release: Mac App Store submission on an app-store branch - later

[Adron]

Summary

The Mac App Store is a later distribution path, on a separate app-store branch, because removing Sparkle breaks the .pkg/.dmg channel that is shipping today. Filed now so the work is visible, not because it is next.

Do not start this until the notarized .pkg release has shipped.

Code changes (on an app-store branch)

• Remove Sparkle — six locations, per App-Dmg-Pkg-Deployment.md §7a:
  • project.pbxproj (package reference, product dependency, build file)
  • Package.resolved (the sparkle pin)
  • Info.plist (SUFeedURL, SUPublicEDKeyString, the comment block)
  • delete App/Composition/SparkleController.swift
  • delete App/MenuCommands/UpdatesMenuCommands.swift
  • remove sparkleController and UpdatesMenuCommands(…) from App/InterlinedListApp.swift
• Release signing identity — CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY[sdk=macosx*] from Apple Development to Apple Distribution (Release config BABD889F)
• Version bump — MARKETING_VERSION = 1.0, CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 2 (Debug + Release)

CI secrets (owner-held)

APPSTORE_CERTIFICATES_P12, APPSTORE_CERTIFICATES_P12_PASSWORD, ASC_API_KEY_ID, ASC_API_ISSUER_ID, ASC_API_KEY_P8 (base64 of the .p8 — downloadable only once, so capture it carefully).

App Store Connect

• Register bundle ID com.interlinedlist.macos with App Sandbox + Hardened Runtime enabled
• Create the app record (SKU interlinedlist-macos-001), fill metadata per App-Dmg-Pkg-Deployment.md §6c
• Screenshots — at least 1, recommend 10 at 2560×1600, into brand-kit/screenshots/appstore/
• Privacy Nutrition Label (§10)
• Archive (confirm Apple Distribution signing) → Validate → Upload → select build → App Review Information → Submit

Website — hard blockers for the App Store form

These are backend/site work, deferred until this path is pursued. Neither is needed for the .pkg release.

• Privacy Policy at https://interlinedlist.com/privacy — data collected, storage, third-party sharing (user-triggered cross-posting only), account deletion in Settings, contact, effective date
• Support page at https://interlinedlist.com/support — contact, help-doc links, bug reporting
• Verify both return 200 without login

Demo account for App Review

• A reviewer account on interlinedlist.com with subscriber access and sample content (posts, one list with rows, one document). Record the credentials in App Store Connect.
• App Review notes covering the two behaviours a reviewer will otherwise flag:

  "Settings ▸ Linked Accounts opens the default browser for OAuth — return to InterlinedList when done. The 'Following' timeline scope shows a Coming Soon state (the backend feed is not yet available)."

⚠️ Keep those notes current. Several of the open parity issues change what a reviewer sees — in particular, if the following feed lands, the second sentence becomes false and reads as a stale disclosure.

Acceptance criteria

• The app-store branch builds, archives, and validates with Apple Distribution signing.
• The .pkg/.dmg channel on dev/main is untouched.

Notes

work-consolidation.md §3c. Deliberately last.

[Adron]

Deferred by design — confirming that, and what would have to change

The issue says "later" and the standing distribution decision is notarised .pkg, not the App Store, so this is correctly parked. Recording what is actually true today so a future sweep does not reopen it as an oversight.

Why it is not just a branch away

Three things in the shipped app would need real work before a submission, not just a different export profile:

1. Sparkle. An App Store build cannot ship a self-updater. The Sparkle integration is done and working for the Developer ID path; a MAS target needs it compiled out, which means a build configuration split rather than a flag.
2. The AppKit dock-badge exception. docs/decisions/0005-dock-badge-appkit-exception.md records a deliberate AppKit use. Worth re-reading against current App Review guidance before submitting rather than after a rejection.
3. Sandbox entitlements. The Document Sync Agent writes to a user-chosen folder and registers a LaunchAgent via SMAppService. Under MAS sandboxing that needs security-scoped bookmarks end to end, and SMAppService login items have their own review expectations. This is the item most likely to be a redesign rather than a setting.

There is already an scripts/ExportOptions-AppStore.plist, so the export side is anticipated — it is the three above that are not.

What I need from you

Nothing right now. This stays open as the record.

When you do want it, the first decision is whether the Mac App Store build is a second product (no Sparkle, no sync agent, sandboxed) or whether the Developer ID build gets retired. That choice determines whether this is a branch or a rewrite of the distribution story, and it should be made before any code moves.