Finder Comments are accessible, easy to use, and unreliable because they rely primarily on data stored in a hidden file. Regular Comment extended attributes are more reliable.
xattred
Extended attribute editor with much enhanced interface, app inspection tool, compression tool designed for AirDrop use, and a simple extended attribute editor for Spotlight search.
New version of this GUI utility for inspecting and editing extended attributes, for High Sierra and later.
Ventura introduces a new extended attribute com.apple.provenance, used to mark successful clearance of quarantine. It’s protected by SIP too.
Don’t clutter your backups with files you’d never want to restore. Here are five methods to exclude items from Time Machine backups to keep them leaner.
When you write a comment to an article here, or edit a Property List, you’re editing XML. Two or three characters won’t work properly.
Thirty years ago, many Macs were hit by the Wdef virus, which exploited a vulnerability which remains today: it travelled in an extended attribute. Should we be worried now?
Unlike file data, metadata has varying persistence. Some is ephemeral, others sticky. macOS has inbuilt mechanisms for managing the persistence of extended attributes.
Most quarantine flags in your Mac aren’t on apps but documents. Details of how they’re added, what info they contain, and what they do.
The equivalent of cmp, only it works on extended attributes rather than file data.
The Eclectic Light Company 