Demystify code signing and its importance in app development. Get help troubleshooting code signing issues and ensure your app is properly signed for distribution.

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Issues Signing .app with Developer ID Certificate — Missing Private Key and Pipeline Concerns
I’m having issues trying to codesign a .app file. We generated the Developer ID Application certificate using the organization owner’s account. I downloaded the certificate to my Mac and imported it into my keychain, but when I run the codesign command below, I get the following error. Could you help me? What am I doing wrong? Is there any other way to sign the .app executable? From what I’ve seen in other posts, it looks like the certificate needs to have a private key, but the certificate I download from the developer portal doesn’t include the key. Also, about exporting it as a .p12 — I couldn’t quite understand if that’s considered a safe practice, since the organization owner’s private key would be included in this certificate that we plan to use in our pipeline.
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137
May ’25
Persistent “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” entitlement after signing¬arizing
After signing and notarizing our application, the entitlement “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” is removed. However, we want this entitlement to remain and we want to be able to create a corefile when needed. Is it possible to make the “com.apple.security.get-task-allow” entitlement persistent after signing and notarizing, so that our application can create a corefile?
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188
Mar ’25
Disabling Hardened Runtime For Ad Hoc Signing Only
How can I disable Hardened Runtime in Xcode only when signing ad hoc? If I make a new project, Xcode will say Disabling hardened runtime with ad-hoc codesigning. at the beginning of the build logs. However, somehow my project isn't doing this -- it's still hardening the runtime when ad-hoc signing. What should I do to debug this?
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159
May ’25
Xcode failed to provision target. File a bug report...
I do have background Modes added to Xcode. How can I fix this? Automatic signing failed Xcode failed to provision this target. Please file a bug report at https://feedbackassistant.apple.com and include the Update Signing report from the Report navigator. Provisioning profile "iOS Team Provisioning Profile: com.designoverhaul.bladerunner" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.background-modes entitlement. I emailed Dev Support but they said they cant help. Thank you.
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294
May ’25
App Signing and Uploading Intel/Apple
Hello, I am normally a windows programmer, but I am trying to get my PySide/Qt app into the app store. I'm almost there, I just have a couple of questions about the signing process. I have two laptops, one intel silicon, one mac silicon. I created 2 CSR's, one on each laptop and used them to generate 2 Mac Installer Distribution certificates and 2 Mac App Distribution certificates. When it came to downloading the provisioning profile, I selected one Mac App Distrbution Certificate on the interface at developer.apple.com, saved it and then downloaded to the appropriate laptop. I then switched the provisioning profile to the other Mac App Distribution Certificate and downloaded it to the other laptop. I then built the app and uploaded everything using xcrun altool. On the intel machine only(which has the first provisioning profile) I successfully uploaded the package but I get an email identifying lots of similar errors of the type (Lets call it error1): ITMS-90284: Invalid Code Signing - The executable XXXXX must be signed with the certificate that is contained in the provisioning profile. On the ARM machine only i get the following error (Lets call it error2): ITMS-91109: Invalid package contents - The package contains one or more files with the com.apple.quarantine extended file attribute, such as XXXXXXXX embedded.provisionprofile”. This attribute isn’t permitted in macOS apps distributed on TestFlight or the App Store. Please remove the attribute from all files within your app and upload again. On both I get the following error lets call it error3: ITMS-90886: 'Cannot be used with TestFlight because the signature for the bundle at XXXXX is missing an application identifier but has an application identifier in the provisioning profile for the bundle. Bundles with application identifiers in the provisioning profile are expected to have the same identifier signed into the bundle in order to be eligible for TestFlight.' My first inclination is that all the error1's are coming from having two sets of CSRs, Mac Distribution certificates, provisioning profiles etc. Should I have only used one CSR and made one each of the Certificates? I don't know why I have error2. I don't know where the quarantine attribute is coming from and why it would affect the mac silicon and not the intel. Any ideas? my entitlements file has the following: <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-jit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-unsigned-executable-memory</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.cs.disable-library-validation</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.device.bluetooth</key> Error3 is the one where I need to try a few things but knowing what is expected will help. In the provisioning profile when viewed at developer.apple.com it has the APP ID listed as the 10 digit id followed by the bundle ID but I sometimes see just the 10 digit app ID being used and sometimes the bundle ID. I know that it's up to me to figure out how to get it into the build, but knowing what it should be would be helpful. On the other hand the text "Bundles with application identifiers in the provisioning profile ..." indicates that if the application identifier was not in the provisioning profile i might get away with it, but this might be grasping at straws. If you have made it this far, thank you for reading.
