What problem it solves

Users need a command-line workflow to search for apps across Apple platforms and obtain .ipa or macOS .pkg packages from the App Store. The workflow also needs to support App Store authentication, purchases, version metadata, and automation.

Key features

• Search across Apple platforms — Search the App Store for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS applications.

  Source: README

• Download application packages — Download app packages from the App Store as .ipa files or macOS .pkg files.

  Source: README

• Manage App Store account actions — Authenticate an App Store account, list owned purchases, obtain app licenses, and inspect available app versions.

  Source: README

• Support interactive and automated use — The command-line interface runs interactively by default and provides a non-interactive mode for automated environments. It can also expose App Store tools through an MCP server over stdio.

  Source: README

Quick start

Copied verbatim from the project's README.

$ brew install ipatool

$ ipatool --help
A cli tool for interacting with Apple's ipa files

Usage:
  ipatool [command]

Available Commands:
  auth                 Authenticate with the App Store
  completion           Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  download             Download iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS app packages from the App Store
  get-version-metadata Retrieves the metadata for a specific version of an app
  help                 Help about any command
  list-purchases       List apps owned by the authenticated App Store account
  list-versions        List the available versions of an App Store app
  mcp                  Serve App Store tools over MCP using stdio
  purchase             Obtain a license for the app from the App Store
  search               Search for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS apps available on the App Store

Flags:
      --format format                sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
  -h, --help                         help for ipatool
      --keychain-passphrase string   passphrase for unlocking keychain
      --non-interactive              run in non-interactive session
      --verbose                      enables verbose logs
  -v, --version                      version for ipatool

Use "ipatool [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Who it may suit

Inference: may suit command-line users and automation workflows that need to search for Apple-platform apps or manage App Store app packages. It may also suit MCP clients that need access to App Store operations.

Topics to discuss

• Which additional automation and scripting workflows would be most useful?

• How should authentication and keychain credentials be handled in continuous-integration environments?

• Which App Store metadata and purchase operations should be exposed through MCP next?

Written by ReadmeX AI from the project's README, source and public GitHub data; it may contain mistakes.

Read the original README https://github.com/majd/ipatool#readme

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