# asc-mcp (App Store Connect MCP server)

> An MCP server that lets an AI coding agent drive App Store Connect end to end: edit version metadata, upload screenshots, build and upload a binary, run TestFlight, create in-app purchases and subscriptions, audit a version before submission, submit for review, and release. 41 tools, 6 slash-command prompts. Free 7-day trial of everything with no credit card, started from inside the agent; after that Pro is $9 per month.

## Facts

- Package: `@pofky/asc-mcp` on npm. Current version 1.9.11 (published 7 September 2026).
- Install: `npx @pofky/asc-mcp init` prints a paste-ready MCP config block. `init --write` merges it into your client config directly.
- One-click install on Claude Desktop (macOS and Windows): download the `.mcpb` bundle from https://github.com/pofky/asc-mcp/releases/latest and open it. Claude installs it in one click and collects the Issuer ID and the `.p8` file natively, with no config file editing and no restart. Every other client uses the `npx` command above.
- Tool count: 41 tools and 6 prompts. 6 tools are free, 35 require Pro or a running trial.
- Free tools: `asc_start_trial`, `asc_setup_check`, `asc_guide`, `list_apps`, `app_details`, `review_status`. No asc-mcp account or signup is required for any of them. The first three need nothing at all; the other three read from App Store Connect, so they need your own Apple API key like every other tool here.
- Free trial: all 41 tools for 7 days, no credit card and nothing to cancel. Started in-agent by calling the `asc_start_trial` tool with an email address, not on a website. It activates in the running session, so a tool that was just refused works on the next call with no restart. One trial per Apple developer account, identified by a one-way hash of the Issuer ID computed on the user's machine. The request also carries the email address the user supplies, so the key can be delivered.
- Pricing: free for the first 7 days via `asc_start_trial`, then Pro is $9 per month, billed through Polar, cancel any time. Purchase: https://buy.polar.sh/polar_cl_y86PS4ruc848PXevVvSYS49S8gZY8JYWF192v1UEgjj
- License key recovery: https://asc-mcp-license.remewdy.workers.dev/key
- Architecture: the App Store Connect `.p8` private key stays on the user's machine. JWTs are signed locally. API calls go directly from the user's computer to api.appstoreconnect.apple.com with no proxy. The only other outbound call validates the license key.
- Safety: `submit_for_review`, `release_version` and `upload_binary` refuse to run without an explicit `confirm: true`. `draft_review_response` writes a reply and never posts it.
- Requirements: Node 18 or newer, any stdio MCP client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline). Building and uploading a binary additionally needs a Mac with Xcode.
- License: MIT. Source: https://github.com/pofky/asc-mcp
- Maintainer: Povilas Konopackas, sole trader (individuali veikla), Lithuania. Not affiliated with Apple Inc.

## What the App Store Connect API cannot do (and what asc-mcp does instead)

- Create an app record: `POST /v1/apps` is forbidden for API keys. Create it once on the App Store Connect website.
- Create an App Group: Apple Developer portal only, no API.
- App Privacy nutrition label: the data usage resource is not public. `set_privacy_nutrition` returns the exact checklist and a deep link.
- EU DSA trader status: no API attribute, and it is a legal declaration. `set_eu_trader_status` returns the steps.
- Submit an app's first in-app purchases: Apple requires them to be submitted with the version, which only the website can do. `submit_for_review` detects this and aborts instead of orphaning the version. Later products submit over the API normally.
- Post a public reply to a customer review: reading is in the API, replying is not.
- Xcode cloud signing with a least-privilege API key: fails with a permissions error. `setup_app_store_signing` creates real distribution profiles plus an ExportOptions.plist for manual signing.