Topic: Code Signing SubTopic: General
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May ’25
How to move code signing certificates to another Mac
Hi, I recently created and installed new code signing certificates/keys on my main Mac. How to easily copy these certificates/keys to my another Mac with the same Apple ID? Earlier Quinn suggested: "The easiest way to do this is use Xcode’s import/export feature. Launch Xcode, choose Xcode > Settings, select Accounts, select the account in question, then choose Export Apple ID and Code Signing Assets from the action (…) menu." And it worked fine in 2020-2021. However import/export options are no longer available in XCode 16 anymore. Please suggest a simple solution.
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113
Mar ’25
Struggling to Notarize Electron macOS App – Stuck for Hours
Hey everyone, I've been trying to notarize my Electron macOS app for the past two days without any success. My longest attempt took nearly 4 hours, and my current attempt has already been running for 2 hours and 26 minutes. From what I can see in the logs, the signing step has completed successfully, and the app is currently in the notarization stage. But it's been stuck there with no real updates or progress indicators. Is this kind of delay normal? Has anyone else experienced such long notarization times? Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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Mar ’25
Family Control Entitlements not recognized when distributing
I have been approved for family controls entitlements and see them in my apple certificates for my bundle identifier. I see them listed for Distribution in my Runner, however, when I try to distribute I get the error that I do not have the right permissions. Do I need to get the entitlements for each extension I have as well? I have three extensions that use the family controls.
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141
May ’25
Error "The staple and validate action failed! Error 65 "
Hello everyone, I’m currently developing an Electron application, and I’m trying to properly sign and notarize it for macOS. The notarization process itself seems to complete successfully—the file is accepted without issues. However, when I attempt to staple the notarization ticket to the executable, I consistently get Error 65 with TheStableAndValidateActionFailed. The issue is puzzling because the executable does not change at any point during the process. After facing this issue multiple times in my own project, I decided to test it on a more controlled setup. I followed the steps from this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYBLfjT57hU and the instructions from this macos-code-signing-example which have previously worked for others. Yet, even with this setup, I still get the same Error 65. Below, I have attached the verbose logs for reference. I’m trying to understand what could be causing this issue—whether it’s related to certificates, the signing process, or something else entirely. Has anyone encountered a similar problem, and if so, how did you resolve it? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
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Mar ’25
SystemPolicyAllFiles code signing requirement
Hello. I have an enterprise application that requires specific privileges to execute correctly on MacOS. One of these privileges is SystemPolicyAllFiles (aka Full Disk Access), as we use the endpoint security framework. When we distribute our application, we generate: A signed, notarized pkg consisting of our application binaries. An MDM-compatible .mobileconfig, which contains the SystemPolicyAllFiles setting. We expect our users to install both to get the application to function correctly. However, we have three environments we deploy to: Internal (local development on a developer's workstation), "development" (where features are integrated prior to release) and "production" (what our customers get). For local, our developers create an Apple account and use a Mac Development certificate for signing. They also generate their own embedded.provisionprofile and drop that into their local installation config. For development/production, we use our Developer ID certificate and Developer Installer