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midi-harbor/specs/016-app-store-submission/research.md
James Coleman b70ac24cc4 build(macos): build the App Store Connect package with make appstore 
- The App Store variant was only signed ad hoc to run locally, so nothing it produced could be submitted; with a Mac App Store Connect provisioning profile in .signing/app-store.provisionprofile it now embeds the profile, adds the profile's App ID and team to the app's entitlements, signs both executables with the keychain's Apple Distribution identity, and wraps the app in an installer package signed with Mac Installer Distribution.
- A profile whose App ID is not the bundle's is refused, and a missing distribution or installer certificate stops the build rather than producing an unsubmittable package.
- CFBundleVersion becomes the build's UTC time to the minute, since App Store Connect rejects a build number it has seen, while CFBundleShortVersionString stays VERSION; ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption is false, as the build's only cryptography is hashing and random numbers.
- The bundled daemon keeps only the sandbox and inherit entitlements, which a helper inheriting its parent's sandbox requires.
- Without a profile the variant builds as before, ad hoc or with MIDI_HARBOR_SIGNING_IDENTITY, to run on the building Mac.
2026-09-28 14:38:49 -05:00

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Research: App Store Submission

The investigation behind this spec, under its number in the project-wide research log.

R-103: What App Store Connect needs beyond the sandboxed app

Status: VERIFIED (2026-09-28) locally; not yet uploaded. Built as T245.

The App ID needs no capabilities. Every entitlement the build uses (the sandbox, network client and server, Bluetooth, USB, and the helper's inherit) is a sandbox entitlement that signing grants. The login item uses SMAppService, and the helper shares the app's container by inheriting its sandbox, so App Groups are not needed either. The profile Apple generated for the bare App ID carries com.apple.application-identifier, com.apple.developer.team-identifier and keychain-access-groups (<team>.*). The first two must be in the app's signed entitlements to match the profile; keychain access groups are not used, so they are left out.

The certificates came untrusted. Xcode created the Apple Distribution and Mac Installer Distribution certificates, but security find-identity called both CSSMERR_TP_NOT_TRUSTED: they are issued by Apple's WWDR G3 intermediate, which this Mac lacked. The Developer ID certificate, issued by another intermediate, was unaffected. Installing AppleWWDRCAG3.cer made both valid. The keychain names the installer certificate "3rd Party Mac Developer Installer", its older name, which is what the build looks for.

The helper keeps only the sandbox and inherit. A helper signed to inherit its parent's sandbox must carry exactly those two entitlements, so the profile's identifiers go on the app alone.

The build number is the build's time. App Store Connect refuses a build number it has seen for the app, so CFBundleVersion is the time in UTC, %Y%m%d%H%M, twelve digits. The version shown, CFBundleShortVersionString, stays VERSION. A count of commits was rejected, since the owner rewrites history before publishing and the count would fall.

Encryption. The macOS build links no TLS; cargo tree finds only sha2 and chacha20, used for hashing and random numbers, which are exempt. ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption is false, so App Store Connect does not ask at every upload.

Evidence, make appstore on the development Mac:

  • lipo -archs: x86_64 arm64 for both executables, once x86_64-apple-darwin was installed.
  • codesign -dvv: both signed by "Apple Distribution: James Coleman (8XMLMKNPUT)" with the hardened runtime. The app's entitlements are the sandbox list plus 8XMLMKNPUT.com.mrgeckosmedia.MidiHarbor and 8XMLMKNPUT. The helper's are the sandbox and inherit.
  • Contents/embedded.provisionprofile present; codesign --verify --deep --strict passes.
  • pkgutil --check-signature: signed by "3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: James Coleman (8XMLMKNPUT)", which it reports as a development certificate, as it does every App Store installer certificate.

Not checked: App Store Connect's own validation, which runs on upload.