Shipping & App Store

You MUST use this skill when preparing to submit ANY app, handling App Store rejections, or working on release workflow.

Not on Claude Code? Where this router says "Launch some-auditor agent", read that auditor's file in this suite and follow it inline — the same procedure, needing only file search and read.

Homed in another suite: axiom-integration/skills/iap-auditor.md, axiom-security/skills/security-privacy-scanner.md.

Agents that need Bash — builds, tests, simulators, crash symbolication — stay Claude Code-only; there is no inline equivalent for those.

When to Use

Use this skill when you encounter:

• Preparing an app for App Store submission
• App Store rejection (any guideline)
• Metadata requirements (screenshots, descriptions, keywords)
• Privacy manifest and nutrition label questions
• Age rating and content classification
• Export compliance and encryption declarations
• EU DSA trader status
• Account deletion or Sign in with Apple requirements
• Build upload and processing issues
• App Review appeals
• WWDC25/WWDC26 App Store Connect changes
• First-time submission workflow

Quick Reference

Routing Logic

1. Pre-Submission Preparation → app-store-submission

Triggers:

• "How do I submit my app?"
• "What do I need before submitting?"
• Preparing for first submission
• Pre-flight checklist needed
• Screenshot requirements
• Metadata completeness check
• Encryption compliance questions
• Accessibility Nutrition Labels
• Privacy manifest requirements for submission

Why app-store-submission: Discipline skill with 8 anti-patterns, decision trees, and pressure scenarios. Prevents the mistakes that cause 90% of rejections.

Reference: skills/app-store-submission.md

2. Metadata, Guidelines, and API Reference → app-store-ref

Triggers:

• "What fields are required in App Store Connect?"
• "What's the max length for app description?"
• Specific guideline number lookup
• Privacy manifest schema details
• Age rating tiers and questionnaire
• IAP submission metadata
• EU DSA compliance details
• Build upload methods
• WWDC25 and WWDC26 changes to App Store Connect

Why app-store-ref: 11-part reference covering every metadata field, guideline, and compliance requirement with exact specifications.

Reference: skills/app-store-ref.md

3. Rejection Troubleshooting → app-store-diag

Triggers:

• "My app was rejected"
• "Guideline 2.1 rejection"
• "Binary was rejected"
• Guideline 4.2 or 4.3 rejection (app too simple, web wrapper, spam, duplicate)
• Guideline 1.x rejection (objectionable content, UGC moderation, Kids category)
• How to respond to a rejection
• Writing an appeal
• Understanding rejection messages
• Third or repeated rejection
• Resolution Center communication

Why app-store-diag: 9 diagnostic patterns mapping rejection types to root causes and fixes, including subjective rejections (4.2/4.3, 1.x). Includes appeal writing guidance and crisis scenario for repeated rejections.

Reference: skills/app-store-diag.md

4. Privacy & Security Compliance → security-privacy-scanner (Agent)

Triggers:

• "Scan my code for privacy issues before submission"
• Hardcoded API keys or secrets
• Missing privacy manifest
• Required Reason API declarations
• ATS violations

Why security-privacy-scanner: Autonomous agent that scans for security vulnerabilities and privacy compliance issues that cause rejections.

Invoke: Launch security-privacy-scanner agent or /axiom:audit security

5. IAP Review Issues → iap-auditor (Agent)

Triggers:

• IAP rejected or not working
• Missing transaction.finish()
• Missing restore purchases
• Subscription tracking issues

Why iap-auditor: Scans IAP code for the patterns that cause StoreKit rejections.

Invoke: Launch iap-auditor agent

6. Screenshot Validation → screenshot-validator (Agent)

Triggers:

• "Check my App Store screenshots"
• "Are my screenshots the right dimensions?"
• "Validate screenshots before submission"
• "Review my marketing screenshots"
• Screenshot content or dimension questions

Why screenshot-validator: Multimodal agent that visually inspects each screenshot for placeholder text, wrong dimensions, debug artifacts, broken UI, and competitor references. Catches issues that manual review misses.

