App-Store-Connect-CLI

App Store Connect CLI

A fast, lightweight, and scriptable CLI for the App Store Connect API. Automate iOS, macOS, tvOS, and visionOS release workflows from your terminal, IDE, or CI/CD pipeline.

Table of Contents

• asc skills
• Quick Start
• Troubleshooting
• Privacy and telemetry
• Support
• Wall of Apps
• Common Workflows
• Commands and Reference
• Documentation
• Acknowledgements
• Contributing
• License

asc skills

Agent Skills for automating asc workflows including builds, TestFlight, metadata sync, submissions, and signing: https://github.com/rorkai/app-store-connect-cli-skills

Install them globally so they are available across projects:

asc install-skills

The command installs the 25 skills from pinned, reviewed commit f52c4f04323bb2dfb21ca8be82e6494e9cd0b4d8 and requires only git; it runs no Node.js, npx, npm package, or repository script. See Agent skills for what it verifies and changes.

Quick Start

If you want to confirm the binary works before configuring authentication:

asc version
asc --help

1. Install

# Homebrew (recommended)
brew install asc

# Install script (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://asccli.sh/install | bash

# Windows (WinGet, once the package is accepted)
winget install asc

# Exact fallback when scripting
winget install --id Rorkai.ASC --exact

The WinGet package is tracked in GitHub Discussion #1552. Until it appears in winget search asc, Windows users can download the release binaries directly from the GitHub releases page.

For source builds and contributor setup, see CONTRIBUTING.md. Released binaries are self-contained and do not require a Go installation; source builds use the toolchain version declared by go.mod. Releases built with Go 1.27 require macOS 13 Ventura or later. On older Macs, retain an older compatible release or upgrade macOS before updating asc.

2. Authenticate

asc auth login \
  --name "MyApp" \
  --key-id "ABC123" \
  --issuer-id "DEF456" \
  --private-key /path/to/AuthKey.p8 \
  --network

Individual API keys have no issuer ID. Omit --issuer-id and pass --key-type individual:

asc auth login \
  --name "MyIndividualKey" \
  --key-id "ABC123" \
  --key-type individual \
  --private-key /path/to/AuthKey.p8

Generate API keys at: https://appstoreconnect.apple.com/access/integrations/api

If a service holds the private key and signs App Store Connect tokens for you, set ASC_BEARER_TOKEN to such a token instead of configuring a key; asc sends it until it expires (Apple's maximum is 20 minutes). See Authentication.

If you are running in CI, a headless shell, or a machine where keychain access is not available, use config-backed auth instead:

asc auth login \
  --bypass-keychain \
  --name "MyCIKey" \
  --key-id "ABC123" \
  --issuer-id "DEF456" \
  --private-key /path/to/AuthKey.p8

3. Validate auth

asc auth status --validate
asc auth doctor

4. First command

asc apps list --output table
asc apps list --output json --pretty

Output defaults (TTY-aware)

asc chooses a default --output based on where stdout is connected:

• Interactive terminal (TTY): table
• Non-interactive output (pipes/files/CI): json

You can still set a global preference:

export ASC_DEFAULT_OUTPUT=markdown

And explicit flags always win:

asc apps list --output json

Compatibility

Commands are supported as documented. Deprecation warnings identify the available migration path and the command's long-term replacement.

Troubleshooting

Homebrew

• Refresh Homebrew first: brew update && brew upgrade asc
• Check which binary you are running: which asc
• Confirm the installed version: asc version
• If Homebrew is behind the latest GitHub release, use the install script from https://asccli.sh/install

WinGet

• Refresh WinGet sources first: winget source update
• Prefer the short install once available: winget install asc
• If the short name ever becomes ambiguous, use the package identifier: winget install --id Rorkai.ASC --exact
• Confirm the installed command resolves: Get-Command asc and asc version

Authentication

• Validate the active profile: asc auth status --validate
• Run the auth health check: asc auth doctor
• If keychain access is blocked, retry with ASC_BYPASS_KEYCHAIN=1 or re-run asc auth login --bypass-keychain
• Use asc auth login --local --bypass-keychain ... when you want repo-local credentials in ./.asc/config.json

Apple service health

• Check Apple's developer services without credentials: asc system-status
• Narrow unexpected API or upload failures: asc system-status --service "App Store Connect"
• Poll only when requested: asc system-status --watch --poll-interval 30s
• Use --issues-only for a concise incident view; summary counts still cover all matched services

Output

• Use an explicit format when scripting or sharing repro steps: --output json, --output table, or --output markdown
• Add --pretty to JSON output for bug reports

Privacy and telemetry

asc sends pseudonymous command-level usage telemetry by default to help maintainers understand which commands are used and where reliability work is needed. Local events include a random installation ID, which lets events from one installation be grouped over time; it is not derived from an Apple account or machine identifier.

