time-attack · time-attack · Jul 23, 2026 · Jul 23, 2026 · Jul 23, 2026 · Jul 23, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,43 @@
 > completion state and remaining P0 gates. No version bump or release claim is
 > made here while that status holds.
 
+## [1.64.0.0] - 2026-07-23
+
+## **/ship now takes an Apple app from working tree**
+## **to App Store submission, start to finish.**
+
+Point /ship at a repo with an `.xcodeproj`, `.xcworkspace`, or app-product Swift package and it runs the whole Apple release journey instead of stopping at "archive it yourself." First question, before any archive work: do you have a paid Apple Developer Program membership ($99/year)? Without one there is no App Store and no TestFlight, so the skill says that plainly and offers to walk enrollment in your browser rather than letting you discover it after an hour of signing errors. With one, it preflights everything App Store validation actually rejects: signing team, marketing version and build number, resolved package dependencies, the 1024pt icon, privacy usage strings, export compliance. Then it archives and uploads with the native Xcode toolchain, nothing else. No fastlane, no new dependency in your project.
+
+The finish line runs through the App Store Connect API, not your browser. The skill offers to install `asc` (rorkai's App Store Connect CLI, one brew command, your own API key, telemetry off) and drives metadata, localizations, screenshots, TestFlight, build attachment, Submit for Review, and status monitoring from the terminal. The browser only appears for the three things Apple's API genuinely refuses: creating the initial app record, agreements, and banking/tax. Uploads and submissions run through the durable external-effects wrapper, so a crashed session inspects App Store Connect instead of double-submitting your build.
+
+### The numbers that matter
+
+Source: `bun run scripts/gstack2/run-parity.ts` on this release.
+
+| Metric | Before | After |
+|---|---|---|
+| /ship coverage of the Apple release journey | archive advice | membership gate through Submit for Review |
+| New project dependencies required to release | n/a | 0 |
+| Pinned parity checks | 4,374 | 4,377 |
+
+The +3 checks pin the membership gate, the durable-upload binding, and the no-new-dependency rule, so none of them can quietly regress.
+
+### What this means for iOS builders
+
+The distance between "my app works in the simulator" and "my app is in review" used to be a weekend of Apple documentation. Now /ship walks it with you, asks the one question that actually gates everything, and stops exactly where App Review takes over.
+
+### Itemized changes
+
+### Added
+
+- `references/APPLE-RELEASE.md` generated into the ship tree: paid Apple Developer Program membership gate with honest free-account ceilings, native-toolchain release preflight, archive/validate/upload via `xcodebuild` with App Store Connect API key auth, uploads and submissions bound to the durable external-effects wrapper, and App Store Connect completion (metadata, screenshots, TestFlight, Submit for Review, status monitoring) driven by a consent-gated App Store Connect API CLI (`asc` by default, ittybittyapps and Codemagic equivalents named). Browser/manual fallback only for what the API cannot do: initial app record, agreements, banking/tax.
+- Ship dispatch protocol step 10: Apple platform targets load the adapter before release preparation.
+- Store-asset offers, asked before any generation: SnapAI app icons (one 1024×1024 image, Xcode derives the rest), ASO marketing screenshots via the aso-appstore-screenshots skill, free local device framing via `asc screenshots frame`, free multi-size screenshot decks via the app-store-screenshots editor skill, or bring your own. The skill never spends your image-API budget without asking.
+
+### For contributors
+
+- New `appleReleaseContract()` in `scripts/gstack2/generate-skill-tree.ts`; 3 pinned checks in `run-parity.ts` (4,374 to 4,377).
+
 ## [1.63.0.0] - 2026-07-23
 
 ## **"Go register an API key" is no longer your homework.**

diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.63.0.0
+1.64.0.0
diff --git a/docs/gstack-2/JUDGMENT-PARITY.md b/docs/gstack-2/JUDGMENT-PARITY.md
diff --git a/evals/parity/transcripts/policy-units.json b/evals/parity/transcripts/policy-units.json
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "gstack",
-  "version": "1.63.0.0",
-  "description": "GStack 2 — six portable Agent Skills with an optional host-neutral runtime.",
+  "version": "1.64.0.0",
+  "description": "GStack 2 \u2014 six portable Agent Skills with an optional host-neutral runtime.",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
   "gstack": {

diff --git a/scripts/gstack2/generate-skill-tree.ts b/scripts/gstack2/generate-skill-tree.ts
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ function rootSkill(dispatcher: DispatcherDefinition): string {
   const supplemental = dispatcher.name === 'qa'
     ? '\n9. When `system-functional` is active, read `references/SYSTEM-FUNCTIONAL.md` completely and execute it alongside the selected preserved specialists.\n'
     : dispatcher.name === 'ship'
-      ? '\n9. Before push, PR creation/update, merge, deploy, rollback, release publication, or external notification, read `references/EXTERNAL-EFFECTS.md` and execute the action through its durable state wrapper.\n'
+      ? '\n9. Before push, PR creation/update, merge, deploy, rollback, release publication, or external notification, read `references/EXTERNAL-EFFECTS.md` and execute the action through its durable state wrapper.\n10. When the release target is an Apple platform app (an `.xcodeproj`, `.xcworkspace`, or app-product Swift package is present), read `references/APPLE-RELEASE.md` before release preparation and follow its App Store journey end to end.\n'
       : dispatcher.name === 'plan'
         ? '\n9. Classify the Scale header line from the Build scale section before any questioning begins. Every planning specialist applies its proportional-planning judgment port to that scale.\n'
         : '';
@@ -635,6 +635,57 @@ Do not put secrets in run IDs, effect keys, or command arguments. Existing appro
 `;
 }
 