certificate, with an endpoint security embedded.provisionprofile bound to those. However, when we generate a .mobileconfig, we need to include a CodeRequirement (CR) for SystemPolicyAllFiles. I've been retrieving this using codesign -dr - ... (i.e., the designated requirement aka DR). However, the designated requirement is very specific to the certificate, which is problematic specifically for local development, where each developer has their own Mac Development certificate. Here's what the relevant section of our generated mobileconfig looks like right now: &lt;dict&gt; &lt;key&gt;SystemPolicyAllFiles&lt;/key&gt; &lt;array&gt; &lt;dict&gt; &lt;key&gt;Allowed&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;CodeRequirement&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;identifier "com.example.app and anchor apple generic and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.6] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.1.13] /* exists */ and certificate leaf[subject.OU] = &lt;TEAMID&gt;&lt;/string&gt; &lt;key&gt;Comment&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;app&lt;/string&gt; &lt;key&gt;Identifier&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;com.exmple.app&lt;/string&gt; &lt;key&gt;IdentifierType&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;bundleID&lt;/string&gt; &lt;key&gt;StaticCode&lt;/key&gt; &lt;false/&gt; &lt;/dict&gt; &lt;/array&gt; &lt;/dict&gt; That's in a format that works for our Developer ID cert, but the DR for the Mac Development certificate looks like: identifier "com.example.app" and anchor apple generic and certificate leaf[subject.CN] = "Mac Developer: John Doe (12ABC34567)" and certificate 1[field.1.2.840.113635.100.6.2.1] /* exists */ Question: Is it possible to relax the code requirement so that it is generic enough to cover all Mac Developer certificates and Developer ID certificates we use? If not, is there a way to have one code requirement for our Mac Developer certificates and a separate CR for our Developer ID certificate? My use case is deploying a static "local" .mobileconfig using our internal company MDM (Apple Business Essentials) to all developer workstations so we don't have to have each developer manually configure their system for the software to run. Thanks! D
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Mar ’25
Notarization Fails: “The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate” for Flutter macOS App Plugins (file_picker, file_saver, url_launcher_macos)
Hi all, I’m trying to notarize a Flutter macOS app built in CI (GitHub Actions). The app builds and signs fine locally—codesign --verify --deep --strict and spctl --assess both pass. However, Apple’s notarization service consistently rejects the app with errors like: The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate: file_picker.framework The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate: file_saver.framework The binary is not signed with a valid Developer ID certificate: url_launcher_macos.framework What I’ve tried: Explicitly re-signing all frameworks with my Developer ID Application certificate and --timestamp Removing existing signatures before re-signing Ensuring correct entitlements and bundle identifier Matching the app bundle name and identifier in all places Using both codesign --deep and manual signing of each binary Local validation always passes, but notarization fails in CI Certificate: I am using a “Developer ID Application” certificate (not a “Mac Developer” or “Apple Development” certificate). The output of codesign -dvv for the problematic frameworks shows: Authority=Developer ID Application: [My Name/Team] ([Team ID]) So I believe I am not making the common mistake of using the wrong certificate type. CI Environment: GitHub Actions, macos-latest runner Flutter 3.27.2, stable channel All secrets (cert, Apple ID, app-specific password, team ID) are set up Questions: Has anyone encountered this with Flutter plugins or CI builds? Are there known issues with signing Flutter plugin frameworks for notarization? Is there a way to get more detailed feedback from Apple’s notarization service? Any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated. I’m happy to provide logs, scripts, or a minimal project if needed. Thanks!