Telemetry includes the CLI version, operating system and architecture, registered command path, duration, runtime context, invocation source, a bounded outcome class, and the HTTP status when an API request fails. It may include a sanitized public flag name. It does not include raw arguments, stderr, error messages, flag values, response bodies, credentials, private keys, Apple account, team, or issuer IDs, app or bundle IDs, usernames, hostnames, repository names, or file paths.

Review or change telemetry at any time:

asc telemetry status
asc telemetry disable
asc telemetry reset-id

ASC_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 and DO_NOT_TRACK=1 also disable telemetry. See the telemetry reference for the exact event payload, runtime handling, collector endpoint, and all controls.

Support

• Use GitHub Discussions for install help, authentication setup, workflow advice, and "how do I...?" questions
• Use GitHub Issues for reproducible bugs and concrete feature requests
• See SUPPORT.md for the support policy and bug-report checklist
• Before filing an auth or API bug, retry with ASC_BYPASS_KEYCHAIN=1; if it is safe to do so, include redacted output from ASC_DEBUG=api asc ... or asc --api-debug ...

Wall of Apps

See the Wall of Apps →

Want to add yours? asc apps wall submit --app "1234567890" --confirm

The command uses your authenticated gh session to fork the repo and open a pull request that updates docs/wall-of-apps.json. It resolves the public App Store name, URL, and icon from the app ID automatically. For manual entries that are not on the public App Store yet, use --link with --name. Use asc apps wall submit --dry-run to preview the fork, branch, and PR plan before creating anything.

Common Workflows

TestFlight feedback and crashes

asc testflight feedback list --app "123456789" --paginate
asc testflight crashes list --app "123456789" --sort -createdDate --limit 10
asc testflight crashes log --submission-id "SUBMISSION_ID"

Builds and distribution

asc builds upload --app "123456789" --ipa "/path/to/MyApp.ipa"
asc builds list --app "123456789" --output table
asc testflight groups list --app "123456789" --output table

For macOS TestFlight distribution, upload the exported .pkg first, then add the processed build to a beta group:

asc builds upload --app "123456789" --pkg "./build/MyMacApp.pkg" --version "1.2.3" --build-number "42" --wait --output json
asc builds add-groups --app "123456789" --build-number "42" --version "1.2.3" --platform MAC_OS --group "Internal Testers"

--app is the App Store Connect app ID. If you use local Xcode build flags such as --archive-path, also pass exactly one of --workspace or --project plus --scheme; otherwise use a pre-exported .ipa or .pkg upload. Add --submit --confirm to asc builds add-groups when distributing to an external TestFlight group that needs beta app review submission.

Release (high-level App Store publish flow)

# Optional: preview the staging plan before submission
asc release stage --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --build-id "BUILD_ID" --copy-metadata-from "1.2.2" --dry-run

# Canonical upload + attach + submit command
asc publish appstore --app "123456789" --ipa "/path/to/MyApp.ipa" --version "1.2.3" --submit --confirm

# Wait for the App Review decision (exit 0 approved, 1 rejected, 7 still pending at --timeout)
asc status --app "123456789" --until review-done --timeout 2h

Lower-level submission lifecycle commands (for debugging or partial workflows):

# Canonical readiness check
asc validate --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3"
asc submit status --version-id "VERSION_ID"
asc submit cancel --version-id "VERSION_ID" --confirm

asc validate also flags placeholder text, other-platform and test-build wording, and outdated copyright ranges in localized metadata. Warnings are advisory unless you pass --strict:

asc validate --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --output json
asc validate --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --strict

Add --deep for the checks Apple exposes only through its signed-in web app (App Privacy publication, agreements, and first-subscription attachment). It reuses a cached web session and never prompts; a check it cannot verify reports unverified, which fails only with --strict:

asc web auth login --apple-id "[email protected]"
asc validate --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --deep

macOS release builds support USB security keys for web login with --two-factor-method security-key; see Security key login. See commands/validate.mdx for every check and finding ID.

