ipatool

ipatool is a command-line tool for searching and downloading iOS app packages from the Apple App Store. An IPA file is the package format Apple uses for iPhone and iPad applications. This tool lets you retrieve those files directly to your computer without going through Xcode or Apple's developer tools.

To use it, you log in with your Apple ID using an auth command. From there you can search the App Store by keyword, look up available versions of a specific app, obtain a license for an app (required even for free apps before downloading), and download the IPA file to a local path. The download command accepts either an App Store numeric app ID or a bundle identifier, which is the reverse-domain name Apple assigns to each app internally. You can download the latest version or choose a specific older version from the list of available releases.

The tool runs interactively by default, prompting for credentials and confirmations when needed. A non-interactive flag switches it to a mode suitable for automated scripts and CI pipelines. Output can be formatted as plain text or as JSON.

It is written in Go and runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. On macOS it can be installed through Homebrew; on other platforms you download a binary from the releases page. The source can also be compiled with the standard Go toolchain.

The README documents the commands and their flags in detail but does not describe specific intended use cases. The project is open source under the MIT license.