Age rating

You say: "What age rating should my app get?" · "Answer the new social media questions."

It does: Walks the 2026 questionnaire with you in plain words, then writes the complete declaration App Store Connect requires — 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ or 18+.

Apple derives the rating (4+, 9+, 13+, 16+, 18+) from a questionnaire. The API stores the answers as one ageRatingDeclaration on the app's App Info, and it only accepts a complete set — a partial PATCH 409s. This tool always sends every attribute; you only decide the answers.

Running the CLI

node <skill-dir>/scripts/asc.mjs <command> [flags]

<skill-dir> is the directory you loaded this SKILL.md from. Below, asc means that line. Credentials come from the environment only.

1. Interview the user — in their words, not Apple's

Ask about what the app actually contains; never guess "NONE" for content you have not seen. The questions, and the config key each answer sets, are in references/questionnaire.md. Ask in batches:

1. Content — violence, sexual content, profanity, horror, drugs/alcohol, mature themes, medical information, weapons, simulated gambling, contests. Each is NONE, INFREQUENT or FREQUENT.
2. Capabilities — user-generated content, messaging or chat, social media features (profiles, following, feeds), unrestricted web browsing, advertising, loot boxes, real-money gambling, health or wellness topics.
3. Controls — parental controls, age assurance (does the app verify age?), and whether social features are restricted by age.

2. Write the config

Only what is not NONE/false needs to be written — everything omitted is sent as NONE or false:

"ageRating": {
  "profanityOrCrudeHumor": "INFREQUENT",
  "userGeneratedContent": true,
  "messagingAndChat": true,
  "socialMedia": true,
  "socialMediaAgeRestricted": true,
  "parentalControls": false,
  "ageAssurance": false
}

• override forces a higher rating than the answers produce: NINE_PLUS, THIRTEEN_PLUS, SIXTEEN_PLUS, EIGHTEEN_PLUS, or UNRATED; NONE means no override. It is sent as ageRatingOverrideV2 — never the deprecated ageRatingOverride, and never both (409).
• INFREQUENT_OR_MILD / FREQUENT_OR_INTENSE from older configs are accepted and mapped to INFREQUENT / FREQUENT.
• kidsAgeBand is deprecated by Apple and no longer sent. Apps in the Kids category set it in App Store Connect.
• ageRating4Plus: true from v1 configs still means "everything NONE/false".

3. Apply and verify

asc age-rating --dry-run   # the full declaration that would be sent, and what differs
asc age-rating
asc check                  # rating.declaration.missing should be gone

Tell the user the resulting tier. App Store Connect shows it per territory (App Information → Age Rating); some territories (Korea, Brazil, Vietnam) rate separately.

Judgement calls

• User-generated content or chat → Apple also expects moderation: a way to report content, block users, and filter objectionable material (guideline 1.2). Ask whether the app has them; if not, that is a likely rejection, not an age-rating question.
• AI chat or generated content counts as user-generated content and unrestricted content unless the output is filtered — answer conservatively.
• Health or wellness topics is true for fitness, diet, meditation, period tracking; medicalOrTreatmentInformation is for diagnosis or treatment content. Apps in Health & Fitness or Medical may also need the EU/UK/US regulated-medical-device declaration in App Store Connect (UI only).
• Web views that can reach arbitrary sites → unrestrictedWebAccess: true, which rates 18+ unless restricted.
• Loot boxes are lootBox: true; simulated casino games are gamblingSimulated; real-money gambling is gambling: true and needs licensing (guideline 5.3).

When it fails

Checked against the App Store Review Guidelines of June 8, 2026.