+function appleReleaseContract(): string {
+  return `${GENERATED}
+# Apple App Store release
+
+Applies when the ship target is an Apple platform app: the repository contains an \`.xcodeproj\` or \`.xcworkspace\`, or a Swift package with an app product. This adapter extends the preserved ship judgment to the App Store journey end to end; it replaces no gate, and every upload or submission remains an external effect executed through \`references/EXTERNAL-EFFECTS.md\`.
+
+Build and upload with the native Apple toolchain (\`xcodebuild\`, \`xcrun\`, \`agvtool\`); finish the storefront work with a consent-gated App Store Connect API CLI as described below. Never add fastlane or another release manager as a project dependency to ship; the release itself adds no new dependency to the user's project — the App Store Connect CLI is a machine tool, installed only with explicit consent.
+
+## Membership gate
+
+Before any archive work, ask one explicit question: does the user have a paid Apple Developer Program membership (US$99/year)? App Store distribution and TestFlight both require it.
+
+- Yes: continue.
+- No: STOP the App Store path. Offer to walk enrollment at developer.apple.com through \`references/THIRD-PARTY-ACTIONS.md\` (enrollment is a purchase the user completes themselves and can take a day or two to activate), or name the free-account ceiling honestly: personal-team signing installs only on the user's own devices and expires after 7 days, with no TestFlight and no App Store.
+
+## Release preflight
+
+Resolve and verify before archiving. Fix what the printed mutation boundary authorizes; report everything else as a blocking finding.
+
+- Signing: development team set on the app target, automatic signing enabled (or a valid distribution certificate and provisioning profile), bundle identifier decided.
+- Versioning: a marketing version users should see and a build number strictly greater than any build already uploaded for that version.
+- Dependencies: \`xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies\` succeeds; if a \`Podfile\` or \`Cartfile\` exists, its install step has been run and lockfiles are current.
+- App Store validation blockers: complete app icon set including the 1024pt marketing icon, launch screen, a usage-description string for every privacy-gated API the app touches, required privacy manifests, an export-compliance answer (\`ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption\`), and a sane deployment target.
+
+## Archive, validate, upload
+
+1. Archive the Release configuration: \`xcodebuild archive -scheme <scheme> -destination 'generic/platform=iOS' -archivePath <name>.xcarchive\` (substitute the actual platform).
+2. Author an export-options plist with method \`app-store-connect\`. Prefer \`destination: upload\`, which validates and uploads in one supported step; \`destination: export\` plus the Transporter app is the fallback.
+3. Authenticate with an App Store Connect API key (\`-authenticationKeyPath\`, \`-authenticationKeyID\`, \`-authenticationKeyIssuerID\`). The \`.p8\` key is a secret under the \`THIRD-PARTY-ACTIONS.md\` rules: stored outside the repository, referenced by path, never echoed.
+4. The upload is an external effect: run it through the durable state wrapper with a key like \`appstore.upload.<bundle-id>.<build>\`. Never re-upload on ambiguity; inspect App Store Connect for the build first.
+
+## Store assets
+
+When preflight finds a missing icon, or the storefront step needs screenshots, ask the user first — one question, then act on their choice. Never generate marketing assets or spend the user's image-API budget unprompted. Offer:
+
+- **App icon**: SnapAI (\`npx snapai\`, the app-icon agent skill) generates a 1024×1024 icon-styled square with the user's own OpenAI key (roughly $0.05–0.19 per icon); Xcode 15+ derives every size from that single image, so no resizer tool is needed.
+- **Marketing screenshots**: the aso-appstore-screenshots agent skill (benefit-headline discovery, deterministic scaffold, Nano Banana Pro enhancement with the user's Gemini key, exact App Store dimensions). If installed, follow its workflow rather than reimplementing it.
+- **Plain device framing**: \`asc screenshots capture\` and \`asc screenshots frame\` — free, local, upload-normalized output (requires the axe CLI and pinned Koubou).
+- **Designed screenshot decks, free and local**: the app-store-screenshots agent skill (parthjadhav editor) — scaffold its editor, prefill \`app-store-screenshots.json\` with captures and copy, and export one bundle covering every required iPhone size per locale; the user can refine slides interactively before export.
+- **User-supplied assets**: always a valid answer; validate dimensions and move on.
+
+## App Store Connect completion
+
+The App Store Connect API covers nearly all remaining work; drive it from a CLI, not a browser. Offer to install a dedicated App Store Connect CLI with one explicit consent question: \`asc\` (rorkai/App-Store-Connect-CLI, \`brew install asc\`) is the default offer; ittybittyapps/appstoreconnect-cli and codemagic-ci-cd cli-tools are equivalents if the user prefers them. It is a machine-level tool authenticated with the same App Store Connect API key, never a project dependency, and its telemetry is disabled unless the user opts in. If the user already has dedicated App Store Connect agent skills installed (for example rorkai/app-store-connect-cli-skills via the standard skills installer), defer to those flows instead of duplicating them.
+
+Through the CLI: description, keywords, and localizations; screenshot upload per required device size; TestFlight groups and testers as an intermediate distribution before review; attaching the uploaded build to the version; Submit for Review; and review-status monitoring afterward. Submission is an external effect like the upload: run it through the durable state wrapper with a key like \`appstore.submit.<bundle-id>.<version>\`.
+
+The API cannot create the initial app record (name, bundle ID, SKU, primary language), accept agreements, or configure banking and tax; those stay on the App Store Connect website, offered through \`references/THIRD-PARTY-ACTIONS.md\` or as a short manual checklist. The same fallback applies to any individual field the chosen CLI cannot set. After submission, report that App Review typically answers within a day or two and close the run; review outcome is not a gate this workflow can hold open.
+`;
+}
+
 function writeSharedContracts(): void {
   const bootstrap = fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, 'runtime', 'runtime-bootstrap.mjs'));
   const browserChoice = fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, 'runtime', 'browser-choice.mjs'));
@@ -656,6 +707,7 @@ function writeSharedContracts(): void {
   }
   write(path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'qa', 'references', 'SYSTEM-FUNCTIONAL.md'), systemFunctionalContract());
   write(path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'ship', 'references', 'EXTERNAL-EFFECTS.md'), externalEffectsContract());
+  write(path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'ship', 'references', 'APPLE-RELEASE.md'), appleReleaseContract());
 }
 
