Fixed the macOS launcher errors you hit:

suppressed noisy defaults read failures for missing preference keys,

        fixed unsafe/empty test expressions that caused test: argument expected,

        corrected the gettext app domain from APP=name to APP=zoitechat.

    Improved launcher behavior for architecture mismatches (Bad CPU type in executable) by detecting exit 126 and printing a clear hint plus file output for ZoiteChat-bin.

    Updated osx/makebundle.sh so bundling is more Intel/Apple Silicon friendly:

        dynamically resolves/writes prefix and prefix:enchant (Homebrew Intel vs Apple Silicon layouts),

        still adapts enchant data path (share/enchant vs share/enchant-2),

        prints bundled binary architecture after bundling so mismatches are immediately visible.

    Extended macOS debugging docs with a dedicated “Bad CPU type in executable” section and explicit Intel (x86_64) build commands.

osx/DEBUGGING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+# Debugging ZoiteChat on macOS (Xcode + CLI)
+
+If the unsigned `.app` launches but does nothing (or immediately exits), use the steps below to get actionable logs and a debugger session.
+
+## 1) Build with debug symbols
+
+ZoiteChat uses Meson. Build a debug configuration first so LLDB can show useful backtraces.
+
+```bash
+meson setup build-macos-debug --buildtype=debug
+meson compile -C build-macos-debug
+```
+
+This project default is `debugoptimized`, but a full `debug` build is better while diagnosing crashes/startup issues.
+
+## 2) Bundle the app and verify deployment target
+
+Use the existing bundle script:
+
+```bash
+cd osx
+./makebundle.sh
+```
+
+The generated `Info.plist` should keep:
+
+- `LSMinimumSystemVersion = 11.0`
+
+That is the project’s explicit minimum runtime target for macOS 11+.
+
+## 3) Sanity-check the Mach-O binary in the bundle
+
+Confirm architecture(s), deployment target, and linked libraries:
+
+```bash
+file ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin
+otool -l ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin | rg -n "LC_BUILD_VERSION|minos|sdk"
+otool -L ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin
+```
+
+For widest compatibility, build universal (`arm64` + `x86_64`) or build separately per arch and test each on matching hosts.
+
+## 4) Ad-hoc sign for local debugging
+
+Unsigned GUI binaries can fail in unhelpful ways because of hardened runtime/quarantine/Gatekeeper interactions. For local debugging, ad-hoc sign the app:
+
+```bash
+xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ZoiteChat.app
+codesign --force --deep --sign - ZoiteChat.app
+codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=2 ZoiteChat.app
+```
+
+## 5) Launch from Terminal first (before Xcode)
+
+Direct launch exposes stdout/stderr and validates the launcher environment:
+
+```bash
+./ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat
+```
+
+The launcher script sets GTK/Pango/GDK environment variables. If direct launch fails, capture that output first.
+
+## 6) Debug with LLDB (reliable baseline)
+
+Debug the real executable inside the bundle:
+
+```bash
+lldb -- ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin
+(lldb) run
+(lldb) bt
+```
+
+If it exits instantly, set breakpoints on startup entry points (for example `main`) and re-run.
+
+## 7) Debug with Xcode (if you prefer GUI)
+
+Xcode works best when opening the executable directly instead of importing build scripts.
+
+1. **File → Open…** and select `ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin`.
+2. In **Product → Scheme → Edit Scheme…**
+   - Executable: `ZoiteChat-bin`
+   - Working directory: repo root (or `osx/`)
+   - Add environment variables equivalent to the launcher if needed.
+3. Run under debugger.
+
+If Xcode “runs” but no UI appears, compare its environment to `osx/launcher.sh` and copy missing GTK-related variables into the scheme.
+
+## 8) Capture macOS crash diagnostics
+
+Even if no dialog appears, macOS usually logs termination reasons:
+
+```bash
+log stream --style compact --predicate 'process == "ZoiteChat-bin"'
+```
+
+Also check:
+
+- `~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/`
+
+## 9) Frequent root causes for “silent” startup failures
+
+- Missing GTK runtime libraries in app bundle (`otool -L` shows unresolved paths).
+- Incorrect `@rpath`/install names after bundling.
+- Running under Rosetta mismatch (x86_64 binary with arm64-only deps or vice versa).
+- Quarantine/signature issues on unsigned artifacts.
+- Missing `GDK_PIXBUF_MODULE_FILE`, `GTK_IM_MODULE_FILE`, or schema paths.
+
+
+### "Bad CPU type in executable"
+
+This means the bundled `ZoiteChat-bin` architecture does not match the Mac you are running on.
+
+- Intel Mac requires `x86_64`
+- Apple Silicon requires `arm64` (or Rosetta + `x86_64`)
+
+Check the binary quickly:
+
+```bash
+file ZoiteChat.app/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin
+```
+
+Build for Intel explicitly when needed:
+
+```bash
+export CFLAGS="-arch x86_64"
+export LDFLAGS="-arch x86_64"
+meson setup build-macos-intel --buildtype=debug
+meson compile -C build-macos-intel
+```
+
+If your dependency stack supports it, build universal (`arm64` + `x86_64`) and verify with `lipo -info`.
+
+## 10) Recommended compatibility settings for macOS 11+
+
+- Keep `LSMinimumSystemVersion` at `11.0`.
+- Build on the oldest macOS SDK/toolchain that still supports your dependencies, or explicitly set:
+
+```bash
+export MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=11.0
+```
+
+- Verify with `otool -l` that `minos` is actually `11.0` in the final executable.
+
+---
+
+If you want, we can add an Xcode scheme file to this repo that mirrors `osx/launcher.sh` so “Run” in Xcode behaves exactly like launching the app bundle from Finder/Terminal.