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157
May ’25
Notarization and Stapling Failing for Signed PKG & DMG with Error 65 Despite Successful Notary Submission
Dear Apple Developer Technical Support, I am encountering an issue with notarizing and stapling both PKG and DMG installers for our Electron-based macOS application COSGrid. Despite receiving successful notarization submission responses via notarytool, the stapling process fails with Error 65. Environment: App Name: COSGrid Bundle Identifier: com.cosgrid.pkg.COSGrid Developer ID Team ID: YB8S2XZ98K macOS Version: macOS [15.1] Xcode Version: [16.0 (16A242d)] Workflow Summary: For PKG: Build via yarn build (Vite + Electron Builder) Package with pkgbuild Sign using productsign Submit for notarization: xcrun notarytool submit COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg --apple-id "..." --team-id YB8S2XZ98K --password "..." --wait Conducting pre-submission checks for COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg and initiating connection to the Apple notary service... Submission ID received id: a8ff8e09-1ab4-49ed-9f6b-4afb9f09e53a Upload progress: 100.00% (235 MB of 235 MB) Successfully uploaded file id: a8ff8e09-1ab4-49ed-9f6b-4afb9f09e53a path: /Users/murugavel/Documents/MZA/mza/release/2.1.10/COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg Waiting for processing to complete. Current status: Accepted..................... Processing complete id: a8ff8e09-1ab4-49ed-9f6b-4afb9f09e53a status: Accepted Receive notarization success Stapling fails: xcrun stapler staple COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg Could not validate ticket... The staple and validate action failed! Error 65. For DMG: Sign via codesign Submit to notarization — success Attempt to staple: xcrun stapler staple -v COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg Could not validate ticket... The staple and validate action failed! Error 65. Additional Verification: I verified the DMG’s code signature integrity: Command: codesign --verify --verbose=4 COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg Output: COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg: valid on disk COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg: satisfies its Designated Requirement Command: codesign -dvv COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg Output: Executable=/Users/murugavel/Documents/MZA/mza/release/2.1.10/COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64.dmg Identifier=COSGrid-2.1.10-arm64 Format=disk image CodeDirectory v=20200 size=308 flags=0x0(none) hashes=1+6 location=embedded Signature size=9013 Authority=Developer ID Application: COSGrid Systems Private Limited (YB8S2XZ98K) Authority=Developer ID Certification Authority Authority=Apple Root CA Timestamp=1 Jul 2025 at 11:34:05 AM Info.plist=not bound TeamIdentifier=YB8S2XZ98K Sealed Resources=none Internal requirements count=1 size=180 **Verified Signature for .pkg ** pkgutil --check-signature COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg Package "COSGridMZA-2.1.10-arm64.pkg": Status: signed by a developer certificate issued by Apple for distribution Signed with a trusted timestamp on: 2025-06-30 13:57:19 +0000 Certificate Chain: 1. Developer ID Installer: COSGrid Systems Private Limited (teamID) Expires: 2027-02-01 22:12:15 +0000 2. Developer ID Certification Authority Expires: 2027-02-01 22:12:15 +0000 3. Apple Root CA Expires: 2035-02-09 21:40:36 +0000 Diagnostic Logs Attached: Stapler verbose logs for both PKG and DMG codesign verification output for both PKG and DMG Notarytool submission logs Ticket JSON response from Apple API API request/response headers Effective electron-builder.yaml config Key Observations: codesign verification passes successfully for both artifacts Notarization submission reports success via notarytool Stapler fails with Error 65 for both PKG and DMG Ticket JSON fetched from CloudKit API appears valid No provisioning profile used (Developer ID distribution only) Request: Could you please help investigate: Why is the stapler unable to validate or attach the ticket even though notarization completes successfully? Are there any known issues, entitlements, or workflow adjustments recommended in this case? Is any special handling required for Electron apps’ PKG/DMG packages or Hardened Runtime configurations during stapling? I can provide the signed DMG/PKG and full notarization logs upon request. Thank you very much for your assistance — looking forward to your guidance. Best regards, Murugavel COSGrid Systems Private Limited
