App Store Connect API / altool uploads validate IPA against wrong app when multiple apps share account; Transporter succeeds

Question

Created 5d

Replies 1

Boosts 0

Participants 1

When uploading an iOS IPA via App Store Connect API or altool, App Store Connect validates the IPA against the wrong existing app record, even though the IPA is correctly signed and provisioned. The exact same IPA uploads successfully via Apple Transporter, which correctly routes it to the intended app.

This appears to be an App Store Connect upload-resolution issue specific to API-based delivery.

Environment

Account: App Store Connect (Admin access)

Authentication: App Store Connect API Key (Issuer ID + Key ID)

Apps in Account:

com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp

Apple ID: 121xxxx266

com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp2

Apple ID: 645xxxx428

iOS / SDK Details

Platform: iOS
Build Artifact: Single signed IPA used for all tests
Target SDK: iOS 18.5
Xcode: 16.4
.NET iOS SDK: 18.5.9227
Minimum iOS Version: 18.5
Architecture: ios-arm64
Build Type: App Store distribution (Release)

This SDK/Xcode combination previously worked for TestFlight uploads of this app.

Expected Behavior

When uploading an IPA with:

CFBundleIdentifier = com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp
Provisioning profile for com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp
Embedded provisioning profile matching com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp

App Store Connect should validate and associate the build with the dabapp app record.

Actual Behavior

When uploading the IPA using API-based tools, App Store Connect validates the upload against dabapp2 and rejects it with:

Validation failed (409): This bundle is invalid. The bundle identifier cannot be changed from the current value, com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp2.
No references to dabapp2 exist in the codebase, build configuration, or signing assets.

Delivery Methods Tested (Same IPA)

App Store Connect API (automation / CI)

Upload accepted
Validation fails
Error references com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp2

altool (Apple CLI, API key authentication)

Same behavior as API
Same validation error
altool logs confirm API key has access to multiple apps but validation resolves to the wrong app

Apple Transporter (manual)

Automatically detects com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp
Upload succeeds
Build appears correctly under the dabapp record in App Store Connect
This confirms the IPA itself is valid and correctly signed.

Verification Performed

From the built IPA:

Info.plist

CFBundleIdentifier = com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp

Embedded provisioning profile

Application identifier resolves to com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp
Provisioning profile used at build time: Explicitly configured for com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp

All values are verified by extracting the IPA contents locally.

Questions for Apple Engineering

Why do API-based uploads (App Store Connect API / altool) resolve this IPA to the wrong existing app record, while Transporter resolves it correctly, and how can that association be corrected or reset?
If this is expected behavior when multiple related apps exist under one provider, is this documented, and are there required parameters or constraints for API-based uploads in this scenario?

Additional Notes

This is reproducible using only Apple-provided tools and APIs.
CI/CD tooling itself is not required to reproduce the issue.
Manual Transporter uploads are not a viable long-term solution for automated releases.

Any guidance or confirmation from App Store Connect engineering or other developers would be appreciated.

Boost

Answer 1

c2itconsult OP

5d

FWIW... here is our Azure DevOps pipeline task:

- task: AppStoreRelease@1
  displayName: 'Publish to the App Store TestFlight track'
  inputs:
    serviceEndpoint: 'xxxx'
    releaseTrack: 'TestFlight'
    appIdentifier: 'com.dailyaudiobible.dabapp'
    ipaPath: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/$(IPA_FILENAME)'
    releaseNotes: $(ReleaseNotesFile)
    appType: 'iOS'
    shouldSkipWaitingForProcessing: true
    shouldSkipSubmission: true
    appSpecificId: '121xxxx266'
  timeoutInMinutes: 10

0