Hazel Rules for iCloud File Management

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to set up some Hazel rules to help manage my iCloud Drive files, and I've run into a roadblock. I'm hoping some of you with more experience might be able to suggest the best approach.

My Goal: Automatic Archiving

I want to create an automatic archiving system with the following specific criteria:

Identify files that haven't been opened or modified in over 5 years.

Move those files into a top-level folder named 'Archive'.

Inside the 'Archive' folder, the file should be placed in a subfolder named after the year the file was created (e.g., a file created in 2018 would go into /Archive/2018/).

The Problem: iCloud Stubs (Cloud with Down Arrow)

I've tried setting up rules, but I cannot get the files that are currently offloaded from my Mac (showing the cloud icon with a down arrow in Finder) to be moved.

It seems that Hazel either cannot move these files, or my current rules aren't triggering the necessary download/move action for these cloud-only files. I can confirm that Hazel has Full Disk Access in my Mac's Privacy settings.

What I Need Help With

Rule Logic: Can anyone suggest the most robust way to structure the rules to check the "Date Last Opened" or "Date Last Modified" and file them by the "Date Created"?

The iCloud Issue: Is there a specific condition, script, or a known workaround within Hazel that forces a cloud-only file to be downloaded and then moved successfully?

Any advice or example rule screenshots would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

I've added a option in the current beta (see the beta forums) where you can, on a folder by folder basis, set Hazel to force downloading any cloud-only files it finds.

It would be great if you could test it but I also understand if you don't feel comfortable running test builds.