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116
Jul ’25
Unable to edit problematic keychain-access-groups setting of downloaded provisioningprofile for signing
In an expo managed project which utilizes custom expo plugins, we're having trouble getting the keychain-access-groups entitlement inserted to our provisioningprofile for signing. The provisioning profile we download from apple dev portal contains: <key>keychain-access-groups</key> <array> <string>56APMZ7FZY.*</string> <string>com.apple.token</string> </array> and this is not recognized by xcode for signing; an error is thrown: Provisioning profile "ccpp" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.keychain-access-groups entitlement. A matching error is thrown during EAS build. So we need to find a way to modify the ccpp.mobileprovision locally and then sign the build using the modified ccpp.mobileprovision. Or, we need guidance on the proper way to resolve this situation. Questions: why does the downloaded mobileprovision file have the keychain-access-groups key, and not com.apple.developer.keychain-access-groups? Both Xcode and EAS appear to demand the latter keyname. when I use expo prebuild, I am able to see the following in the .entitlements file: <key>com.apple.developer.keychain-access-groups</key> <array> <string>$(AppIdentifierPrefix)com.myapp</string> </array> I am adding this entitlement using a custom expo plugin. However, the mobileprovision file downloaded from apple developer portal has no knowledge of this setting which is only applied through expo prebuild. So what I am left with at the end is an entitlements file generated by my expo prebuild which has the correct setting, and a provisioningprofile downloaded from dev portal with an incorrect setting, and I don't know how to mend the downloaded provisioningprofile (incorrect setting) with my local entitlements file (correct setting).
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733
Feb ’25
Re-signing .app with a different team's (under same org) Developer ID Application identity
I am developing a macOS app that requires the Associated Domains entitlement. The app will be distributed as a custom app. The app needs to be signed using Team A’s Developer ID Application certificate and packaged under Team A’s Team ID. Team A has a secure signing and packaging setup, but they do not provide access to their Developer ID Application Identity (cert) or their provisioning profile. I am part of Team B and have access to Team B’s Developer ID Application identity and provisioning profiles. I am thinking of doing the following: I create a provisioning profile under Team B that authorizes the Associated Domains entitlement. I sign the app using Team B’s Developer ID Application identity, ensuring the required entitlements are included. Then, I re-sign the app using Team A’s Developer ID Application identity, since Team A has also set up the same bundle ID with the Associated Domains entitlement and corresponding provisioning profile. Questions: Is this approach correct & does it have any drawback? Will the double signing process work without issues, given that Team A has the required provisioning profile for the same bundle ID? Are there better ways to handle this situation where signing must be done under Team A but access is limited? Thanks!
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445
Mar ’25
Notarization of Electron MacOS App taking too long
I started the notarization process for my electron app (just a browser window loading a URL) yesterday (26/03/2025) at around 05:23 GMT. I noticed in a couple of posts here in the forum that it may sometimes take a day to notarize the first app submitted by a team, but it has been over 30 hours since I submitted the app for notarization Here's the log. createdDate: 2025-03-26T05:23:11.102Z id: ddcb3fca-4667-4acb-8fd1-3298a7c244cc name: xolock-browser.zip status: In Progress Is there any reason why it is taking so long? Thanks in advance!
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94
Mar ’25
Is it Possible to Have Stray Content in a macOS Framework?
Is it possible to have some additional content at Versions/A/ in a macOS Framework bundle that is not in any of the standard folders? Will there be any side-effects during signing and notarization? The reason is it'd be a lot easier in my use case to be able to put content here instead of the Resources folder.
