Skip to content
Agentmart
Submit a tool

release-mac-app

macOS app release: Sparkle, notarization, GitHub Release, Homebrew, closeout.

Skill by steipete

IndexedMIT★ 7,401
Write a review

Install

Works with Claude Code, Claude apps, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, VS Code, OpenCode, Goose, Windsurf. Read the repository before you give any tool access to your data.

npx agentmarket install skill/steipete-release-mac-app

Asks which of your tools to add it to (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop) and shows the change first. See https://agentmart.dev/cli.

Get the weekly diff

The weekly diff: one email a week with new agent tools, notable updates and grade changes, plus security alerts for tools you follow. Double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe.

We use your email only for this newsletter. Privacy

About

macOS app release: Sparkle, notarization, GitHub Release, Homebrew, closeout.

Use cases: ci-cd

No reviews yet. Installed it? Reviews come from verified installers only. How reviews work

Permissions

What this skill can do and what it asks for, from its SKILL.md. Checked Oct 25, 2026.

Tools
No tools found
Secrets
None asked for
Install scripts
None found
Runs as
Shell scripts

Network hosts it talks to 1

  • codeload.github.com · found in install command

Files it touches

  • ~/.claude/skills/release-mac-app

What's inside

Skill name
release-mac-app
Description
macOS app release: Sparkle, notarization, GitHub Release, Homebrew, closeout.
License
MIT
Instructions
107 lines in SKILL.md · view on GitHub

Before installing

  • Ships executable scripts

Agent Skills spec issues

  • body: contains an absolute path from the author's machine

Files (10)

  • SKILL.md
  • mac_release.sh · scripts/lib/
  • mac-release · scripts/
  • mac-release-assets.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release-canary.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release-download.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release-provider.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release-publication.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release-verify.test.sh · scripts/
  • mac-release.test.sh · scripts/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Mac App Release

Use for BlackBar, RepoBar, CodexBar, Trimmy, and similar Sparkle-updated macOS apps.

## Rules

- Work from the app repo.
- Read `.mac-release.env`; it is the repo-owned release manifest.
- Use `scripts/mac-release` from this skill for shared release/appcast/verify work.
- Execute `mac-release` directly so its privileged Bash shebang ignores startup hooks; if an explicit interpreter is
  unavoidable, use `/bin/bash -p`, never plain `bash mac-release`.
- Keep app-specific build/package/sign behavior in repo scripts unless it is already manifest-driven.
- Never print private key material.
- Upload app/dSYM assets to a draft before publication. After a failure, preserve the release, tags, appcast commit, and local edits; inspect existing state and resume the failed step instead of deleting or retagging a possibly published release.
- Prefer `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_OP_REF` for headless release signing when the key is in 1Password; otherwise prefer
  Keychain Sparkle signing. `SPARKLE_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE` is an explicit local override only.

## Commands

```bash
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release status
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release notes [version] [output.md]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release changelog-html <version> [CHANGELOG.md]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release make-appcast <zip> [feed-url]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release verify-appcast [version]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release check-assets [tag]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release release
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release codesign-run [--with-package-secrets] -- <command> [args...]
/Users/steipete/Projects/agent-scripts/skills/release-mac-app/scripts/mac-release package-run -- <command> [args...]
```

`verify-appcast` uses only `SUPublicEDKey`; it needs no private key, Keychain, or 1Password access.

## Manifest

Each repo owns `.mac-release.env`. It must contain no secrets.

Required:

- `MAC_RELEASE_APP_NAME`
- `MAC_RELEASE_REPO`
- `MAC_RELEASE_BUNDLE_ID`
- `MAC_RELEASE_VERSION_FILE`
- `MAC_RELEASE_APPCAST`
- `MAC_RELEASE_FEED_URL`
- `MAC_RELEASE_DOWNLOAD_URL_PREFIX`
- `MAC_RELEASE_APP_ZIP`
- either `MAC_RELEASE_INFO_PLIST` or `MAC_RELEASE_SUPUBLIC_ED_KEY`

`MAC_RELEASE_PACKAGE_CMD` is required only for `release`; status, notes, changelog-html, verify-appcast, and check-assets do not need it.

Common optional:

