---
name: store-pitfalls
description: Known pitfalls with App Store Connect, Google Play and storebound itself, learned from real releases, and what to do about each - store lists that lag right after a create, dry runs that print a count instead of a plan, App Store names taken on a storefront, keyword limits in bytes, Data safety answers without code evidence, missing font glyphs in screenshots, console sign-in and sessions, Capacitor monorepo plugins, duplicates from retries, re-runs and parallel runs. Read it before any store task, and when a store command does something you did not expect.
---

# Store pitfalls

Each entry: **symptom** → cause → what to do → what guards it now. The full changelog of lessons with dates is
`docs/pitfalls.md` in the storebound repository. When you hit a new one, tell the owner and add it there (and here).

## 1. A product you just created is "not there"
- **Symptom:** `apple iap-review` uploads nothing for a product `apple iap` created a minute ago; a list looks short.
- **Cause:** App Store Connect's `/inAppPurchasesV2` list (and Play's product list) can lag for a short while after a
  create. A command that walks the list skips what is not in it yet.
- **Do:** wait a minute and re-run. Never assume a product was handled because the command finished.
- **Guard:** `apple iap-review` compares the config's products with the store's list, names the missing ones
  ("the store's list can lag a minute after creating; re-run") and exits 1. `apple iap` and `play products` read the
  list again after creating and warn about any new product that is not in it yet; their dry runs name products that
  are not on the store.

## 2. A dry run that only prints a count
- **Symptom:** `--dry` says "listing: 20 locales" or "3 change(s)", but not which fields would change to what.
- **Cause:** the command logged a summary instead of the plan.
- **Do:** never ask the owner to approve a count. Show the rows that change (item, action, old → new). If a command
  only prints a count, say so and show the owner the diff from `pull` / `--json` output instead.
- **Guard:** `cli/lib/dry.ts` `dryPlan(title, rows)` prints the standard plan table (`apple iap`, `apple iap-review`,
  `play products` use it); `tests/pitfalls.test.ts` scans `cli/**` for `--dry` branches that print nothing but a count.

## 3. "The app name you entered is already being used"
- **Symptom:** creating the App Store record or saving the name fails although you own no app with that name.
- **Cause:** App Store app names are unique per storefront, across all developers.
- **Do:** ask the owner for a variant (a short suffix such as "Example Notes: Lists") and set `apple.name` in the config;
  keep `app.name` for Play and the brand. Do not pick the suffix yourself.
- **Guard:** `apple.name` overrides the App Store name.

## 4. Keyword field "too long" at fewer than 100 characters
- **Symptom:** App Store Connect rejects keywords that look short enough, mostly in Turkish, German, CJK.
- **Cause:** the 100 limit counts UTF-8 bytes, not characters ("ş" is 2 bytes, a CJK character 3).
- **Do:** shorten by bytes; drop words, not commas.
- **Guard:** `storebound check` counts bytes for keywords.

## 5. Data safety says "email collected" for an app that never asks for one
- **Symptom:** the proposal marks email (or phone) as collected because the app has accounts.
- **Cause:** account features do not imply email collection (anonymous ids, Game Center, Play Games sign-in).
- **Do:** answer only what the code proves; ask the owner for the rest (rule 5).
- **Guard:** `storebound scan` marks email only with evidence (an email field, an email sign-up call) and otherwise
  says "ask owner".

## 6. Boxes or wrong glyphs in localized screenshots
- **Symptom:** Turkish, Polish or Vietnamese captions show fallback glyphs (ş, ğ, ł, ệ) while the English ones are fine.
- **Cause:** the font (or the Google Fonts subset that was downloaded) does not cover those characters, and the
  browser silently draws them with another font.
- **Do:** check every language's characters before rendering, pick a font that covers them or let the fallback fill in.
- **Guard:** `storebound shots fonts` / `shots check` check each language's characters against the fonts' glyphs.

## 7. Console automation stops at sign-in or loses the session
- **Symptom:** `console fill` waits on a sign-in page, cannot find fields, or is signed out on the next run.
- **Cause:** the App Store Connect sign-in runs inside an `idmsa.apple.com` iframe; "User Access" is a plain heading,
  not a labeled group; Chrome drops session cookies unless the last session is restored.
- **Do:** let the owner sign in in the opened window (never type credentials); re-run after the sign-in.
- **Guard:** the console session handles the iframe and the plain heading and starts Chrome with
  `--restore-last-session`; a partial miss fills every field found and leaves only the missing ones to the owner.

## 8. `scan` misses Capacitor plugins in a monorepo
- **Symptom:** SDKs or privacy manifests of Capacitor plugins are not found.
- **Cause:** the plugins live in `apps/native/node_modules` (a workspace package), not in the root `node_modules`.
- **Do:** run `scan` from the project root; check that the stack line lists the plugins.
- **Guard:** `storebound scan` and `privacy-manifest` resolve packages through workspace folders too.

## 9. A second run (or a retry) creates a duplicate
- **Symptom:** two in-app purchases or subscription groups with the same name, a screenshot twice in a set, an
  offer code campaign or a custom product page twice, after a timeout, a crash, a re-run a minute later, or two runs
  at once.
- **Cause:** a POST create retried after a timeout or a 5xx may have been applied the first time; the store's lists lag
  right after a create, so a re-run does not see what the last run made; two writers race; a Play edit redone after
  a commit whose answer was lost.
- **Do:** just run the command again: every write command is an upsert and converges (`docs/idempotency.md`). Never
  retry a create by hand (`storebound api`) without a GET first. If a run says another storebound run holds the lock,
  wait for it; use `--force-unlock` only when that run is really gone. Never run two write commands for the same app
  in parallel.
- **Guard:** `cli/lib/upsert.ts` (findOrCreate: fresh re-check + journal `.storebound/created.json`; createOnce: 409
  = found, an unclear answer is looked up, never re-sent blindly), retries only for requests that are safe twice,
  Play edits deleted on every error and never redone after an unclear commit, screenshot / preview sets keep the
  matching prefix in order, `.storebound/locks/` per app and store. `tests/idempotency.test.ts`.

## Adding a lesson
Every bug found in real use gets an entry in `docs/pitfalls.md` and here, and, where possible, a check or a test
that fails without the fix (see CONTRIBUTING.md).