Topic: Code Signing SubTopic: General
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May ’25
Notarization Successful but Stapling Fails with Error 65
Product: macOS, Notarization Tool: notarytool, Stapler Tool: xcrun stapler, Application: master-billing.app, DMG: master-billing.dmg I'm attempting to notarize and staple a macOS .dmg file containing a signed .app. Notarization completes successfully, but the stapling step fails with Error 65. All tools are up-to-date and I'm following the official Apple process. #!/bin/bash set -e APP="dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.app" DMG="dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg" IDENTITY="Developer ID Application: NAME (TEAM ID)" PROFILE="notarysiva" VOLUME_NAME="MasterBilling" Sign binaries and frameworks find "$APP" -type f ( -name ".dylib" -or -name ".so" -or -name "*.node" -or -perm -u+x ) -exec codesign --force --options runtime --timestamp --sign "$IDENTITY" {} ; find "$APP" -type d ( -name ".app" -or -name ".framework" ) -exec codesign --force --options runtime --timestamp --sign "$IDENTITY" {} ; codesign --deep --force --options runtime --timestamp --sign "$IDENTITY" "$APP" Create DMG hdiutil create -volname "$VOLUME_NAME" -srcfolder "$APP" -ov -format UDZO "$DMG" Sign DMG codesign --sign "$IDENTITY" --timestamp "$DMG" Verify DMG signature codesign --verify --verbose=2 "$DMG" Submit for notarization xcrun notarytool submit "$DMG" --keychain-profile "$PROFILE" --wait Staple ticket xcrun stapler staple -v "$DMG" Signing all binaries, dylibs, and frameworks... . . ✅ App signing complete. 💽 Creating DMG... ...................................................................................... created: /Users/one/Documents/MASTER/bill-master/dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg 🔏 Signing the DMG... ✅ Verifying DMG signature... dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg: valid on disk dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg: satisfies its Designated Requirement 📤 Submitting DMG for notarization... Conducting pre-submission checks for master-billing.dmg and initiating connection to the Apple notary service... Submission ID received id: 32927c3c-7459-42b4-a90c Upload progress: 100.00% (123 MB of 123 MB) Successfully uploaded file id: 32927c3c-7459-42b4-a90c path: /Users/one/Documents/MASTER/bill-master/dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg Waiting for processing to complete. Current status: Accepted............ Processing complete id: 32927c3c-7459-42b4-a90c status: Accepted 📌 Stapling notarization ticket to DMG... Processing: /Users/one/Documents/MASTER/bill-master/dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg . . . Downloaded ticket has been stored at file:///var/folders/1l/ht34h5y11mv3rhv8dlxy_g4c0000gp/T/5bb9e667-dfe1-4390-8354-56ced7f48fa0.ticket. Could not validate ticket for /Users/one/Documents/MASTER/bill-master/dist/mac-arm64/master-billing.dmg The staple and validate action failed! Error 65.
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171
May ’25
When to notarize artifacts developed in different stages?
Dear Apple Support, for better understanding to use the Notary Service, I would like to ask when and what have to be notarized. I am absolutely aware of using the Notary Service and which packages can be submitted and how to get the status. Scenario: We have one library which is developed by a specific team and other teams develop and deliver to customer MacOS apps which packages this library for the shipment. So, the library will be produced internally and will be shipped in different products. The library will be code signed before we make available internally. When should we notarize (and staple) this library? Directly after the code is signed or when it will be packaged in each product when it will be delivered to customer? Best regards, Stefan
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103
May ’25
Apple Notarization: Long running notarization jobs / day limitation
Dear Apple support, Since the last couple of days, we have some (very) long running notarization requests. Similar requests were done normally under 1 minute. This behavior is unexpected to us, and we did not see it before. The issue occurs for a small CLI tool submitted as a ZIP archive. Checking the documentation, I come across the section about "Avoid long notarization response times and size limits" (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/customizing-the-notarization-workflow#Avoid-long-notarization-response-times-and-size-limits). One fact is mentioned “Limit notarizations to 75 per day.” What is behavior if that limitation is reached? Is that limitation per Apple ID or per team ID? Are there some known issues about Notarization Service? Best regards, Stefan
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287
May ’25
Endpoint Security entitlement while in dev
I'm working on a system extension leveraging endpoint security entitlement. However, while in development, is there a way to continue working and testing locally without having the endpoint security entitlement approved or needing the extension signed. I got these errors running a build: Provisioning profile "Mac Team Provisioning Profile: "com.xxxxx.extension" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.endpoint-security.client entitlement.
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923
May ’25