asc-shots-pipeline

name

asc-shots-pipeline

description

Orchestrate iOS screenshot automation with xcodebuild/simctl for build-run, AXe for UI actions, JSON settings and plan files, Go-based framing (`asc screenshots frame`), and screenshot upload (`asc screenshots upload`). Use when users ask for automated screenshot capture, AXe-driven simulator flows, frame composition, or screenshot-to-upload pipelines. Use when the user says "capture app store screenshots", "frame my screenshots", "automate simulator screenshots", "upload screenshots to App Store Connect", or "generate localized screenshots".

asc screenshots pipeline (xcodebuild -> AXe -> frame -> asc)

Use this skill for agent-driven screenshot workflows where the app is built and launched with Xcode CLI tools, UI is driven with AXe, and screenshots are uploaded with asc.

Current scope

• Implemented now: build/run, AXe plan capture, frame composition, and upload.
• Device discovery is built-in via asc screenshots list-frame-devices.
• Local screenshot automation commands are experimental in asc cli.
• Framing is pinned to Koubou 0.13.0 for deterministic output.
• Feedback/issues: https://github.com/rudrankriyam/App-Store-Connect-CLI/issues/new/choose

Defaults

• Settings file: .asc/shots.settings.json
• Capture plan: .asc/screenshots.json
• Raw screenshots dir: ./screenshots/raw
• Framed screenshots dir: ./screenshots/framed
• Default frame device: iphone-air

1) Create settings JSON first

Create or update .asc/shots.settings.json:

{
  "version": 1,
  "app": {
    "bundle_id": "com.example.app",
    "project": "MyApp.xcodeproj",
    "scheme": "MyApp",
    "simulator_udid": "booted"
  },
  "paths": {
    "plan": ".asc/screenshots.json",
    "raw_dir": "./screenshots/raw",
    "framed_dir": "./screenshots/framed"
  },
  "pipeline": {
    "frame_enabled": true,
    "upload_enabled": false
  },
  "upload": {
    "version_localization_id": "",
    "device_type": "IPHONE_65",
    "source_dir": "./screenshots/framed"
  }
}

If you intentionally skip framing, set:

• "frame_enabled": false
• "upload.source_dir": "./screenshots/raw"

2) Build and run app on simulator

Use Xcode CLI for build/install/launch:

xcrun simctl boot "$UDID" || true

xcodebuild \
  -project "MyApp.xcodeproj" \
  -scheme "MyApp" \
  -configuration Debug \
  -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,id=$UDID" \
  -derivedDataPath ".build/DerivedData" \
  build

xcrun simctl install "$UDID" ".build/DerivedData/Build/Products/Debug-iphonesimulator/MyApp.app"
xcrun simctl launch "$UDID" "com.example.app"

Use xcodebuild -showBuildSettings if the app bundle path differs from the default location.

3) Capture screenshots with AXe (or asc screenshots run)

Prefer plan-driven capture:

asc screenshots run --plan ".asc/screenshots.json" --udid "$UDID" --output json

Useful AXe primitives during plan authoring:

axe describe-ui --udid "$UDID"
axe tap --id "search_field" --udid "$UDID"
axe type "wwdc" --udid "$UDID"
axe screenshot --output "./screenshots/raw/home.png" --udid "$UDID"

Minimal .asc/screenshots.json example:

{
  "version": 1,
  "app": {
    "bundle_id": "com.example.app",
    "udid": "booted",
    "output_dir": "./screenshots/raw"
  },
  "steps": [
    { "action": "launch" },
    { "action": "wait", "duration_ms": 800 },
    { "action": "screenshot", "name": "home" }
  ]
}

4) Frame screenshots with asc screenshots frame

asc cli pins framing to Koubou 0.13.0. Install and verify before running framing steps:

pip install koubou==0.13.0
kou --version  # expect 0.13.0

List supported frame device values first:

asc screenshots list-frame-devices --output json

Frame one screenshot (defaults to iphone-air):

asc screenshots frame \
  --input "./screenshots/raw/home.png" \
  --output-dir "./screenshots/framed" \
  --device "iphone-air" \
  --output json

