Our organization is attempting to retrieve the External Version Identifier (EVID) history for all published versions. This data is required so that we can pass the exact externalVersionIdentifier integer to our deployment framework to pin specific app versions on our managed devices. We currently have an active App Store Connect account, but our attempts to fetch this data via standard publishing APIs return a 401 Unauthorized error. To help us resolve this technical blocker, please provide explicit engineering guidance on the following four points:
- API Endpoint Architecture: Is the enterprise Apps and Books for Organizations API (apple.com) the only platform that exposes the externalVersionId history for all versions? If so, what is the exact endpoint path we must call to return the full version-based EVID array?
- Account Requirements: Can these version-specific EVIDs be retrieved using our existing App Store Connect developer credentials, or is an Apple Business Manager (ABM) account strictly mandatory to bypass the 401 gate?
- ABM Portal Setup for EVIDs Only: If an ABM account is mandatory, what are the minimum technical steps required inside the ABM dashboard to fetch only the EVID data? Specifically, do we need to "purchase" a volume license for the target app to make its version history accessible via the API?
- Authentication Parameters: What is the correct token structure for this endpoint? Do we need to pass a specific location server token (sToken / itvt cookie) generated inside ABM alongside our signed developer JWT header?
Thank you for your time and technical guidance. We look forward to your engineering team's response.