osx/launcher.sh

@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 if test "x$GTK_DEBUG_LAUNCHER" != x; then
     set -x
 fi
 
 if test "x$GTK_DEBUG_GDB" != x; then
-    EXEC="gdb --args"
+    EXEC_PREFIX=(gdb --args)
 else
-    EXEC=exec
+    EXEC_PREFIX=()
 fi
 
 name=`basename "$0"`
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export OPENSSL_CONF="/System/Library/OpenSSL/openssl.cnf"
 
 export ZOITECHAT_LIBDIR="$bundle_lib/zoitechat/plugins"
 
-APP=name
+APP=zoitechat
 I18NDIR="$bundle_data/locale"
 # Set the locale-related variables appropriately:
 unset LANG LC_MESSAGES LC_MONETARY LC_COLLATE
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ unset LANG LC_MESSAGES LC_MONETARY LC_COLLATE
 # Has a language ordering been set?
 # If so, set LC_MESSAGES and LANG accordingly; otherwise skip it.
 # First step uses sed to clean off the quotes and commas, to change - to _, and change the names for the chinese scripts from "Hans" to CN and "Hant" to TW.
-APPLELANGUAGES=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleLanguages | sed -En   -e 's/\-/_/' -e 's/Hant/TW/' -e 's/Hans/CN/' -e 's/[[:space:]]*\"?([[:alnum:]_]+)\"?,?/\1/p' `
+APPLELANGUAGES=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleLanguages 2>/dev/null | sed -En   -e 's/\-/_/' -e 's/Hant/TW/' -e 's/Hans/CN/' -e 's/[[:space:]]*\"?([[:alnum:]_]+)\"?,?/\1/p' `
 if test "$APPLELANGUAGES"; then
     # A language ordering exists.
     # Test, item per item, to see whether there is an corresponding locale.
@@ -89,26 +89,26 @@ fi
 unset APPLELANGUAGES L
 
 # If we didn't get a language from the language list, try the Collation preference, in case it's the only setting that exists.
-APPLECOLLATION=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleCollationOrder`
+APPLECOLLATION=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleCollationOrder 2>/dev/null || true`
-if test -z ${LANG} -a -n $APPLECOLLATION; then
+if test -z "${LANG:-}" -a -n "${APPLECOLLATION:-}"; then
     if test -f "$I18NDIR/${APPLECOLLATION:0:2}/LC_MESSAGES/$APP.mo"; then
 	export LANG=${APPLECOLLATION:0:2}
     fi
 fi
-if test ! -z $APPLECOLLATION; then
+if test -n "${APPLECOLLATION:-}"; then
     export LC_COLLATE=$APPLECOLLATION
 fi
 unset APPLECOLLATION
 
 # Continue by attempting to find the Locale preference.
-APPLELOCALE=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleLocale`
+APPLELOCALE=`defaults read .GlobalPreferences AppleLocale 2>/dev/null || true`
 
 if test -f "$I18NDIR/${APPLELOCALE:0:5}/LC_MESSAGES/$APP.mo"; then
-    if test -z $LANG; then 
+    if test -z "${LANG:-}"; then 
         export LANG="${APPLELOCALE:0:5}"
     fi
 
-elif test -z $LANG -a -f "$I18NDIR/${APPLELOCALE:0:2}/LC_MESSAGES/$APP.mo"; then
+elif test -z "${LANG:-}" -a -f "$I18NDIR/${APPLELOCALE:0:2}/LC_MESSAGES/$APP.mo"; then
     export LANG="${APPLELOCALE:0:2}"
 fi
 
