asc localize metadata

Use this skill to pull English (or any source locale) App Store metadata, translate it with LLM, and push translations back to App Store Connect — all automated.

Command discovery and output conventions

• Always confirm flags with --help for the exact asc version:
  • asc localizations --help
  • asc localizations download --help
  • asc localizations upload --help
  • asc apps info edit --help
• Prefer explicit long flags (--app, --version, --version-id, --type, --app-info).
• Default output is JSON; use --output table only for human verification steps.
• Prefer deterministic ID-based operations. Do not "pick the first row" via head -1 unless the user explicitly agrees.

Preconditions

• Auth configured (asc auth login or ASC_* env vars)
• Know your app ID (asc apps list to find it)
• At least one locale (typically en-US) already has metadata in App Store Connect

Supported Locales

App Store Connect locales for version and app-info localizations:

ar-SA, ca, cs, da, de-DE, el, en-AU, en-CA, en-GB, en-US,
es-ES, es-MX, fi, fr-CA, fr-FR, he, hi, hr, hu, id, it,
ja, ko, ms, nl-NL, no, pl, pt-BR, pt-PT, ro, ru, sk,
sv, th, tr, uk, vi, zh-Hans, zh-Hant

Two Types of Metadata

Version Localizations (per-release)

Fields: description, keywords, whatsNew, supportUrl, marketingUrl, promotionalText

App Info Localizations (app-level, persistent)

Fields: name, subtitle, privacyPolicyUrl, privacyChoicesUrl, privacyPolicyText

Workflow

Step 1: Resolve IDs

# Find app ID
asc apps list --output table

# Find latest version ID
asc versions list --app "APP_ID" --state READY_FOR_DISTRIBUTION --output table
# or for editable version:
asc versions list --app "APP_ID" --state PREPARE_FOR_SUBMISSION --output table

# Find app info ID (for app-level fields like name/subtitle)
asc apps info list --app "APP_ID" --output table

Notes:

• Version-localization fields (description, keywords, whatsNew, etc.) are per-version.
• App-info fields (name, subtitle, privacy URLs/text) are app-level and use --type app-info.
• If you only have names (app name, version string) and need IDs deterministically, use asc-id-resolver.

Step 2: Download source locale

# Download version localizations to local .strings files
# (description, keywords, whatsNew, promotionalText, supportUrl, marketingUrl, ...)
asc localizations download --version "VERSION_ID" --path "./localizations"

# Download app-info localizations to local .strings files
# (name, subtitle, privacyPolicyUrl, privacyChoicesUrl, privacyPolicyText, ...)
asc localizations download --app "APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "APP_INFO_ID" --path "./app-info-localizations"

This creates files like ./localizations/en-US.strings and ./app-info-localizations/en-US.strings. If download is unavailable, read fields individually:

# List version localizations to see existing locales and their content
asc localizations list --version "VERSION_ID" --output table

Step 3: Translate with LLM

For each target locale, translate the source text. Follow these rules:

Translation Guidelines

• Tone & Register: Always use formal, polite language. Use formal "you" forms where the language distinguishes them (Russian: «вы», German: «Sie», French: «vous», Spanish: «usted», Dutch: «u», Italian: «Lei», Portuguese: «você» formal, etc.). App Store descriptions are professional marketing copy — never use casual or informal register.
• description: Translate naturally, adapt tone to local market. Keep formatting (line breaks, bullet points, emoji). Stay within 4000 chars.
• keywords: Do NOT literally translate. Research what users in that locale would search for. Comma-separated, max 100 chars total. No duplicates, no app name (Apple adds it automatically).
• whatsNew: Translate release notes. Keep it concise. Max 4000 chars.
• promotionalText: Translate marketing hook. Max 170 chars. This can be updated without a new version.
• subtitle: Translate or adapt tagline. Max 30 chars — this is very tight, may need creative adaptation.
• name: Usually keep the original app name. Only translate if the user explicitly asks. Max 30 chars.

LLM Translation Prompt Template

For each target locale, use this approach:

Translate the following App Store metadata from {source_locale} to {target_locale}.

Rules:
- description: Natural, fluent translation. Preserve formatting (line breaks, bullets, emoji). Max 4000 chars.
- keywords: Do NOT literally translate. Choose keywords native speakers would search for in the App Store. Comma-separated, max 100 chars total. Do not include the app name.
- whatsNew: Translate release notes naturally. Max 4000 chars.
- promotionalText: Translate marketing tagline. Max 170 chars.
- subtitle: Adapt tagline creatively to fit 30 chars max.
- name: Keep the original app name unless explicitly requested to translate it. Max 30 chars.
- Use formal, polite language and formal "you" forms (Russian: вы, German: Sie, French: vous, Spanish: usted, Dutch: u, etc.). App Store copy is professional marketing — never use informal register.
- Respect cultural context. A playful tone in English may need adjustment for formal markets (e.g., ja, de-DE).

