App Release Notes

app-release-notes

Set the App Store What's New (release notes) field for a version, across every active locale. Release notes render in each store's own language, so the default flow translates the source notes per locale before applying. Only the version's whatsNew is touched — the marketing Description, keywords, and URLs are left untouched. Works for any App Store app you can reach with asc; auth is whatever your asc CLI is configured with.

> What's New ≠ Description. "What's New" (whatsNew) is the short > per-version changelog. The App Store Description is the long marketing > copy — this skill never writes it. If the user's text reads like a changelog > ("Fixed…", "Improved…", "Added…") they almost always mean What's New; confirm > before writing anything else.

Workflow (auto-translate — the default)

1. List the active locales and the version it will target:

``bash cd skills/app-release-notes/scripts python3 set_release_notes.py list --app --emit-json ` This auto-resolves the single editable version (state in PREPAREFORSUBMISSION etc.) and prints each locale's current What's New, plus a {locale: text}` scaffold.

1. Translate the source notes into every active locale. You (the agent) do

this — write natural release notes in each store's language (e.g. es-ES → Spanish, zh-Hans → Simplified Chinese, ja → Japanese). Keep the source text's bullet style. Save as a JSON map: ``json { "en-US": "• Improve user experience and UI\n• Improve Chinese translation", "es-ES": "• Mejoras en la experiencia de usuario y la interfaz\n• Mejor traducción al chino", "zh-Hans": "• 优化用户体验和界面\n• 改进中文翻译" } ``

1. Preview, then apply (the script verifies by reading every value back):

``bash python3 set_release_notes.py set --app --notes-file notes.json --dry-run python3 set_release_notes.py set --app --notes-file notes.json ``

That's it — the version stays in its editable state, ready to submit.

Other modes

• One locale only: set --app --notes "…" --locale en-US
• Same text everywhere (rarely right — reads oddly on non-English stores):

set --app --notes "…" --all

• Explicit version (skip auto-resolution, or when several are editable):

add --version to any command.

• Multiple ASC credentials: add --profile (global, before the

subcommand internally — the script handles ordering).

Rules & gotchas

• Version must be editable. Only PREPARE_FOR_SUBMISSION,

DEVELOPER_REJECTED, REJECTED, METADATA_REJECTED, INVALID_BINARY accept metadata edits. If none exist, create a new version first; if several do, the script asks you to pass --version.

• Locale strings must match ASC exactly: zh-Hans (not zh-Hans-CN),

de-DE (not de), ar-SA (not ar). Unknown locales are rejected with the active list. Add a missing one with asc localizations create --version --locale .

• This is version localizations, not TestFlight. Build/beta release notes

are a different resource (asc build-localizations); this skill sets the public App Store "What's New in this version".

• Verify is built in. set re-reads each locale after writing and exits

non-zero on any mismatch, so a green run means it actually stuck.

Script reference

scripts/set_release_notes.py

• list --app [--version ] [--platform IOS] [--emit-json]
• set --app [--version ] [--platform IOS] (--notes-file | --notes "…" --all | --notes "…" --locale ) [--dry-run]

Prereqs: the asc CLI installed and authenticated (asc auth …), and python3 (stdlib only). The script shells out to asc; it never handles credentials or translates text itself.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: vicoa-ai
• Source: vicoa-ai/app-business-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.