AppleBot - The Apple Robot

A CLI and Ruby library to manage Apple Developer Center and iTunes Connect tasks. Uses CasperJS for easy maintenance and flexibility.

AppleBot requires CasperJS, which can be installed using Homebrew:

$ brew install casperjs --devel

$ gem install applebot

These commands run using iTunes Connect:

• app:create - Creates an entry for a new app on iTunes Connect
• app:update - Creates an entry for a new update to an existing app on iTunes Connect
• app:reject_binary - Rejects the binary for a pending release (either new or an update)
• app:remove_from_sale - Removes the app from sale in all territories

These commands run using the Apple Developer Center:

• app_id:create - Creates a bundle identifier
• app_id:delete - Removes a bundle identifier
• profile:create - Creates a provisioning profile
• profile:download - Downloads an existing provisioning profile
• profile:list - Lists all provisioning profiles

These commands can run on either iTunes Connect or Apple Developer Center:

• app_id:list - Lists all bundle identifiers

Most commands take in options - you can either pass them individually, or use a JSON manifest file like this:

{
    "name": "My new app",
    "app_id": "com.usepropeller.mynewapp"
}

For example, the following commands are equivalent usng this JSON manifest:

$ applebot app_id:create --name 'My new app' --app_id 'com.usepropeller.mynewapp'
$ applebot app_id:create --manifest ./manifest.json

> AppleBot.app_id.create(name: 'My new app', app_id: 'com.usepropeller.mynewapp')
> AppleBot.app_id.create(manifest './manifest.json')

AppleBot installs an applebot command, which you can explore with -h flags:

$ applebot -h

  Commands:
    app:create           Create App
    app:reject_binary    Reject the binary of an pending release
    app:remove_from_sale Remove app from sale
    app:update           Update App
    app_id:create        Create App ID
    app_id:delete        Delete App ID
    app_id:list          List App IDs
    help                 Display global or [command] help documentation.
    profile:create       Create Provisioning Profile
    profile:download     Download a Provisioning Profile
    profile:list         List Provisioning Profiles

  Global Options:
    --manifest FILE.json Use a JSON file to load options for each command
    --username USERNAME  Username to login to Apple Service, or $APPLEBOT_USERNAME
    --password PASSWORD  Password to login to Apple Service, or $APPLEBOT_PASSWORD
    --format FORMAT      Output format - ['json', 'pretty']
    --verbose            Verbose output

For every command, you can pass --username and --password flags to enter you auth credentials; you can also set APPLEBOT_USERNAME and APPLEBOT_PASSWORD environment variables.

The Ruby library uses an AppleBot module, and its methods map to the CLI commands:

> require 'applebot'
=> true
> AppleBot.app.create(options: here)

The Ruby library has a few shortcuts for logging in to Apple services:

# pass as options
AppleBot.app.create(username: "username", password: "password")

# run in block
AppleBot.with_credentials(username: "username", password: "password") do
    AppleBot.app.create(options)
end

# set globally
AppleBot.set_credentials(username: "username", password: "password")

The :list commands are meant to return some data. If you're using the Ruby library, you'll receive an Array when the command is done; if you're using the CLI, the last line will output a JSON object with one entry.

AppleBot.app_ids.all
=> ["com.usepropeller.myapp"]

$ applebot app_ids:all
{"app_ids": ["com.usepropeller.myapp"]}

If you're using any other command (which generally create side-effects), the end result will be true in Ruby, or exit code 0 on the CLI.

You can base a --verbose flag (or a verbose: true option in Ruby) to see all of the output as each script processes. There are two output formats, json and pretty, which you are set with either the --format flag or format: 'format_string' in Ruby.

Clay Allsopp

• clay@usepropeller.com
• @clayallsopp

AppleBot is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.