- `MAC_RELEASE_PRECHECK`
- `MAC_RELEASE_SOURCE_FILES` (space-separated app helper files to source before expanding artifact names)
- `MAC_RELEASE_DSYM_ZIP`
- `MAC_RELEASE_REQUIRE_DSYM=0` for app-only releases
- `MAC_RELEASE_ARTIFACT_PREFIX`
- `MAC_RELEASE_TAG_SIGNED`
- `MAC_RELEASE_TAG_FORCE`
- `MAC_RELEASE_RELEASE_BRANCH`
- `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_ACCOUNT`
- `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_CHANNEL`
- `MAC_RELEASE_GENERATE_APPCAST_ARGS`
- `MAC_RELEASE_RUN_SPARKLE_UPDATE_TEST`
- `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_OP_REF` — exact `op://Vault/Item/field` reference for the Sparkle EdDSA private key. The
  helper resolves it inside the shared `op-work` tmux session, writes only a mode-0600 temporary key file, validates
  its public key against `SUPublicEDKey`, and removes it on success or failure.
- `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_OP_ACCOUNT` and `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_OP_USE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT` override the primary 1Password
  account/service-account mode for the Sparkle reference. Service-account-backed refs should set service-account mode
  to `1`.
- `MAC_RELEASE_SIGNING_KEY_FILE` (local fallback path only; Keychain is used when the file is absent)
- `MAC_RELEASE_EXTRA_ASSET_PATTERNS`
- `MAC_RELEASE_EXTRA_ASSET_WAIT_SECONDS`
- `MAC_RELEASE_EXTRA_ASSET_WAIT_INTERVAL`
- `MAC_RELEASE_OP_ENV_REFS` — ';'-separated `NAME=op://Vault/Item/field` entries resolved in the same credential pass and exported for the package command (item names may contain spaces, hence ';'). Already-exported names are preferred; refs only trigger an `op read` when missing. Example: `NPM_TOKEN=op://Molty/npm Registry - steipete - Release Automation/registry_token`.
- `MAC_RELEASE_OP_ITEM` + `MAC_RELEASE_OP_FIELDS` for required packaging secrets. The release helper reads the known item once via `op` inside one persistent tmux session, then exports the requested fields for the package command.
- `MAC_RELEASE_OP_ACCOUNT` defaults to `my.1password.com`; `MAC_RELEASE_OP_VAULT`, `MAC_RELEASE_OP_TMUX_SESSION`, `MAC_RELEASE_OP_WAIT_SECONDS` are optional. Without a vault, service-account token env is unset for that single `op` read so the personal desktop account handles it.
- `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_IDENTITY` + `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_ITEM` + `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_KEYCHAIN_MANAGED=1` enable non-interactive Developer ID signing. The keychain must be replaceable, dedicated to release automation, separate from the default keychain, not shared with interactive use, and contain exactly one signing private key. The helper owns and may permanently normalize that key's partition ACL to `apple-tool:,apple:,codesign:`. After precheck, the same tmux credential pass reads `keychain_path` and normally `keychain_password`, takes a per-user release lock, prepends the keychain without hiding existing keychains, verifies a Developer ID Application canary, scopes package signing through a temporary `codesign --keychain` shim, then restores transient state and releases the lock. Set `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_PASSWORDLESS=1` only for the canonical passwordless, never-locking release keychain; this omits the password field, preserves its unlocked state, and disables timeout/lock-on-sleep settings.
- `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_ACCOUNT`, `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_VAULT`, `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_USE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT`, `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_PATH_FIELD`, and `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_OP_PASSWORD_FIELD` override the codesign credential item defaults; account, vault, and service-account mode otherwise inherit the primary item settings. Set vault empty and service-account mode `0` for a personal desktop-account item. `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_KEYCHAIN` + `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD` may be supplied directly instead.
- `MAC_RELEASE_RUN_LOGIN_SHELL=1` opts command hooks back into `bash -lc`; default hooks use `env -u BASH_ENV bash -c` so shell startup files cannot override exported release secrets.

1Password rules:

- Prefer already-exported env vars first; no `op` call if all `MAC_RELEASE_OP_FIELDS` are present.
- If fields are missing, read configured package and codesign items in one tmux command for the whole release.
- Provider stderr and parser exceptions are discarded; failed reads stop with fixed provider-read, JSON/schema, missing-field, or parser-failure diagnostics, without values or field labels.
- Direct env-reference handoffs use Bash `%q` to preserve captured values safely on Bash 3.2; command substitution still strips terminal newlines from `op read` output.
- Resolve `MAC_RELEASE_SPARKLE_OP_REF` without exposing the private key in the generated environment file or logs;
  only the temporary file path crosses the helper boundary.
- Use service-account mode only with an explicit vault or `MAC_RELEASE_OP_USE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT=1`.
- Do not retry `op` reads in a fresh shell; rerun only from the same tmux session after explicit user direction.
- Never allow a release to reach app packaging with an unprepared Developer ID keychain. No SecurityAgent password windows during release; fail the signing canary first.
- For non-app release scripts, use `codesign-run` instead of copying keychain setup into the repository. Supply the codesign manifest fields through `.mac-release.env` or explicit `MAC_RELEASE_CODESIGN_*` environment configuration. It loads only codesign credentials by default; pass `--with-package-secrets` when the wrapped release script also needs the configured package/notary fields in the same 1Password pass. It runs the bounded signing canary, scopes `codesign` through the managed-keychain shim, and restores/relocks before returning.
- Use `package-run` for notarization/package credentials when no signing operation is required. It never resolves, prepares, or unlocks the Developer ID keychain and strips signing and Sparkle authority from the child.
- Disable shell xtrace and verbose mode before loading release secrets. Arm cleanup before keychain/search-list mutations, restore the dedicated keychain's original lock policy and user search list, and relock it after packaging.

## Done

- appcast entry has URL, length, Sparkle signature.
- downloaded enclosure's EdDSA signature verifies against `SUPublicEDKey` (public key only).
- extracted app passes `codesign`, `spctl`, and `stapler validate`.
- GitHub release has app zip, dSYM zip when configured, plus app-specific extra assets.
- release notes match the changelog section.
- after verified release, bump changelog to next patch `Unreleased` in the app repo.

From steipete/agent-scripts, MIT.

More from steipete/agent-scripts

Compare and alternatives

    Featured in

    Signals

    Stars
    7,401
    Forks
    646
    Open issues
    0
    Last commit (this folder)
    Oct 20, 2026 (7 days ago)
    Last release
    Jul 17, 2026 (3 months ago)

    From GitHub (fetched Oct 24, 2026).

    Details

    License
    MIT
    First seen
    Oct 24, 2026
    Last checked
    Oct 24, 2026

    More from steipete

    Cite this page

    release-mac-app skill. Agent Mart. https://agentmart.dev/skills/steipete-release-mac-app (last updated 2026-10-24)