🤖AltSource CLI

Overview

AltServer for macOS comes with a built-in altsource tool for easily creating and updating AltStore sources using your apps' .ipa files. You can run this tool from Terminal to automatically populate your source with information from a provided .ipa.

Currently, this tool can do the following tasks:

• Create a new source

• Add an app to an existing source

• Update an app to a new version

Instructions

This tool is located in AltServer's app bundle: AltServer.app/Contents/MacOS/altsource. In Terminal, you will need to run this tool from wherever AltServer is located (usually your Applications folder) to enter commands, e.g:

/Applications/AltServer.app/Contents/MacOS/altsource new

There are two main commands, new and update. You can run either of these commands with any of the additional arguments below to overwrite default values.

USAGE: altsource <subcommand>

OPTIONS:
  -h, --help              Show help information.

SUBCOMMANDS:
  new                     Create a new AltStore source, optionally based on a
                          provided .ipa file.
  update                  Update source with new app or version.

new

Generates a new source JSON file either from scratch or based on an existing .ipa file using the --ipa argument. Use the -o argument to change where the file is saved.

USAGE: altsource new [<options>]

OPTIONS:
  -o <o>                  The output destination.
  --ipa <ipa>             An .ipa to add to the source during creation.

update

Adds a new app or app version to an existing source. You can also use this command to edit your source information using the additional arguments below.

OVERVIEW: Update an existing AltStore source.

USAGE: altsource update [<options>] <source-url>

ARGUMENTS:
  <source-url>            The source JSON to update.
  
OPTIONS:
  -o <o>                  The output destination.
  --ipa <ipa>             An .ipa to add to the source during creation.

Additional Arguments

When creating or updating a source, you can provide these arguments to populate optional values or override default values with your own. For more info on any of these arguments, including examples, see the Make A Source page.

Command	Use
--name	The name of the source.
--subtitle	A short tagline for your source.
--description	A marketing description of your source.
--website	A website with more information about your source.
--icon	A URL pointing to your source's icon.
--header	A URL pointing to your source's header image.
--tint-color	A hexadecimal string representing your source's preferred tint color.
--app-name	The name of the app.
--app-developer	The name of the app's developer.
--app-description	A marketing description about your app.
--app-subtitle	A short tagline for your app.
--app-icon	A URL pointing to your app's icon.
--app-tint-color	A hexadecimal string representing your app's tint color.
--app-category	The AltStore category that best represents your app. See here for supported values.
--version-date	The release date for this app version.
--version-description	A description of what's changed in this app version.
--version-download-url	The URL where the provided .ipa will be hosted.

Examples

Create an empty source

path/to/altsource new 

Create an empty source with name

path/to/altsource new --name "my source"

Create a new source from .ipa

path/to/altsource new --ipa myapp.ipa

Create a new source from .ipa with optional app subtitle

path/to/altsource new --ipa myapp.ipa --app-subtitle "My Cool Source" 

Add app to existing source

path/to/altsource update mysource.json --ipa myapp.ipa

Add app to existing source with app category and description

path/to/altsource update --ipa myapp.ipa --category "utilities" --app-description "My New App" 

Update an existing app to a new version with version description

path/to/altsource update mysource.json --ipa myapp.ipa --version-description "bug fixes"

If the .ipa provided does not exist yet in your source, this command will create a new app entry in your Source