App Store Preflight Skill
Run pre-submission checks on your iOS/macOS project to catch common App Store rejection patterns.
Prerequisites
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:
# Pull canonical metadata JSON for the version you want to review
asc metadata pull --app "<APP_ID>" --version "<VERSION>" --dir ./metadata
asc metadata pull writes app info files to ./metadata/app-info/*.json and
version-localization files to ./metadata/version/<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:
## 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:
# 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