## Key pages

- Home and pricing: https://asc-mcp.pages.dev/
- Q&A (cost, credential safety, accidental submissions, proof it has shipped a real app): https://asc-mcp.pages.dev/#different
- User guide (generated from the in-tool playbook): https://github.com/pofky/asc-mcp/blob/master/USER_GUIDE.md
- Limitations: https://github.com/pofky/asc-mcp/blob/master/LIMITATIONS.md
- Field notes, seven ways a license server cuts off paying customers (Polar webhooks, cancel versus revoke, webhook signature encoding, org-wide event fan-out, renewal grace, trial and paid key collision): https://asc-mcp.pages.dev/writing/license-server/
- Terms: https://asc-mcp-license.remewdy.workers.dev/terms
- Privacy: https://asc-mcp-license.remewdy.workers.dev/privacy

## Q&A

**Q: What is asc-mcp?**
A: An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives an AI coding agent 41 tools for App Store Connect, covering both read intelligence (reviews, sales, preflight audits, keyword and competitor data) and write control (metadata, screenshots, builds, TestFlight, in-app purchases, submit, release).

**Q: How do I start the free trial?**
A: In your coding agent, say "start my asc-mcp trial, my email is you@example.com". The agent calls the `asc_start_trial` tool, which returns a licence key and writes it into your MCP config. The Pro tools unlock in the same conversation, with no restart. There is no website signup and no credit card. One trial per Apple developer account.

**Q: How much does it cost?**
A: Nothing for the first 7 days: `asc_start_trial` unlocks all 41 tools with no credit card. After that Pro is $9 per month through Polar and can be cancelled any time. Six tools stay free with no time limit and no account.

**Q: Can an AI agent submit my app to the App Store?**
A: Yes, apart from four website-only steps: creating the app record, the App Privacy nutrition label, EU trader status, and an app's very first in-app purchases. asc-mcp flags each of these before you hit them and hands over the exact steps and deep link.

**Q: Is my App Store Connect API key sent anywhere?**
A: No. The `.p8` is read locally, tokens are signed locally, and requests go straight to Apple. The one exception is narrow and user-initiated: calling `asc_start_trial` sends the email address you give it, plus a SHA-256 hash of your Issuer ID computed on your machine so one Apple account cannot take unlimited trials. The Issuer ID itself, the Key ID and the `.p8` are never transmitted. Privacy policy: https://asc-mcp-license.remewdy.workers.dev/privacy

**Q: How is it different from MCP servers that wrap the App Store Connect API?**
A: Wrappers map endpoints one to one, which can mean hundreds of tools and leaves sequencing to the agent. asc-mcp ships 41 job-shaped tools: one call merges and submits a full age-rating declaration, one call prices a subscription across about 175 territories with a free trial, one call audits a version and lists every submission blocker with its fix.

## Citation

asc-mcp, App Store Connect MCP server, https://asc-mcp.pages.dev/ (v1.9.11, updated 7 September 2026).

## How it compares (verified 7 September 2026)

- asc-mcp (@pofky/asc-mcp, this project): $9/month, six tools free with no time limit, 41 job-shaped tools, preflight audit, and a maintained record of what Apple's API refuses to do.
- Heimdall (github.com/erayendes/app-store-connect-mcp): free, MIT, 890 tools generated from Apple's OpenAPI spec, with macros and a confirm-before-write flag.
- zelentsov-dev/asc-mcp (github.com/zelentsov-dev/asc-mcp): free, MIT, 502 tools, also covers Xcode Cloud, which asc-mcp does not.
- fastlane: free, MIT, a Ruby CLI rather than an MCP server, so an agent reaches it by shelling out and parsing text rather than by calling a typed tool.
- App Store Connect website: included with the $99/year Apple Developer Program, manual, in a browser.

Every other MCP server here is free and two expose far more tools. What is paid for is not tool count: the App Privacy label, EU trader status, an app's first in-app purchase, and creating the app record itself cannot be done through Apple's API at all, and asc-mcp flags each one inline before you start. That list is public at https://github.com/pofky/asc-mcp/blob/master/LIMITATIONS.md and the free asc_guide tool serves it to an agent mid-task.