beeware / beeware/briefcase

Add a --skip-signing option when building macos / ios apps

Open
#1,844 4 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement
Dominant language
Python
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3.3k
Forks
549
Avg merge
1d 4h
Merged PRs (30d)
40

Description

### What is the problem or limitation you are having?

I'm looking to embed the `.app` produced by `briefcase build` in another `.app` bundle. As such I would like the flexibility to postpone the signing of the build products to later, when I actually do the embedding.

### Describe the solution you'd like

`briefcase build --skip-signing` would do everything but sign the code.

### Describe alternatives you've considered

I can remove the signing information with `codesign --remove-signature` and then re-sign later when assembling the final `.app` bundle.

### Additional context

I've already implemented this for my local use with a `pyproject.toml` setting:
```python
skip_signing = true
```
but i think it's probably better as a CLI option.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by locating the macOS and iOS build signing logic and the existing pyproject.toml setting mentioned in the issue. Trace how build options are exposed on the CLI, then verify that --skip-signing leaves the build products unsigned while normal builds retain their current behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
ios, macos, python
Domain
build-system, desktop-dev, mobile-dev
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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