@@ -116,20 +116,20 @@ fi
 #5-character locale to avoid the "Locale not supported by C library"
 #warning from Gtk -- even though Gtk will translate with a
 #two-character code.
-if test -n $LANG; then 
+if test -n "${LANG:-}"; then 
 #If the language code matches the applelocale, then that's the message
 #locale; otherwise, if it's longer than two characters, then it's
 #probably a good message locale and we'll go with it.
-    if test $LANG == ${APPLELOCALE:0:5} -o $LANG != ${LANG:0:2}; then
+    if test "$LANG" = "${APPLELOCALE:0:5}" -o "$LANG" != "${LANG:0:2}"; then
 	export LC_MESSAGES=$LANG
 #Next try if the Applelocale is longer than 2 chars and the language
 #bit matches $LANG
-    elif test $LANG == ${APPLELOCALE:0:2} -a $APPLELOCALE > ${APPLELOCALE:0:2}; then
+    elif test "$LANG" = "${APPLELOCALE:0:2}" -a "$APPLELOCALE" \> "${APPLELOCALE:0:2}"; then
 	export LC_MESSAGES=${APPLELOCALE:0:5}
 #Fail. Get a list of the locales in $PREFIX/share/locale that match
 #our two letter language code and pick the first one, special casing
 #english to set en_US
-    elif test $LANG == "en"; then
+    elif test "$LANG" = "en"; then
 	export LC_MESSAGES="en_US"
     else
 	LOC=`find $PREFIX/share/locale -name $LANG???`
@@ -181,4 +181,18 @@ if /bin/expr "x$1" : '^x-psn_' > /dev/null; then
     shift 1
 fi
 
-$EXEC "$bundle_contents/MacOS/$name-bin" "$@" $EXTRA_ARGS
+BIN_PATH="$bundle_contents/MacOS/$name-bin"
+if test ${#EXEC_PREFIX[@]} -gt 0; then
+    "${EXEC_PREFIX[@]}" "$BIN_PATH" "$@" $EXTRA_ARGS
+else
+    "$BIN_PATH" "$@" $EXTRA_ARGS
+fi
+status=$?
+if test "$status" -eq 126; then
+    echo "error: $BIN_PATH could not execute on this Mac (possible architecture mismatch)." >&2
+    if command -v file >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        file "$BIN_PATH" >&2 || true
+    fi
+    echo "hint: build ZoiteChat for this architecture (x86_64 on Intel, arm64 on Apple Silicon) or as a universal binary." >&2
+fi
+exit "$status"

osx/makebundle.sh

@@ -36,9 +36,29 @@ rm -f ./*.app.zip
 # - some have no share-level config dir at all
 # Keep the bundle definition in sync with what's actually available so
 # gtk-mac-bundler doesn't fail on a missing source path.
-ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH="${ENCHANT_PREFIX:-}"
+
-if [ -z "$ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH" ] && command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+# Resolve package-manager prefix dynamically so Intel (/usr/local) and
-    ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH="$(brew --prefix enchant 2>/dev/null || true)"
+# Apple Silicon (/opt/homebrew) hosts both bundle correctly.
+BUNDLE_PREFIX="${BUNDLE_PREFIX:-}"
+if [ -z "$BUNDLE_PREFIX" ] && command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    BUNDLE_PREFIX="$(brew --prefix 2>/dev/null || true)"
+fi
+if [ -z "$BUNDLE_PREFIX" ]; then
+    BUNDLE_PREFIX="/usr/local"
+fi
+
+ENCHANT_PREFIX_DEFAULT="${BUNDLE_PREFIX}/opt/enchant"
+ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH="${ENCHANT_PREFIX:-$ENCHANT_PREFIX_DEFAULT}"
+
+perl -0pi -e 's|(<prefix\s+name="default">)[^<]+(</prefix>)|$1'"$BUNDLE_PREFIX"'$2|s' "$BUNDLE_DEF"
+perl -0pi -e 's|(<prefix\s+name="enchant">)[^<]+(</prefix>)|$1'"$ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH"'$2|s' "$BUNDLE_DEF"
+
+if command -v brew >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    BREW_ENCHANT_PREFIX="$(brew --prefix enchant 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [ -n "$BREW_ENCHANT_PREFIX" ]; then
+        ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH="$BREW_ENCHANT_PREFIX"
+        perl -0pi -e 's|(<prefix\s+name="enchant">)[^<]+(</prefix>)|$1'"$ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH"'$2|s' "$BUNDLE_DEF"
+    fi
 fi
 
 if [ -n "$ENCHANT_PREFIX_PATH" ]; then
@@ -72,5 +92,10 @@ if [ ! -d "$APP_NAME" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if command -v file >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "Bundled binary architecture:"
+    file "$APP_NAME/Contents/MacOS/ZoiteChat-bin" || true
+fi
+
 echo "Compressing bundle"
 zip -9rXq "./ZoiteChat-$(git describe --tags).app.zip" "./$APP_NAME"

readme.md

@@ -52,3 +52,7 @@ provide binary packages linked to the OpenSSL libraries, provided that
 all other requirements of the GPL are met.
 See file COPYING for details.
 </sub>
+
+## macOS debugging
+
+If you are troubleshooting local macOS build/run/debug issues (including Xcode setup), see `osx/DEBUGGING.md`.