majd/ipatool

ipatool is a command line tool that allows you to search for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS apps on the App Store, and download .ipa or macOS .pkg app packages.

Requirements

• A supported operating system (macOS, Linux, Windows or iOS).
• An Apple Account already configured to use the App Store.

Installation

Linux and Windows

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

macOS

You can install ipatool using Homebrew.

$ brew install ipatool

Usage

To get started, run the following command.

$ ipatool --help
A cli tool for interacting with Apple's ipa files

Usage:
  ipatool [command]

Available Commands:
  auth                 Authenticate with the App Store
  completion           Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  download             Download iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS app packages from the App Store
  get-version-metadata Retrieves the metadata for a specific version of an app
  help                 Help about any command
  list-purchases       List apps owned by the authenticated App Store account
  list-versions        List the available versions of an App Store app
  mcp                  Serve App Store tools over MCP using stdio
  purchase             Obtain a license for the app from the App Store
  search               Search for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, visionOS, and macOS apps available on the App Store

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

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

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

MCP tools

Run ipatool auth login in a terminal, then configure your MCP client to launch the stdio server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ipatool": {
      "command": "ipatool",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Compiling

The tool can be compiled using the Go toolchain.

$ go build -o ipatool

Unit tests can be executed with the following commands.

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

License

ipatool is released under the MIT license.