AppStoreConnect Xcode Cloud Failed to Fetch

Question

Created 2w

Replies 2

Boosts 0

Participants 1

I'm angry — Apple’s support has been awful.

I’ve been trying to get help from Apple for two weeks. Their replies feel canned and automated (they even sign with a first name only), and they only provide basic information that doesn’t address the problem. You put in a response and then a week later, some canned response comes back from someone with a single name (Lisenga)

I’m now faced with two unacceptable options: stop supporting Apple Safari users or delete my account and start over. Both options punish my users. For a multi-billion-dollar company, Apple’s support is shockingly limited.

I ran this issue past ChatGPT Codex, and it confirmed that this is something only Apple can fix.

Recent Apple Developer Forum posts describe Xcode Cloud / App Store Connect requests returning null responses because backend team permissions were broken. One post even referenced a case where Apple confirmed the only remedy was an internal fix on their side.

To be clear: I am NOT using Xcode. I’ll say it again in case it was missed: I am not using Xcode.

Here’s what happens:

In App Store Connect, when I click the Xcode Cloud link it prompts me to “upload archive file.”
When I upload, I immediately get “Failed to Fetch.”
This happens in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, in normal and private windows.
It happens on a different computer 400 miles away as well.
My suspicion is this: if a build is created before agreeing to the developer agreements, and the agreements are answered afterward, the system goes out of sync and breaks — a problem that only Apple can resolve.

How do you actually talk to a real human at Apple??

Answer 1

Robert_P OP

2w

FROM AI diagnosed:

This confirms the manifest is not the problem.

Apple successfully:

Opened the ZIP.
Read manifest.json.
Validated the product name.
Reached the point where it submits the packaging request.
Failed during that request.
The diagnostic ZIP uses only Apple-documented fields, so there is nothing meaningful left to remove. Apple’s public status information does not currently show a relevant outage.

The likely causes are now:

The app record was created before the required agreement was accepted and is internally incomplete. (Apple to fix)
Xcode Cloud/Safari Packager was not properly provisioned for this app record. (Apple to fix)
A bundle-identifier or platform association is broken. (Apple to fix)
Apple’s packager backend has a defect for this particular app. (Apple to fix)
Less likely: the Chrome session is blocking the upload request. (Not an issue since fails on Firefox, Safari and a network 400 miles away, same error)
I would stop changing your release ZIP. Your original package is valid.

The most productive next step is Apple Developer Support. Give them:

App ID: (REDACTED) Safari Web Extension Packager URL Exact error: Failed to fetch

Explain that a ZIP missing manifest.json produces the proper validation message.

Explain that a valid minimal ZIP with the wrong name produces the proper name-mismatch message.

Explain that the same minimal ZIP with the correct registered name proceeds further and then produces Failed to fetch.

Mention that the app record may have been created before all agreements were accepted. Only Apple can correct this.

That evidence demonstrates a failure after client-side validation and should get the issue routed to App Store Connect/Xcode Cloud rather than general manifest support.

Apple Developer Support is now the right path.

Answer 2

Robert_P OP

2w

There is a bug in App Store Connect Xcode Cloud.

I've rebuild the app using XCode - bypassed App Store Connect Xcode Cloud. Now, my app (which is completely useless) is in XCode (SO MUCH OVERKILL) but at least I got it to work.

Apple Support is extremely difficult to work with ... it seems like the responses are AI (NON HUMAN) and the lights are no longer on in Developer Support.

Maybe they were all replaced with AI.