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Documentation Index

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Signing

Manage signing certificates and provisioning profiles
Fetch and manage code signing assets for your applications.

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Overview

The signing command provides high-level operations for managing code signing workflows, automatically resolving and downloading the certificates and provisioning profiles needed for app distribution.

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Fetch Signing Files

Fetch certificates and provisioning profiles for an app in a single command: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE \
  --output ./signing
This command:
  1. Resolves the bundle ID in App Store Connect
  2. Finds matching certificates for the profile type
  3. Finds or creates a provisioning profile
  4. Downloads certificates (.cer) and profile (.mobileprovision)
  5. Saves files to the output directory

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Required Flags

  • --bundle-id - Bundle identifier (e.g., com.example.app)
  • --profile-type - Type of provisioning profile (see Profile Types)

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Optional Flags

  • --output - Output directory (default: ./signing)
  • --app - App Store Connect app ID (validates bundle ID match)
  • --certificate-type - Filter specific certificate type (usually auto-inferred)
  • --device - Device IDs for development profiles (comma-separated)
  • --create-missing - Create a new profile if none exists
  • --format - Output format for metadata: json, table, markdown (default: json)

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Profile Types

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iOS Profile Types

App Store Distribution: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE
  • Used for: App Store submission
  • Certificate type: IOS_DISTRIBUTION
  • Devices: Not required
Development: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT \
  --device "DEVICE_ID_1,DEVICE_ID_2"
  • Used for: Local development and testing
  • Certificate type: IOS_DEVELOPMENT
  • Devices: Required (use asc devices list to find IDs)
Ad Hoc: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_ADHOC \
  --device "DEVICE_ID_1,DEVICE_ID_2"
  • Used for: External testing (outside TestFlight)
  • Certificate type: IOS_DISTRIBUTION
  • Devices: Required
In-House (Enterprise): 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_INHOUSE
  • Used for: Enterprise internal distribution
  • Certificate type: IOS_DISTRIBUTION
  • Devices: Not required
  • Requires: Apple Developer Enterprise Program

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tvOS Profile Types

  • TVOS_APP_STORE - App Store distribution
  • TVOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT - Development
  • TVOS_APP_ADHOC - Ad Hoc distribution
  • TVOS_APP_INHOUSE - Enterprise distribution

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macOS Profile Types

App Store: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.macapp \
  --profile-type MAC_APP_STORE
  • Certificate type: MAC_APP_DISTRIBUTION
Direct Distribution: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.macapp \
  --profile-type MAC_APP_DIRECT
  • Certificate type: DEVELOPER_ID_APPLICATION
  • Used for: Distribution outside Mac App Store
Development: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.macapp \
  --profile-type MAC_APP_DEVELOPMENT
  • Certificate type: MAC_APP_DEVELOPMENT
Mac Catalyst:
  • MAC_CATALYST_APP_STORE - Mac App Store
  • MAC_CATALYST_APP_DIRECT - Direct distribution
  • MAC_CATALYST_APP_DEVELOPMENT - Development

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Certificate Type Inference

The CLI automatically infers the correct certificate type from the profile type:
Profile TypeCertificate Type
IOS_APP_STOREIOS_DISTRIBUTION
IOS_APP_DEVELOPMENTIOS_DEVELOPMENT
IOS_APP_ADHOCIOS_DISTRIBUTION
IOS_APP_INHOUSEIOS_DISTRIBUTION
TVOS_APP_STORETVOS_DISTRIBUTION
TVOS_APP_DEVELOPMENTTVOS_DEVELOPMENT
MAC_APP_STOREMAC_APP_DISTRIBUTION
MAC_APP_DEVELOPMENTMAC_APP_DEVELOPMENT
MAC_APP_DIRECTDEVELOPER_ID_APPLICATION
Override with --certificate-type if needed.

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Create Missing Profiles

Create a new provisioning profile if none exists: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE \
  --create-missing
For development profiles, devices are required: 
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT \
  --device "DEVICE_ID_1,DEVICE_ID_2" \
  --create-missing
If --create-missing is not specified and no matching profile exists, the command will fail with an error suggesting you use this flag.

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Output Files

Files are saved to the output directory with sanitized names: Provisioning Profile: 
./signing/IOS_APP_STORE-20250304.mobileprovision
Certificates: 
./signing/A1B2C3D4E5.cer
./signing/F6G7H8I9J0.cer
File names are based on profile name/ID and certificate serial numbers.

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Complete Example Workflows

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App Store Submission

# 1. Fetch App Store signing files
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE \
  --output ./signing

# 2. Install certificate in keychain
security import ./signing/*.cer -k ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db

# 3. Install provisioning profile
cp ./signing/*.mobileprovision ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles/

# 4. Build and sign your app
xcodebuild -project MyApp.xcodeproj \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -configuration Release \
  -archivePath ./build/MyApp.xcarchive \
  archive

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Development Setup

# 1. List your registered devices
asc devices list --platform IOS --output table

# 2. Fetch development signing files
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT \
  --device "DEV_DEVICE_1,DEV_DEVICE_2,DEV_DEVICE_3" \
  --output ./signing \
  --create-missing

# 3. Install files
security import ./signing/*.cer -k ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db
cp ./signing/*.mobileprovision ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles/

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CI/CD Integration

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Fetch signing files
  run: |
    asc signing fetch \
      --bundle-id com.example.app \
      --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE \
      --output ./signing

- name: Import certificate
  run: |
    security create-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" build.keychain
    security default-keychain -s build.keychain
    security unlock-keychain -p "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" build.keychain
    security import ./signing/*.cer \
      -k build.keychain \
      -P "" \
      -T /usr/bin/codesign
    security set-key-partition-list -S apple-tool:,apple: \
      -s -k "$KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD" build.keychain

- name: Install provisioning profile
  run: |
    mkdir -p ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles
    cp ./signing/*.mobileprovision \
      ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles/

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Troubleshooting

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Bundle ID Not Found

Error: bundle ID not found: com.example.app
Solution: Create the bundle ID first: 
asc bundle-ids create --identifier com.example.app \
  --name "My App" \
  --platform IOS

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No Certificates Found

Error: no certificates found for type IOS_DISTRIBUTION
Solution: Create a certificate: 
# 1. Generate CSR
asc certificates csr generate --key-out ./cert.key --csr-out ./cert.csr

# 2. Create certificate
asc certificates create --certificate-type IOS_DISTRIBUTION \
  --csr ./cert.csr

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No Active Profile Found

Error: no active profile found for bundle ID; use --create-missing to create one
Solution: Add --create-missing flag or create profile manually: 
asc profiles create --name "My App Store Profile" \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_STORE \
  --bundle "BUNDLE_ID" \
  --certificate "CERT_ID"

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Devices Required for Development

Error: --device is required for development profiles
Solution: Specify device IDs: 
# List devices to find IDs
asc devices list --platform IOS --output table

# Add devices to command
asc signing fetch --bundle-id com.example.app \
  --profile-type IOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT \
  --device "DEVICE_ID_1,DEVICE_ID_2"