--- name: app-store-preflight-skills description: > Scan an iOS/macOS Xcode project for common App Store rejection patterns before submission. Use when preparing an app for App Store review, after receiving a rejection from Apple, or when auditing metadata, subscriptions, privacy manifests, entitlements, or design compliance. Integrates with the asc CLI for metadata inspection. metadata: author: truongduy2611 version: "1.0" --- # App Store Preflight Skill Run pre-submission checks on your iOS/macOS project to catch common App Store rejection patterns. ## Prerequisites - **asc CLI** — Install via Homebrew: `brew install asc` ([App-Store-Connect-CLI](https://github.com/rudrankriyam/App-Store-Connect-CLI)) - **ASC CLI Skills** — [app-store-connect-cli-skills](https://github.com/rudrankriyam/app-store-connect-cli-skills) for `asc` usage patterns - **jq** — Optional, but used by some JSON-inspection examples in the rule docs ## Step 1: Identify App Type → Load Checklist Determine which guidelines apply by loading the relevant checklist from `references/guidelines/by-app-type/`. Always start with `all_apps.md`, then add the app-type-specific one: | App Type | Checklist | |----------|-----------| | Every app | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/all_apps.md` | | Subscriptions / IAP | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/subscription_iap.md` | | Social / UGC | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/social_ugc.md` | | Kids Category | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/kids.md` | | Health & Fitness | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/health_fitness.md` | | Games | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/games.md` | | macOS | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/macos.md` | | AI / Generative AI | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/ai_apps.md` | | Crypto & Finance | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/crypto_finance.md` | | VPN | `references/guidelines/by-app-type/vpn.md` | Full guideline index: `references/guidelines/README.md` ## Step 2: Pull Metadata for Inspection Pull the latest App Store metadata using the `asc` CLI: ```bash # Pull canonical metadata JSON for the version you want to review asc metadata pull --app "" --version "" --dir ./metadata ``` `asc metadata pull` writes app info files to `./metadata/app-info/*.json` and version-localization files to `./metadata/version//*.json`. Most rule examples below assume the canonical JSON layout written by `asc metadata pull`. If you already have metadata in another layout (for example fastlane `metadata/`), either adapt the file-path examples to that structure or pull the canonical `asc` layout first. ## Step 3: Run Rejection Rule Checks For each category, load the relevant rule files from `references/rules/` and inspect. Each rule contains: **What to Check**, **How to Detect**, **Resolution**, and **Example Rejection**. | Category | Rule Files | |----------|------------| | Metadata | `references/rules/metadata/*.md` | | Subscription | `references/rules/subscription/*.md` | | Privacy | `references/rules/privacy/*.md` | | Design | `references/rules/design/*.md` | | Entitlements | `references/rules/entitlements/*.md` | ## Step 4: Report Findings Produce a summary report using this template: ```markdown ## Preflight Report ### ❌ Rejections Found (N) - [GUIDELINE X.X.X] Description of issue - File: path/to/offending/file - Fix: What to do ### ⚠️ Warnings (N) - [GUIDELINE X.X.X] Potential issue ### ✅ Passed (N) - [Category] All checks passed ``` Order by severity: rejections first, then warnings, then passed. ## Step 5: Autofix + Validate Some issues can be auto-fixed: - **Competitor terms** → Suggest replacement text with competitor names removed - **Metadata character limits** → Show current vs. max length - **Missing links** → Generate template ToS/PP URLs After applying any auto-fix, **re-run the affected checks** to confirm the fix resolved the violation. Only mark as resolved once the re-scan passes. For issues requiring manual intervention (screenshots, UI redesign), provide clear instructions but do not auto-fix. ## Gotchas - **China storefront** — Banned AI terms (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) are checked across ALL locales, not just `zh-Hans`. Apple checks every locale visible in the China storefront. - **Privacy manifests** — `PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy` is required even if your app doesn't call Required Reason APIs directly. Third-party SDKs (Firebase, Amplitude, etc.) that use `UserDefaults` or `NSFileManager` trigger this requirement transitively. - **asc auth** — `asc metadata pull` requires App Store Connect authentication. Run `asc auth login` first, or set `ASC_KEY_ID`, `ASC_ISSUER_ID`, and one of `ASC_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH` / `ASC_PRIVATE_KEY` / `ASC_PRIVATE_KEY_B64`. If you're unsure what `asc` is picking up, run `asc auth doctor`. - **Subscription metadata** — Apple requires ToS/PP links in BOTH the App Store description AND the in-app subscription purchase screen. Missing either one is a separate rejection. - **macOS entitlements** — Apple will ask you to justify every temporary exception entitlement (`com.apple.security.temporary-exception.*`). Remove entitlements you don't actively use. ## Adding New Rules Create a `.md` file in the appropriate `references/rules/` subdirectory: ```markdown # Rule: [Short Title] - **Guideline**: [Apple Guideline Number] - **Severity**: REJECTION | WARNING - **Category**: metadata | subscription | privacy | design | entitlements ## What to Check ## How to Detect ## Resolution ## Example Rejection ``` --- Source attribution: truongduy2611 Original project: https://github.com/truongduy2611/app-store-preflight-skills License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 truongduy2611 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: truongduy2611 Original project: https://github.com/truongduy2611/app-store-preflight-skills Attribution basis: Original project named by vendored-folder README Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Marketing Roles: Backend Developer, Growth Marketer, Mobile Developer, Product Marketer, QA / Test Engineer Specialties: Backend, Mobile Tools: Asc Cli Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 7585a88dd3782c48f63df8c120c32e5bc3dcdb3a3826ad3f040b8a7d4398fe20 Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27 This metadata supersedes earlier Dave AI catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.