Prepare, publish, resume, and verify private iOS release-testing installs with asc distribute. Use when distributing an IPA to registered devices outside TestFlight, reconciling ad hoc profiles, publishing through caller-owned S3-compatible storage, or diagnosing a resumable private distribution run

ASC ad hoc distribution Use the experimental asc distribute workflow to turn an existing iOS archive into a private, verified install link for registered devices. Use TestFlight or the App Store release skills instead when the build should go through Apple hosted distribution. Confirm the installed contract before acting: Choose the workflow Use plan apply resume / status verify for an end to end, hash authorized run starting from an .xcarchive . Use inspect prepare publish only when the caller already owns the ad hoc IPA and wants to operate the lower level boundaries separately. Guardrails Treat the distribution spec, devices file, PKCS 12 identity, password file, run state, and exact install link artifact as private. Keep them out of Git and require owner only permissions. Never put S3 credentials or presigned URLs in the distribution spec, command output, logs, issues, or chat. Use ASC S3 ACCESS KEY ID , ASC S3 SECRET ACCESS KEY , and optional ASC S3 SESSION TOKEN , or the standard AWS SDK credential chain. plan is read only and may exit successfully with ready: false . Inspect the typed blockers and effects before continuing. apply can register missing devices, create safe App IDs and successor ad hoc profiles, write local artifacts, and publish immutable objects. Run it only after the user authorizes the exact plan hash and effect inventory. The orchestrated workflow supports private access to an existing S3 compatible bucket. It does not create buckets, change policies, delete old builds, install the app, or launch it. Input drift, an immutable object conflict, expired signing material, or an expired private link requires a new plan. Do not force the old run forward. Preconditions An existing iOS .xcarchive with one main app target. Embedded apps, extensions, Watch apps, and App Clips make the v1 plan not ready. A local iOS distribution PKCS 12 identity and optional protected password file. A protected strict v1 devices file. For example: App Store Connect authentication with access to devices, Bundle IDs, certificates, and profiles. An existing S3 compatible bucket and valid credentials. 1. Create the private distribution spec Relative paths resolve from the spec directory. The spec does not interpolate environment variables or accept credentials. A representative private config is: passwordFile , certificateSha256 , downloadEndpoint , and every metadata field are optional. An omitted password file means the PKCS 12 must use an empty password. Protect the config and secret inputs before planning: 2. Plan without mutation Inspect ready , planHash , signing validity, destination, and the complete ordered effects inventory. Resolve blockers and create a new plan when ready is false. Do not infer readiness from exit code alone. 3. Apply the exact authorized plan After approval of the exact effects, pass the full 64 character hash: Missing, malformed, or unequal confirmation is rejected before side effects. Success means publication and live fetch verification completed; it does not mean a device installed or launched the app. 4. Inspect, resume, and verify Use the returned runId : status is local only and succeeds for running , recoverable , and blocked runs; branch on typed fields rather than prose. resume revalidates durable evidence before retrying and never blindly repeats a remote write. verify is read only but performs live fetches. Add device "DEVICE SELECTOR" only when the user asks to observe the matching installed bundle, version, and build on a connected device; this observation does not prove IPA byte identity. The exact private install URL is a bearer credential stored only in the owner private link artifact reported by the completed run. Share it only with the intended tester through an approved private channel. Lower level IPA workflow Use this lane when signing and export are already complete. Pass the exact bundleDir returned by prepare to publish : inspect omits raw device UDIDs unless include devices is explicitly needed. prepare never overwrites a bundle and reuses only an exact equivalent. Private publish is the default and writes exact presigned links only to the mode 0600 link artifact. Public publication is a separate explicit lane using access public public base url ; it assumes anonymous reads are already configured and never changes storage policy.

asc-ad-hoc-distribution