expo-local-ship

CLI to build and submit Expo apps locally.

• iOS submits via xcrun altool using an App Store Connect API key — fast, reliable, fully automated.
• Android submits via eas submit.

Requirements

• eas CLI installed (npm install -g eas-cli)
• A production-local build profile in eas.json with credentialsSource: "local"
• A credentials.json with local signing credentials (docs)

Optional: a ship:prebuild script in package.json for any steps that need to run before the build.

Setup

npm install -D @johnhaup/expo-local-ship

Add scripts to package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "ship:ios": "expo-local-ship ios",
    "ship:android": "expo-local-ship android"
  }
}

Minimum eas.json

{
  "build": {
    "production-local": {
      "credentialsSource": "local",
      "distribution": "store",
      "developmentClient": false,
      "autoIncrement": true
    }
  },
  "submit": {
    "production": {
      "android": {
        "serviceAccountKeyPath": "./path-to-service-account.json",
        "track": "internal"
      }
    }
  }
}

The submit.production config is only needed for Android. iOS submission uses altool directly.

iOS: App Store Connect API Key (one-time)

iOS submission uses xcrun altool with an App Store Connect API key. This is a one-time setup that works across all your apps.

Run the interactive setup:

npx expo-local-ship setup

This will:

1. Prompt for your API Key ID and Issuer ID (from App Store Connect → Integrations → App Store Connect API)
2. Prompt for the path to your AuthKey_<KEY_ID>.p8 file and copy it to ~/.appstoreconnect/private_keys/
3. Save your config to ~/.expo-local-ship.json

1. Go to App Store Connect → Users & Access → Integrations → App Store Connect API
2. Generate a new key with Admin or App Manager role
3. Note your Issuer ID and Key ID
4. Download the AuthKey_<KEY_ID>.p8 file (you can only download it once)
5. Place the .p8 file in ~/.appstoreconnect/private_keys/

Then create ~/.expo-local-ship.json:

{
  "apiKey": "YOUR_KEY_ID",
  "apiIssuer": "YOUR_ISSUER_ID"
}

Alternatively, use environment variables:

export ASC_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY_ID
export ASC_API_ISSUER=YOUR_ISSUER_ID

Environment variables take precedence over the config file.

Usage

# Build + submit iOS (via altool)
bun ship:ios

# Build + submit Android (via eas submit)
bun ship:android

# Build both platforms
npx expo-local-ship both

# Build only, skip submission
npx expo-local-ship ios --no-submit

# Build + open in Transporter app instead of altool
npx expo-local-ship ios --transporter

If no platform argument is provided, you'll be prompted to choose.

How it works

1. Validates eas.json has a production-local profile and credentials.json exists
2. Runs ship:prebuild script if present in your package.json
3. Runs eas build --profile production-local --local
4. Submits the artifact:
   • iOS: xcrun altool --upload-app with your API key (or Transporter with --transporter)
   • Android: eas submit --profile production

Build artifacts are saved to ./build/ in your project root.