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.