macOS Notarization

Use this skill when you need to notarize a macOS app for distribution outside the App Store.

Preconditions

• Xcode installed and command line tools configured.
• Auth is configured (asc auth login or ASC_* env vars).
• A Developer ID Application certificate in the local keychain.
• The app’s Xcode project builds for macOS.

Preflight: Verify Signing Identity

Before archiving, confirm a valid Developer ID Application identity exists:

security find-identity -v -p codesigning | grep "Developer ID Application"

If no identity is found, create one at https://developer.apple.com/account/resources/certificates/add (the App Store Connect API does not support creating Developer ID certificates).

Fix Broken Trust Settings

If codesign or xcodebuild fails with “Invalid trust settings” or “errSecInternalComponent”, the certificate may have custom trust overrides that break the chain:

# Check for custom trust settings
security dump-trust-settings 2>&1 | grep -A1 "Developer ID"

# If overrides exist, export the cert and remove them
security find-certificate -c "Developer ID Application" -p ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db > /tmp/devid-cert.pem
security remove-trusted-cert /tmp/devid-cert.pem

Verify Certificate Chain

After fixing trust settings, verify the chain is intact:

codesign --deep --force --options runtime --sign "Developer ID Application: YOUR NAME (TEAM_ID)" /path/to/any.app 2>&1

The signing must show the chain: Developer ID Application → Developer ID Certification Authority → Apple Root CA.

Step 1: Archive

xcodebuild archive \
  -scheme "YourMacScheme" \
  -configuration Release \
  -archivePath /tmp/YourApp.xcarchive \
  -destination "generic/platform=macOS"

Step 2: Export with Developer ID

Create an ExportOptions plist for Developer ID distribution:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>method</key>
    <string>developer-id</string>
    <key>signingStyle</key>
    <string>automatic</string>
    <key>teamID</key>
    <string>YOUR_TEAM_ID</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Export the archive:

xcodebuild -exportArchive \
  -archivePath /tmp/YourApp.xcarchive \
  -exportPath /tmp/YourAppExport \
  -exportOptionsPlist ExportOptions.plist

This produces a .app bundle signed with Developer ID Application and a secure timestamp.

Verify the Export

codesign -dvvv "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.app" 2>&1 | grep -E "Authority|Timestamp"

Confirm:

• Authority chain starts with “Developer ID Application”
• A Timestamp is present

Step 3: Create a ZIP for Notarization

ditto -c -k --keepParent "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.app" "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.zip"

Step 4: Submit for Notarization

Fire-and-forget

asc notarization submit --file "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.zip"

Wait for result

asc notarization submit --file "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.zip" --wait

Custom polling

asc notarization submit --file "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.zip" --wait --poll-interval 30s --timeout 1h

Step 5: Check Results

Status

asc notarization status --id "SUBMISSION_ID" --output table

Developer Log (for failures)

asc notarization log --id "SUBMISSION_ID"

Fetch the log URL to see detailed issues:

curl -sL "LOG_URL" | python3 -m json.tool

List Previous Submissions

asc notarization list --output table
asc notarization list --limit 5 --output table

Step 6: Staple (Optional)

After notarization succeeds, staple the ticket so the app works offline:

xcrun stapler staple "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.app"

For DMG or PKG distribution, staple after creating the container:

# Create DMG
hdiutil create -volname "YourApp" -srcfolder "/tmp/YourAppExport/YourApp.app" -ov -format UDZO "/tmp/YourApp.dmg"
xcrun stapler staple "/tmp/YourApp.dmg"

Supported File Formats

PKG Notarization

To notarize .pkg files, you need a Developer ID Installer certificate (separate from Developer ID Application). This certificate type is not available through the App Store Connect API — create it at https://developer.apple.com/account/resources/certificates/add.

Sign the package:

productsign --sign "Developer ID Installer: YOUR NAME (TEAM_ID)" unsigned.pkg signed.pkg

Then submit:

asc notarization submit --file signed.pkg --wait

Troubleshooting

“Invalid trust settings” during export

The Developer ID certificate has custom trust overrides. See the Preflight section above to remove them.

“The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate”

The app was signed with a Development or App Store certificate. Re-export with method: developer-id in ExportOptions.plist.

“The signature does not include a secure timestamp”

Add --timestamp to manual codesign calls, or use xcodebuild -exportArchive which adds timestamps automatically.

Upload timeout for large files

Set a longer upload timeout:

ASC_UPLOAD_TIMEOUT=5m asc notarization submit --file ./LargeApp.zip --wait

Notarization returns “Invalid” but signing looks correct

Fetch the developer log for specific issues:

asc notarization log --id "SUBMISSION_ID"

Common causes: unsigned nested binaries, missing hardened runtime, embedded libraries without timestamps.

Notes

• The asc notarization commands use the Apple Notary API v2, not xcrun notarytool.
• Authentication uses the same API key as other asc commands.
• Files are uploaded directly to Apple’s S3 bucket with streaming (no full-file buffering).
• Files over 5 GB use multipart upload automatically.
• Always use --help to verify flags: asc notarization submit --help.