Supported --device values:

• iphone-air (default)
• iphone-17-pro
• iphone-17-pro-max
• iphone-16e
• iphone-17

5) Upload screenshots with asc

Generate and review artifacts before upload:

asc screenshots review-generate --framed-dir "./screenshots/framed" --output-dir "./screenshots/review"
asc screenshots review-open --output-dir "./screenshots/review"
asc screenshots review-approve --all-ready --output-dir "./screenshots/review"

Upload from the configured source directory (default ./screenshots/framed when framing is enabled):

asc screenshots upload \
  --version-localization "LOC_ID" \
  --path "./screenshots/framed" \
  --device-type "IPHONE_65" \
  --output json

List or validate before upload when needed:

asc screenshots sizes --output table
asc screenshots list --version-localization "LOC_ID" --output table

Agent behavior

• Always confirm exact flags with --help before running commands.
• Re-check command paths with asc screenshots --help because screenshot commands are evolving quickly.
• Keep outputs deterministic: default to JSON for machine steps.
• Prefer asc screenshots list-frame-devices --output json before selecting a frame device.
• Ensure screenshot files exist before upload.
• Use explicit long flags (--app, --output, --version-localization, etc.).
• Treat screenshot-local automation as experimental and call it out in user-facing handoff notes.
• If framing fails with a version error, re-install pinned Koubou: pip install koubou==0.13.0.

6) Multi-locale capture (optional)

Do not use xcrun simctl launch ... -e AppleLanguages for localization. -e is an environment variable pattern and does not reliably switch app language.

For this pipeline, use simulator-wide locale defaults per UDID. This works with asc screenshots capture, which relaunches the app internally.

# Map each locale to a dedicated simulator UDID.
# (Create these simulators once with `xcrun simctl create`.)
declare -A LOCALE_UDID=(
  ["en-US"]="UDID_EN_US"
  ["de-DE"]="UDID_DE_DE"
  ["fr-FR"]="UDID_FR_FR"
  ["ja-JP"]="UDID_JA_JP"
)

set_simulator_locale() {
  local UDID="$1"
  local LOCALE="$2"            # e.g. de-DE
  local LANG="${LOCALE%%-*}"   # de
  local APPLE_LOCALE="${LOCALE/-/_}" # de_DE

  xcrun simctl boot "$UDID" || true
  xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLanguages -array "$LANG"
  xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLocale -string "$APPLE_LOCALE"
}

for LOCALE in "${!LOCALE_UDID[@]}"; do
  UDID="${LOCALE_UDID[$LOCALE]}"
  echo "Capturing $LOCALE on $UDID..."
  set_simulator_locale "$UDID" "$LOCALE"

  xcrun simctl terminate "$UDID" "com.example.app" || true
  asc screenshots capture \
    --bundle-id "com.example.app" \
    --name "home" \
    --udid "$UDID" \
    --output-dir "./screenshots/raw/$LOCALE" \
    --output json
done

If you launch manually (outside asc screenshots capture), use app launch arguments:

xcrun simctl launch "$UDID" "com.example.app" -AppleLanguages "(de)" -AppleLocale "de_DE"

7) Parallel execution for speed

Run one locale per simulator UDID in parallel:

