On Mac OS version 14.5 until the next developer build is released I have got now three different instances of NextDNS with my singular configuration profile active simultaneously. Considering it is Mac OS not Linux I believe all are in user space. For years I have used the NextDNS CLI without issue and continue to this moment of writing. Last year I have begun to use Tailscale's Mac OS client and configured my tailnet to use the same NextDNS configuration profile. This is absolutely wonderful because the same NextDNS configuration profile can be applied to all devices which use Tailscale. Finally, earlier today I upgraded Little Snitch to version 6.0 with the inbuilt feature to encrypt DNS queries. Naturally I use the same NextDNS configuration profile. Tailscale utilises DNS-over-HTTPS, Little Snitch utilises DNS-over-TLS [I cannot make it work encrypted via DNS-over-QUIK], and I know not what the CLI utilises.

My question: is the CLI necessary still considering the other two applications? I use them for different reasons but the commonality that they leverage NextDNS and the customisations in my configuration profile. If I were to uninstal the CLI then will any network traffic bypass NextDNS after system reboot because both Tailscale and Little Snitch may not load and launch before any network activity, or will one of them catch all network traffic earlier in the process than I presume? My presumption is the CLI loads and launches before GUI-based software on the application layer.