Source ({source_locale}):
description: """
{description}
"""

keywords: {keywords}

whatsNew: """
{whatsNew}
"""

promotionalText: {promotionalText}

name: {name}

subtitle: {subtitle}

Step 4: Upload translations

Option A: Via .strings files (bulk)

Create a .strings file per locale in the appropriate directory.

Version localization example:

// nl-NL.strings
"description" = "Je app-beschrijving hier";
"keywords" = "wiskunde,kinderen,tafels,leren";
"whatsNew" = "Bugfixes en verbeteringen";
"promotionalText" = "Leer de tafels van vermenigvuldiging!";

Then upload version localizations:

asc localizations upload --version "VERSION_ID" --path "./localizations"

App-info localization example:

// nl-NL.strings
"subtitle" = "Leer tafels spelenderwijs";

Then upload app-info localizations:

asc localizations upload --app "APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "APP_INFO_ID" --path "./app-info-localizations"

Option B: Via individual commands (fine control)

# Version localization fields (fine control).
# Prefer passing the explicit version ID for determinism.
asc apps info edit --app "APP_ID" --version-id "VERSION_ID" --locale "nl-NL" \
  --description "Je beschrijving..." \
  --keywords "wiskunde,kinderen,tafels" \
  --whats-new "Bugfixes en verbeteringen"

For app-level fields:

# Subtitle/name (app-info localization) is managed via app-info localizations.
# Use the app-info localization .strings + upload flow (there is no `asc app-infos localizations ...` command).
#
# 1) Edit: ./app-info-localizations/nl-NL.strings
# "subtitle" = "Leer tafels spelenderwijs";
#
# 2) Upload:
asc localizations upload --app "APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "APP_INFO_ID" --path "./app-info-localizations"

Step 5: Verify

# Check all locales are present
asc localizations list --version "VERSION_ID" --output table

# Check app info localizations
asc localizations list --app "APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "APP_INFO_ID" --output table

Character Limits (enforce before upload!)

Field	Limit
Name	30
Subtitle	30
Keywords	100 (comma-separated)
Description	4000
What's New	4000
Promotional Text	170

Always validate translated text fits within limits before uploading. Truncated text looks unprofessional. If translation exceeds the limit, shorten it — do not truncate mid-sentence.

Full Example: Add nl-NL and ru to Roxy Math

# 1) Resolve IDs deterministically (do not auto-pick the "first" row)
# If you only have names, use asc-id-resolver skill.
asc apps list --output table
APP_ID="APP_ID_HERE"

asc versions list --app "$APP_ID" --state PREPARE_FOR_SUBMISSION --output table
VERSION_ID="VERSION_ID_HERE"

asc apps info list --app "$APP_ID" --output table
APP_INFO_ID="APP_INFO_ID_HERE"

# 2) Download English source (or your chosen source locale)
asc localizations download --version "$VERSION_ID" --path "./localizations"
asc localizations download --app "$APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "$APP_INFO_ID" --path "./app-info-localizations"

# 3) Read en-US.strings, translate to nl-NL and ru (LLM step)

# 4) Write nl-NL.strings and ru.strings to:
#    - ./localizations/ (version localization fields)
#    - ./app-info-localizations/ (subtitle/name/privacy fields)

# 5) Upload all
asc localizations upload --version "$VERSION_ID" --path "./localizations"
asc localizations upload --app "$APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "$APP_INFO_ID" --path "./app-info-localizations"

# 6) Verify
asc localizations list --version "$VERSION_ID" --output table
asc localizations list --app "$APP_ID" --type app-info --app-info "$APP_INFO_ID" --output table

Agent Behavior

1. Always start by reading the source locale — never translate from memory or assumptions.
2. Check existing localizations first — don't overwrite existing translations unless the user asks to update them.
3. Version vs app-info is different — version fields live under --version "VERSION_ID"; subtitle/name/privacy live under --app ... --type app-info.
4. Prefer deterministic IDs — do not select IDs via head -1 unless explicitly requested; use --output table for selection or asc-id-resolver.
5. Validate character limits before uploading. Count characters for each field. If over limit, re-translate shorter.
6. Keywords are special — do not literally translate. Research locale-appropriate search terms. Think like a user searching the App Store in that language.
7. Show the user translations before uploading — present a summary table of all fields × locales for approval. Do not push without confirmation.
8. Process one locale at a time if translating many languages — easier to review and catch errors.
9. If upload fails for a locale, log the error, continue with other locales, report all failures at the end.
10. For updates to existing localizations — download current, show diff of what will change, get approval, then upload.

Notes

• Version localizations are tied to a specific version. Create the version first if it doesn't exist.
• promotionalText can be updated anytime without a new version submission.
• whatsNew is only relevant for updates, not the first version.
• Use asc-id-resolver skill if you only have app/version names instead of IDs.
• Use asc-metadata-sync skill for non-translation metadata operations.
• For subscription/IAP display name localization, use asc-subscription-localization skill instead.