#!/bin/bash
# parallel-capture.sh

declare -A LOCALE_UDID=(
  ["en-US"]="UDID_EN_US"
  ["de-DE"]="UDID_DE_DE"
  ["fr-FR"]="UDID_FR_FR"
  ["ja-JP"]="UDID_JA_JP"
)

capture_locale() {
  local LOCALE="$1"
  local UDID="$2"
  local LANG="${LOCALE%%-*}"
  local APPLE_LOCALE="${LOCALE/-/_}"

  echo "Starting $LOCALE on $UDID"
  xcrun simctl boot "$UDID" || true
  xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLanguages -array "$LANG"
  xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLocale -string "$APPLE_LOCALE"
  xcrun simctl terminate "$UDID" "com.example.app" || true

  asc screenshots capture \
    --bundle-id "com.example.app" \
    --name "home" \
    --udid "$UDID" \
    --output-dir "./screenshots/raw/$LOCALE" \
    --output json

  echo "Completed $LOCALE"
}

for LOCALE in "${!LOCALE_UDID[@]}"; do
  capture_locale "$LOCALE" "${LOCALE_UDID[$LOCALE]}" &
done

wait
echo "All captures done. Now framing..."

Or use xargs with locale:udid pairs:

printf "%s\n" \
  "en-US:UDID_EN_US" \
  "de-DE:UDID_DE_DE" \
  "fr-FR:UDID_FR_FR" \
  "ja-JP:UDID_JA_JP" | xargs -P 4 -I {} bash -c '
    PAIR="{}"
    LOCALE="${PAIR%%:*}"
    UDID="${PAIR##*:}"
    LANG="${LOCALE%%-*}"
    APPLE_LOCALE="${LOCALE/-/_}"
    xcrun simctl boot "$UDID" || true
    xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLanguages -array "$LANG"
    xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLocale -string "$APPLE_LOCALE"
    xcrun simctl terminate "$UDID" "com.example.app" || true
    asc screenshots capture --bundle-id "com.example.app" --name "home" --udid "$UDID" --output-dir "./screenshots/raw/$LOCALE" --output json
  '

8) Full multi-locale pipeline example

#!/bin/bash
# full-pipeline-multi-locale.sh

declare -A LOCALE_UDID=(
  ["en-US"]="UDID_EN_US"
  ["de-DE"]="UDID_DE_DE"
  ["fr-FR"]="UDID_FR_FR"
  ["es-ES"]="UDID_ES_ES"
  ["ja-JP"]="UDID_JA_JP"
)

DEVICE="iphone-air"
RAW_DIR="./screenshots/raw"
FRAMED_DIR="./screenshots/framed"

# Step 1: Parallel capture with per-simulator locale defaults
for LOCALE in "${!LOCALE_UDID[@]}"; do
  (
    UDID="${LOCALE_UDID[$LOCALE]}"
    LANG="${LOCALE%%-*}"
    APPLE_LOCALE="${LOCALE/-/_}"

    xcrun simctl boot "$UDID" || true
    xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLanguages -array "$LANG"
    xcrun simctl spawn "$UDID" defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleLocale -string "$APPLE_LOCALE"
    xcrun simctl terminate "$UDID" "com.example.app" || true

    asc screenshots capture \
      --bundle-id "com.example.app" \
      --name "home" \
      --udid "$UDID" \
      --output-dir "$RAW_DIR/$LOCALE" \
      --output json
    echo "Captured $LOCALE"
  ) &
done
wait

# Step 2: Parallel framing
for LOCALE in "${!LOCALE_UDID[@]}"; do
  (
    asc screenshots frame \
      --input "$RAW_DIR/$LOCALE/home.png" \
      --output-dir "$FRAMED_DIR/$LOCALE" \
      --device "$DEVICE" \
      --output json
    echo "Framed $LOCALE"
  ) &
done
wait

# Step 3: Generate review (single run, aggregates all locales)
asc screenshots review-generate \
  --framed-dir "$FRAMED_DIR" \
  --output-dir "./screenshots/review"

# Step 4: Upload (run per locale if needed)
for LOCALE in "${!LOCALE_UDID[@]}"; do
  asc screenshots upload \
    --version-localization "LOC_ID_FOR_$LOCALE" \
    --path "$FRAMED_DIR/$LOCALE" \
    --device-type "IPHONE_65" \
    --output json
done