Invoke: Launch screenshot-validator agent or /axiom:audit screenshots

7. Programmatic ASC Access → asc-mcp

Triggers:

• "Automate App Store Connect"
• "Submit build programmatically"
• "Manage TestFlight from Claude"
• "Respond to reviews via API"
• "Set up asc-mcp"
• "Distribute to TestFlight groups via MCP"
• "Create a new version without opening ASC"

Why asc-mcp: Workflow-focused skill teaching Claude to use asc-mcp MCP tools for release pipelines, TestFlight distribution, review management, and feedback triage — all without leaving Claude Code.

Reference: skills/asc-mcp.md

8. Post-Submission Monitoring → app-store-connect-ref

Triggers:

• "How do I view crash data in App Store Connect?"
• "Where are my TestFlight crash reports?"
• "How do I read ASC metrics dashboards?"
• Post-release crash investigation
• Downloading crash logs from ASC

Why app-store-connect-ref: ASC navigation for crash dashboards, TestFlight feedback, performance metrics, and data export workflows.

Reference: skills/app-store-connect-ref.md

9. Beta Crash Triage → testflight-triage

Triggers:

• Beta tester reports a crash
• Crash appears in Organizer or App Store Connect
• Crash logs need symbolication
• Post-release crash investigation (single file or Organizer)

Why testflight-triage: Systematic crash triage from symbolication through root cause analysis. Uses xcsym as the first step (parse → discover dSYMs → symbolicate → categorize with pattern_tag → emit structured JSON).

Reference: skills/testflight-triage.md. For the xcsym subcommand/exit-code reference, see axiom-tools (skills/xcsym-ref.md). For the one-call agent workflow, /axiom:analyze-crash.

10a. Production Corpus Triage → production-triage / triage-analyzer

Triggers:

• "Triage my Sentry crashes"
• "What are the top crash families in production?"
• "Show me which issues to fix first from App Store Connect"
• Multiple grouped issues from an aggregator (Sentry, ASC) — dozens of issues, not a single file
• "Which of these crashes are real bugs vs noise?"
• Corpus-level hang triage ("Are my ANR reports real blocks?")

Why production-triage: Corpus-level triage requires fetching from an aggregator, classifying each issue, noise-flagging suspension false-positives, and clustering into root-cause families. testflight-triage covers the Organizer path — single files and the local on-disk .xccrashpoint corpus; production-triage covers the aggregator path (Sentry / ASC grouped issues).

Reference: skills/production-triage.md (fetch + NormalizedReport schema + flag-never-hide rule). Agent: triage-analyzer or /axiom:triage sentry / /axiom:triage asc.

10. Distribution Signing Issues → code-signing / code-signing-diag

Triggers:

• ITMS-90035 Invalid Signature on upload
• ITMS-90161 Invalid Provisioning Profile
• "No signing certificate found" when archiving
• Certificate expired before submission
• Archive succeeds but export/upload fails
• Profile doesn't match bundle ID
• Entitlement mismatch on upload

Why code-signing: Distribution signing errors are the #1 cause of upload failures. Diagnosing with CLI tools takes 5 minutes. code-signing-diag has 6 decision trees mapping ITMS errors to root causes.

Reference: See axiom-security (skills/code-signing-diag.md) (troubleshooting) or See axiom-security (skills/code-signing.md) (setup)

11. App Clips → app-clips

Triggers:

• Adding an App Clip target, or choosing an invocation method
• "What's the App Clip size limit?" / build exceeds maximum size
• Associated domains / AASA for App Clip links
• App Store Connect default and advanced launch experiences
• Handing App Clip data off to the full app on upgrade
• "My App Clip link does nothing"

Why app-clips: App Clips ship embedded in the full app and live under tight size (10/15/100 MB), entitlement, and capability limits. The discipline covers the size tiers, entitlements, AASA, and data handoff; the reference has the tables.

