Extract ICNS icons from Panic's CandyBar

README.md

Panic's CandyBar Icon Extractor

CandyBar no longer launches on the macOS Tahoe beta. This script extracts all your ICNS icons from the CandyBar/Pixadex data folder without needing to run the app.

CandyBar's Pixadex icon library is at ~/Library/Application Support/CandyBar/.

It reads the Pixadex library database, preserves your folder organization, and pulls the ICNS data out of the macOS resource forks where CandyBar stored them.

Requirements

• Python 3 (uses only the standard library)
• Xcode Command Line Tools (optional, for preserving creation dates via SetFile)

Usage

# Preview what would be extracted (safe, no files written)
python3 extract_icons.py

# Extract everything
python3 extract_icons.py --no-dry-run -o ~/Desktop/CandyBar_Icons

# Skip the "My Icons" catchall and Trash folders
python3 extract_icons.py --no-dry-run --skip-my-icons --skip-trash -o ~/Desktop/CandyBar_Icons

# Point at a specific CandyBar data directory
python3 extract_icons.py -i "/path/to/CandyBar" --no-dry-run

The script auto-detects ~/Library/Application Support/CandyBar/ if you don't specify -i.

What it does

• Parses Pixadex Icon Library.pixadex (NSKeyedArchiver binary plist) for folder names and icon references
• Reads icon names from each .pxicon metadata file
• Extracts ICNS data from the Mac resource fork of each .pxicon file
• Writes .icns files into folders matching your CandyBar library sidebar
• Preserves original creation and modification timestamps
• Handles duplicate icon names and nested folders

candybar-pixadex-library.png

extract_icons.py