ipatool

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 23:08:54 +0800

majd/ipatool

IPATool

ipatool is a command line tool that allows you to search for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and visionOS apps on the App Store and download a copy of the app package, known as an ipa file.

Requirements
Installation
- Manual
- Package Manager (macOS)
Usage
Compiling
License
Releases
FAQ

Requirements

Supported operating system (Windows, Linux or macOS).
Apple ID set up to use the App Store.

Installation

Manual

You can grab the latest version of ipatool from GitHub releases.

Package Manager (macOS)

You can install ipatool using Homebrew.

`1`	`$ brew install ipatool`

Usage

To authenticate with the App Store, use the auth command.

Authenticate with the App Store

Usage:
  ipatool auth [command]

Available Commands:
  info        Show current account info
  login       Login to the App Store
  revoke      Revoke your App Store credentials

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for auth

Global Flags:
      --format format     sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --non-interactive   run in non-interactive session
      --verbose           enables verbose logs

Use "ipatool auth [command] --help" for more information about a command.

To search for apps on the App Store, use the search command.

Search for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and visionOS apps available on the App Store

Usage:
  ipatool search <term> [flags]

Flags:
  -h, --help              help for search
  -l, --limit int         maximum amount of search results to retrieve; visionOS supports up to 12 (default 5)
      --platform string   Platform to search: iphone (iOS), ipad (iPadOS), appletv (tvOS), or visionos

Global Flags:
      --format format     sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --non-interactive   run in non-interactive session
      --verbose           enables verbose logs

To obtain a license for an app, use the purchase command.

Obtain a license for the app from the App Store

Usage:
  ipatool purchase [flags]

Flags:
  -b, --bundle-identifier string   Bundle identifier of the target iOS app (required)
  -h, --help                       help for purchase

Global Flags:
      --format format     sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --non-interactive   run in non-interactive session
      --verbose           enables verbose logs

To list apps owned by the authenticated account, use the list-purchases command. Results are ordered by purchase date, newest first.

List apps owned by the authenticated App Store account

Usage:
  ipatool list-purchases [flags]

Flags:
  -h, --help              help for list-purchases
  -l, --max-results int   maximum number of apps to return per page (default 10)
  -p, --page int          page of owned apps to return (default 1)

Global Flags:
      --format format                sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --keychain-passphrase string   passphrase for unlocking keychain
      --non-interactive              run in non-interactive session
      --verbose                      enables verbose logs

To obtain a list of availble app versions to download, use the list-versions command.

List the available versions of an iOS app

Usage:
  ipatool list-versions [flags]

Flags:
  -i, --app-id int                 ID of the target iOS app (required)
  -b, --bundle-identifier string   The bundle identifier of the target iOS app (overrides the app ID)
  -h, --help                       help for list-versions

Global Flags:
      --format format                sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --keychain-passphrase string   passphrase for unlocking keychain
      --non-interactive              run in non-interactive session
      --verbose                      enables verbose logs

To download a copy of the ipa file, use the download command.

Download (encrypted) iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and visionOS app packages from the App Store

Usage:
  ipatool download [flags]

Flags:
  -i, --app-id int                   ID of the target app (required)
  -b, --bundle-identifier string     The bundle identifier of the target app (overrides the app ID)
      --external-version-id string   External version identifier of the target app (defaults to latest version when not specified)
  -h, --help                         help for download
  -o, --output string                The destination path of the downloaded app package
      --platform string              Platform to download for: iphone (iOS), ipad (iPadOS), appletv (tvOS), or visionos
      --purchase                     Obtain a license for the app if needed

Global Flags:
      --format format                sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --keychain-passphrase string   passphrase for unlocking keychain
      --non-interactive              run in non-interactive session
      --verbose                      enables verbose logs

To resolve an external version identifier, returned by the list-versions command, use the get-version-metadata command.

Retrieves the metadata for a specific version of an app

Usage:
  ipatool get-version-metadata [flags]

Flags:
  -i, --app-id int                   ID of the target iOS app (required)
  -b, --bundle-identifier string     The bundle identifier of the target iOS app (overrides the app ID)
      --external-version-id string   External version identifier of the target iOS app (required)
  -h, --help                         help for get-version-metadata

Global Flags:
      --format format                sets output format for command; can be 'text', 'json' (default text)
      --keychain-passphrase string   passphrase for unlocking keychain
      --non-interactive              run in non-interactive session
      --verbose                      enables verbose logs

Note: the tool runs in interactive mode by default. Use the --non-interactive flag if running in an automated environment.

Compiling

The tool can be compiled using the Go toolchain.

`1`	`$ go build -o ipatool`

Unit tests can be executed with the following commands.

1
2

$ go generate ./...
$ go test -v ./...

License

IPATool is released under the MIT license.

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