Reference: skills/app-clips.md, skills/app-clips-ref.md

Decision Tree

digraph shipping {
    "Shipping question?" [shape=diamond];
    "Rejected?" [shape=diamond];
    "Post-submission monitoring?" [shape=diamond];
    "Beta crash triage?" [shape=diamond];
    "Automate via MCP?" [shape=diamond];
    "Screenshot review?" [shape=diamond];
    "Need specific specs?" [shape=diamond];
    "IAP issue?" [shape=diamond];
    "Want code scan?" [shape=diamond];
    "Signing error?" [shape=diamond];

    "skills/app-store-submission.md" [shape=box, label="app-store-submission\n(pre-flight checklist)"];
    "skills/app-store-ref.md" [shape=box, label="app-store-ref\n(metadata/guideline specs)"];
    "skills/app-store-diag.md" [shape=box, label="app-store-diag\n(rejection troubleshooting)"];
    "skills/app-store-connect-ref.md" [shape=box, label="app-store-connect-ref\n(ASC dashboards/metrics)"];
    "skills/testflight-triage.md" [shape=box, label="testflight-triage\n(beta crash triage)"];
    "security-privacy-scanner" [shape=box, label="security-privacy-scanner\n(Agent)"];
    "iap-auditor" [shape=box, label="iap-auditor\n(Agent)"];
    "screenshot-validator" [shape=box, label="screenshot-validator\n(Agent)"];
    "skills/asc-mcp.md" [shape=box, label="asc-mcp\n(MCP tool workflows)"];
    "axiom-security/code-signing" [shape=box, label="axiom-security\n(distribution signing)"];

    "Shipping question?" -> "Rejected?" [label="yes, about to submit or general"];
    "Rejected?" -> "skills/app-store-diag.md" [label="yes, app was rejected"];
    "Rejected?" -> "Post-submission monitoring?" [label="no"];
    "Post-submission monitoring?" -> "skills/app-store-connect-ref.md" [label="yes, crash data/metrics"];
    "Post-submission monitoring?" -> "Beta crash triage?" [label="no"];
    "Beta crash triage?" -> "skills/testflight-triage.md" [label="yes, beta crash/symbolication"];
    "Beta crash triage?" -> "Automate via MCP?" [label="no"];
    "Automate via MCP?" -> "skills/asc-mcp.md" [label="yes, programmatic ASC access"];
    "Automate via MCP?" -> "Screenshot review?" [label="no"];
    "Screenshot review?" -> "screenshot-validator" [label="yes, validate screenshots"];
    "Screenshot review?" -> "Need specific specs?" [label="no"];
    "Need specific specs?" -> "skills/app-store-ref.md" [label="yes, looking up field/guideline"];
    "Need specific specs?" -> "IAP issue?" [label="no"];
    "IAP issue?" -> "iap-auditor" [label="yes"];
    "IAP issue?" -> "Want code scan?" [label="no"];
    "Want code scan?" -> "Signing error?" [label="no"];
    "Want code scan?" -> "security-privacy-scanner" [label="yes, scan for privacy/security"];
    "Signing error?" -> "axiom-security/code-signing" [label="yes, ITMS/cert/profile error"];
    "Signing error?" -> "skills/app-store-submission.md" [label="no, general prep"];
}

Simplified:

1. App was rejected? → skills/app-store-diag.md
2. Post-submission crash data/metrics? → skills/app-store-connect-ref.md
3. Beta crash triage/symbolication (Organizer or single file)? → skills/testflight-triage.md
4. Production corpus triage (Sentry/ASC, multiple grouped issues)? → skills/production-triage.md + triage-analyzer agent
5. Automate ASC via MCP tools? → skills/asc-mcp.md
6. Validate screenshots? → screenshot-validator (Agent)
7. Need specific metadata/guideline specs? → skills/app-store-ref.md
8. IAP submission issue? → iap-auditor (Agent)
9. Want pre-submission code scan? → security-privacy-scanner (Agent)
10. ITMS signing/certificate/profile error on upload? → See axiom-security (skills/code-signing-diag.md)
11. General submission preparation? → skills/app-store-submission.md
12. App Clip (size tiers, invocation, AASA, data handoff)? → skills/app-clips.md, skills/app-clips-ref.md

