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Workflows

Chain multiple commands into a single automated run with a workflow file:

ascelerate run-workflow release.txt
ascelerate run-workflow release.txt --yes   # skip all prompts (CI/CD)
ascelerate run-workflow                     # interactively select from .workflow/.txt files

A workflow file is a plain text file with one command per line (without the ascelerate prefix). Lines starting with # are comments, blank lines are ignored. Both .workflow and .txt extensions are supported.

Example​

release.txt for submitting version 2.1.0 of a sample app:

# Release workflow for MyApp v2.1.0

# Create the new version on App Store Connect
apps create-version com.example.MyApp 2.1.0

# Build, validate, and upload
builds archive --scheme MyApp
builds validate --latest --bundle-id com.example.MyApp
builds upload --latest --bundle-id com.example.MyApp

# Wait for the build to finish processing
builds await-processing com.example.MyApp

# Update localizations and attach the build
apps localizations import com.example.MyApp --file localizations.json
apps build attach-latest com.example.MyApp

# Submit for review
apps review submit com.example.MyApp

Confirmation behavior​

Without --yes, the workflow asks for confirmation before starting, and individual commands still prompt where they normally would (e.g., before submitting for review). With --yes, all prompts are skipped for fully unattended execution.

Checking a workflow​

ascelerate run-workflow release.txt --check          # every step parses; nothing runs
ascelerate run-workflow release.txt --check --json   # each step's line, command and error

--check parses each step's arguments and options without running anything, and lists the steps that don't parse with their line in the file.

Following a run from another program​

ascelerate run-workflow release.txt --json-events

With --json-events, stdout carries one JSON event per line and everything readable, the steps' own output included, goes to stderr. The events are workflow (the steps and their lines), step (running, then succeeded, failed with the error, or dry-run), finished, and prompt for every question a step asks: its kind (confirm, choice, choices or text), its message and its options. The step then reads the answer from stdin, one line (y or n, an option's number from 1, or the text). The workflow isn't confirmed first, since the program running it did that. A nested workflow's events carry its depth. Steps that report events of their own when run alone (builds archive, builds upload, screenshot) don't add them here; their progress goes to stderr, except an --api upload's, which comes as progress events of its step (index, sent of bytes). The steps' xcodebuild output is quiet (warnings and errors) unless ascelerate settings --xcodebuild-output full says otherwise.

Nesting​

Workflows can call other workflows (run-workflow inside a workflow file). Circular references are detected and prevented.

Build pipeline integration​

builds upload sets an internal variable so that subsequent await-processing and build attach-latest automatically target the just-uploaded build, avoiding race conditions with API propagation delay.