Send to TestFlight

In the previous tutorial, you built the iOS app with GitHub Actions. You can extend that workflow to upload the build to TestFlight so it can be distributed through App Store Connect.

This guide follows the same flow as the Ionic tutorial for sending an iOS build to TestFlight.

Open .github/workflows/app-ios.yml and add the following steps:

      - name: Create private key for TestFlight
        run: |
          mkdir ./private_keys
          echo "${{ secrets.APP_STORE_CONNECT_P8 }}" > ./private_keys/AuthKey_${{ secrets.APP_STORE_CONNECT_KEY_ID }}.p8

      - name: Send to TestFlight
        run: xcrun altool --upload-app -f output/App.ipa -t ios --apiKey ${{ secrets.APP_STORE_CONNECT_KEY_ID }} --apiIssuer ${{ secrets.APP_STORE_CONNECT_ISSUER_ID }}

This workflow requires the following repository secrets. In your GitHub repository, go to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions and create these secrets:

• APP_STORE_CONNECT_KEY_ID
• APP_STORE_CONNECT_ISSUER_ID
• APP_STORE_CONNECT_P8

Create an App Store Connect API Key

Sign in to App Store Connect.

1. Go to Users & Access > Integrations.
2. Click the + button to generate a new API key.
3. Give the key a name and choose Developer as the role.
4. Click Generate to create the key.
5. Save the .p8 file.

To create the APP_STORE_CONNECT_P8 secret, open the .p8 file in a text editor and copy its contents.

Create the APP_STORE_CONNECT_KEY_ID secret by copying the Key ID value.

Create the APP_STORE_CONNECT_ISSUER_ID secret by copying the Issuer ID value.

Summary

GitHub Actions should now have the secrets and workflow steps required to upload your iOS build to TestFlight.

Review the upload command and output path for your project before relying on the workflow in production.

This workflow builds on the iOS deployment process described in Deploy iOS.