Review status and blockers

asc review status --app "123456789"
asc review doctor --app "123456789"

Metadata and localization

asc localizations list --app "123456789" --type app-info
asc metadata init --dir "./metadata" --version "1.2.3" --locale "en-US"
# Fill in the values to apply and delete keys to leave unchanged; empty values are rejected.
asc metadata apply --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --dir "./metadata" --dry-run
asc metadata keywords audit --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --blocked-terms-file "./blocked-terms.txt"
asc apps info view --app "123456789" --output json --pretty

Use asc metadata keywords audit before sync or apply when you want an ASO-focused review of live keyword metadata across locales. It reports duplicate phrases, repeated terms across locales, overlap with localized app name or subtitle, byte-budget usage, and optional blocked terms from repeated --blocked-term flags or a text file.

Screenshots and media

asc screenshots plan --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --review-output-dir "./screenshots/review"
asc screenshots apply --app "123456789" --version "1.2.3" --review-output-dir "./screenshots/review" --confirm
asc screenshots list --version-localization "VERSION_LOCALIZATION_ID"
asc video-previews list --version-localization "VERSION_LOCALIZATION_ID"

Uploading screenshots for a single locale:

asc apps list
asc versions list --app "APP_ID"
asc localizations list --version "VERSION_ID" --output json --locale "en-US" | jsonpp
asc screenshots upload --version-localization "VERSION_LOCALIZATION_ID" --path "./screenshots/en-US" --device-type "IPHONE_65" --replace --confirm --max-screenshots 10

VERSION_LOCALIZATION_ID is the App Store version localization resource ID from data[].id, not the locale code from attributes.locale.

For local capture coverage across multiple devices, locales, appearances, and content fixtures, use a matrix plan. Targets must already be booted simulators; the command writes raw artifacts and an offline review report, without uploading to App Store Connect:

asc screenshots matrix --plan .asc/screenshots-matrix.json --max-concurrency 2 --output json --pretty

See docs/design/screenshots-matrix.md for the JSONC schema, isolated output layout, retry behavior, and review contract.

Signing and bundle IDs

asc bundle-ids capabilities list --bundle "BUNDLE_ID"
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE --output .asc/signing
asc signing sync pull --repo [email protected]:team/signing.git --password-file ~/.config/asc/signing-sync-password --output-dir .asc/signing/pulled

signing fetch downloads public certificates and provisioning profiles. A usable signing identity also needs the matching private key; signing sync can verify that local identity and share it through an encrypted store (Git by default). When the team has no active certificate, signing fetch --create-missing --create-missing-certificate creates the key, certificate, profile, and .p12 in one pass. signing keychain installs and manages a dedicated keychain, and xcode signing plan --profile maps downloaded profiles onto Xcode targets; docs/CI_CD.md lists the fresh-runner sequence. For multi-target release testing, signing reconcile plans exact device/profile changes. signing run provides a temporary macOS keychain only for single-target archives. Multi-target exports must import the identity into a job-scoped keychain and install every reconciled profile for the job-exclusive macOS user. See the signing guide for setup, CI, rotation, security boundaries, and troubleshooting.

Workflow automation

asc workflow validate --output json
asc workflow run --dry-run testflight_beta VERSION:1.2.3

Raw API requests

asc api GET /v1/apps --query limit=5
asc api GET /v1/apps/APP_ID/relationships/builds --paginate
asc api PATCH /v1/apps/APP_ID --confirm --body-file update.json

Verified local Xcode -> TestFlight workflow

See docs/WORKFLOWS.md for local compile validation with asc xcode build and a copyable .asc/deployment.json, .asc/workflow.json, and ExportOptions.plist that use asc builds next-build-number, asc xcode inject, asc xcode archive, asc xcode export --timeout 10m, and asc publish testflight --group ... --wait. Add --submit --confirm when distributing to an external TestFlight group that needs beta app review submission. asc xcode test runs unit and UI tests with structured results and keeps the .xcresult bundles; the same guide has an invocation.

asc xcode inject --manifest .asc/deployment.json --set version=1.2.3 --set build_number=42 --dry-run --output json
asc xcode build --project App.xcodeproj --scheme App --destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro Max,OS=27.0' --no-code-signing --output json
asc workflow run testflight_beta VERSION:1.2.3

Replace the example Xcode destination with a simulator installed on the host.

