Apple publishes iOS and macOS apps only for members of the Apple Developer Program. The membership gives you access to the Developer portal, where certificates and bundle identifiers are managed, and to App Store Connect, where apps, builds, and store texts live. The platform later accesses both through an API key from App Store Connect.
Enroll in the Apple Developer Program
- Open developer.apple.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
- Choose Account or Enroll and complete the registration for the Apple Developer Program. Apple charges an annual fee for it; the current amount is listed by Apple.
- After approval you will find the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles section in the Developer portal and can sign in to App Store Connect at appstoreconnect.apple.com.
Organizations usually work with one shared team of which several people are members. You find the Team ID of that team in the Developer portal under Membership or in the account settings; the platform asks for it when you store the credentials.
Roles and API keys in App Store Connect
In App Store Connect you manage apps, metadata, builds, and users. Every user has a role such as Admin, App Manager, or Developer that defines what they can see and change. The pipeline does not use a personal account but a named API key in the form of a .p8 file. It allows machine access to the API and does not replace your Apple ID password. API keys get a role as well; grant only the permissions the key really needs. For uploads and metadata, the App Manager role is usually enough.
Once the membership is active, create the key as described under App Store credentials.