 interface RenderedModuleRecord {

diff --git a/scripts/gstack2/run-parity.ts b/scripts/gstack2/run-parity.ts
@@ -33,8 +33,10 @@ const ALLOWED_DISPOSITIONS = new Set(['VERBATIM_PORT', 'MECHANICAL_PORT', 'JUDGM
 // Removing the /design skill and its design-review offerings then dropped
 // design source modules, routing scenarios, carved sections, and design-only
 // overlays (#696, #1777, #1920, #2189) while keeping #538, which recomputes
-// the inventory to the value below.
-export const EXPECTED_PARITY_CHECKS = 4374;
+// the inventory to the value below. The ship-tree Apple App Store release
+// adapter added 3 more (adapter exists, preserved gate content, dispatcher
+// load).
+export const EXPECTED_PARITY_CHECKS = 4377;
 
 function sha256(value: string | Uint8Array): string {
   return createHash('sha256').update(value).digest('hex');
@@ -208,6 +210,18 @@ export function runParity(): ParityResult {
     check(effects.includes('gstack state effect') && effects.includes('Never retry automatically'), 'Ship external-effect protocol lost durable claim or no-repeat behavior');
   }
   check(fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'ship', 'SKILL.md'), 'utf8').includes('references/EXTERNAL-EFFECTS.md'), 'Ship dispatcher does not bind external actions to durable state');
+  const appleReleasePath = path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'ship', 'references', 'APPLE-RELEASE.md');
+  check(fs.existsSync(appleReleasePath), 'Ship lacks the Apple App Store release adapter');
+  if (fs.existsSync(appleReleasePath)) {
+    const apple = fs.readFileSync(appleReleasePath, 'utf8');
+    check(
+      apple.includes('paid Apple Developer Program membership')
-      apple.includes('paid Apple Developer Program membership')
+      apple.includes('Before any archive work, ask one explicit question: does the user have a paid Apple Developer Program membership')
+        && apple.includes('No: STOP the App Store path')
-      apple.includes('paid Apple Developer Program membership')
+      apple.includes('Before any archive work, ask one explicit question: does the user have a paid Apple Developer Program membership')
+        && apple.includes('No: STOP the App Store path')
+        && apple.includes('The upload is an external effect')
+        && apple.includes('the release itself adds no new dependency'),
+      'Apple release adapter lost its membership gate, durable-upload binding, or no-new-dependency rule',
+    );
+  }
+  check(fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, 'skills', 'ship', 'SKILL.md'), 'utf8').includes('references/APPLE-RELEASE.md'), 'Ship dispatcher does not load the Apple release adapter for Apple targets');
 
   check(files(path.join(ROOT, 'evals', 'parity', 'contracts'), '.json').length === 47, 'Contract fixture count is not 47');
   const baselineRenders = json(path.join(ROOT, 'evals', 'parity', 'baseline-render-hashes.json'));

diff --git a/skills/ship/SKILL.md b/skills/ship/SKILL.md