Building and Shipping Mac and iOS Apps Without Ever Opening Xcode

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:29:45 +0100

Headless by design: Xcode must be installed but never opened. All tools (xcodebuild, notarytool, stapler, devicectl) live inside Xcode.app and run from a shell. A one-time credential setup (Apple ID sign-in, Developer ID certificate, notarytool keychain profile) makes every subsequent build and deploy fully headless.
Project management: XcodeGen replaces the .xcodeproj with a project.yml committed to git, regenerating the project on every build so the binary folder is never in version control.
One-command release: scripts/release.sh runs the entire chain — archive, Developer ID sign, notarize, staple, verify, install to /Applications.
Two build paths: CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO for fast unsigned builds (local/CI). release.sh for shipping with Developer ID signing and full notarization. Zero secrets in the repo — the private key stays in your login keychain, the notary credential in a keychain profile.
iOS too: xcodebuild archive + xcrun devicectl device install deploys to a connected iPhone without the GUI.
Agent-native: A CLAUDE.md tells your LLM coding tool the conventions — build paths, notary profile naming, scheme names. “Ship a build” becomes a single sentence.
One interactive step: notarytool store-credentials requires typing an app-specific password once. Everything after that is scriptable end to end.

This post is a condensed summary of Scott Willsey’s detailed guide. All credit for the original workflow, the release script pattern, and the CLAUDE.md conventions goes to him.

Xcode on deskriders

Building and Shipping Mac and iOS Apps Without Ever Opening Xcode