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
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.
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.
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.
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. |
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
{% code overflow="wrap" %}
path/to/altsource update --ipa myapp.ipa --category "utilities" --app-description "My New App"
{% endcode %}
Update an existing app to a new version with version description
path/to/altsource update mysource.json --ipa myapp.ipa --version-description "bug fixes"
{% hint style="info" %} If the .ipa provided does not exist yet in your source, this command will create a new app entry in your Source {% endhint %}