Xcode Cloud workflows and build runs

# Trigger from a pull request
asc xcode-cloud run --workflow-id "WORKFLOW_ID" --pull-request-id "PR_ID"

# Rerun from an existing build run with a clean build
asc xcode-cloud run --source-run-id "BUILD_RUN_ID" --clean

# Fetch a single build run by ID
asc xcode-cloud build-runs view --id "BUILD_RUN_ID"

Apple Ads campaign management

Apple Ads uses separate OAuth credentials from App Store Connect:

asc ads auth login --name "Marketing" --client-id "SEARCHADS_CLIENT_ID" --team-id "SEARCHADS_TEAM_ID" --key-id "KEY_ID" --private-key ./ads-key.pem --ad-account "987654"
asc ads auth discover --output json
asc ads campaigns find --ad-account "987654" --file query.json --output json
asc ads reports apps campaigns --ad-account "987654" --file report.json --output json

See guides/apple-ads-playbooks.mdx for operator playbooks covering credential safety, org inspection, read-only smoke tests, reporting, raw API usage, and guarded mutations.

StoreKit server APIs

The App Store Server API and Retention Messaging use a dedicated In-App Purchase API key, separate from App Store Connect API credentials:

asc storekit auth login --name Production --key-id "KEY_ID" --issuer-id "ISSUER_ID" --private-key ./SubscriptionKey.p8 --bundle-id com.example.app
asc storekit auth doctor --environment sandbox --network
asc storekit transactions history --transaction-id "2000000000000001" --environment production --paginate
asc storekit subscriptions status --transaction-id "2000000000000001" --environment production --output table
asc storekit notifications history --start 2026-09-01 --end 2026-09-08 --only-failures --environment production
asc storekit retention-messaging messages list --environment sandbox --output json

JSON output prints Apple's response unmodified. --decode adds decoded JWS payloads without verifying Apple's signature, so don't grant entitlements from decoded output alone.

See docs/architecture/storekit-retention-messaging.md for the endpoint map, message and image requirements, environment variables, and the full sandbox verification sequence.

Commands and Reference

Use built-in help as the source of truth:

asc --help
asc <command> --help
asc <command> <subcommand> --help

Reference hierarchy:

• asc --help: authoritative command and flag surface
• docs/COMMANDS.md: generated top-level taxonomy map
• asc docs show workflows: curated workflow recipes
• asc docs show reference: repo-local quick reference template used by asc init

Documentation

• docs/CI_CD.md - CI/CD integration guides (GitHub Actions, GitLab, Bitrise, CircleCI)
• commands/signing.mdx - signing identities, encrypted sync, CI, and release-testing profiles
• docs/COMMANDS.md - Command families and reference navigation
• docs/PARITY.md - Remaining parity areas and intentional non-goals
• docs/WORKFLOWS.md - Reusable workflow patterns, including local Xcode to TestFlight
• docs/linux-ios.md - Portable Linux iOS builds and IPA packaging with xtool and rcodesign
• guides/apple-ads-playbooks.mdx - Apple Ads operator playbooks
• docs/architecture/storekit-retention-messaging.md - Retention Messaging setup and sandbox verification
• docs/API_NOTES.md - API quirks and behaviors
• docs/CONTRIBUTING.md - CLI development and testing notes
• docs/TESTING.md - Testing patterns and conventions
• docs/openapi/README.md - Offline OpenAPI snapshot + update flow
• CONTRIBUTING.md - Contribution guide

Acknowledgements

Local screenshot framing uses Koubou (pinned to 0.20.0) for deterministic device-frame rendering. GitHub: https://github.com/bitomule/koubou

Simulator UI automation for screenshot capture and interactions uses AXe CLI. GitHub: https://github.com/cameroncooke/AXe

The keyword difficulty methodology used by asc optimize keywords score is adapted from semihcihan's App Store Optimization CLI (MIT licensed). GitHub: https://github.com/semihcihan/App-Store-Optimization-CLI

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

---