Platform-specific submission

• watchOS 26 SDK requirement, 64-bit, independent-app submission → See axiom-watchos (skills/platform-basics.md)

Anti-Rationalization

External Resources

Cloud Claude migration (claude-api skill, ships outside Axiom) — mandatory before shipping any Claude model-ID change. Opus 4.7 removed temperature, top_p, top_k, and prefill from the Messages API; code that built successfully on 4.6 returns HTTP 400 at runtime. An App Store update that ships this regression is an expedited-review situation. The claude-api skill automates the migration (model ID swap, sampling-param removal, prefill replacement) and enforces prompt caching from day one. Treat it as part of your pre-flight checklist, not a side reference.

When NOT to Use (Conflict Resolution)

Do NOT use axiom-shipping for these — use the correct skill instead:

axiom-shipping is for the submission workflow, not code implementation:

• Preparing metadata and compliance → axiom-shipping
• Writing the actual code → domain-specific skill (axiom-build, axiom-data, etc.)
• App was rejected → axiom-shipping
• Code changes to fix rejection → domain-specific skill, then back to axiom-shipping to verify

Example Invocations

User: "How do I submit my app to the App Store?" → See skills/app-store-submission.md

User: "My app was rejected for Guideline 2.1" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "What screenshots do I need?" → See skills/app-store-ref.md

User: "What fields are required in App Store Connect?" → See skills/app-store-ref.md

User: "How do I fill out the age rating questionnaire?" → See skills/app-store-ref.md

User: "Do I need an encryption compliance declaration?" → See skills/app-store-submission.md

User: "My app keeps getting rejected, what do I do?" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "How do I appeal an App Store rejection?" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "My app was rejected for Guideline 4.2 minimum functionality" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "Rejected for being a web wrapper / duplicate app" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "Rejection for user-generated content without moderation" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "Kids category compliance rejection" → See skills/app-store-diag.md

User: "Scan my code for App Store compliance issues" → Launch security-privacy-scanner agent

User: "Check my IAP implementation before submission" → Launch iap-auditor agent

User: "Check my App Store screenshots in ~/Screenshots" → Launch screenshot-validator agent

User: "Are my screenshots the right dimensions?" → Launch screenshot-validator agent

User: "Triage my Sentry crashes" → Launch triage-analyzer agent (or /axiom:triage sentry)

User: "What are the top crash families in production right now?" → Launch triage-analyzer agent (or /axiom:triage sentry)

User: "Show me which ASC issues to fix first" → Launch triage-analyzer agent (or /axiom:triage asc)

User: "How do I find crash data in App Store Connect?" → See skills/app-store-connect-ref.md

User: "Where are my TestFlight crash reports in ASC?" → See skills/app-store-connect-ref.md

User: "What's new in App Store Connect this year?" → See skills/app-store-ref.md

User: "I need to set up DSA trader status for the EU" → See skills/app-store-ref.md

User: "What are Accessibility Nutrition Labels?" → See skills/app-store-submission.md

User: "This is my first app submission ever" → See skills/app-store-submission.md

User: "Submit this build to App Store programmatically" → See skills/asc-mcp.md

User: "Set up asc-mcp for App Store Connect" → See skills/asc-mcp.md

User: "Distribute build 42 to my beta testers via MCP" → See skills/asc-mcp.md

User: "Respond to negative App Store reviews from Claude" → See skills/asc-mcp.md

User: "ITMS-90035 Invalid Signature when uploading" → See axiom-security (skills/code-signing-diag.md)

User: "My provisioning profile expired and I can't upload" → See axiom-security (skills/code-signing-diag.md)

User: "How do I add an App Clip?" / "What's the App Clip size limit?" / "My App Clip link does nothing" → See skills/app-clips.md