon reference, permissions), MacOS/<executable> (the actual binary or a launcher script — whatever CFBundleExecutable in the plist points to), and Resources/ (icons, localisations, static assets). This separation between the wrapper and the binary is what makes useful tricks possible: running two Cursor profiles from one binary via thin wrapper bundles, distributing app aliases with custom icons, or inspecting what a suspicious app actually does by right-clicking "Show Package Contents". The format has been stable since NeXTSTEP, which is part of why it keeps working.