Appium - Install iOS apps from a testflight public url

Question

I'm trying to install / run an iOS app from a test flight public url when using appium desktop but get the following error when starting the session:

"An unknown server-side error occurred while processing the command. Original error: Could not install app: 'ENOTDIR: not a directory, scandir '/var/folders/[DIRECTORY_PATH]/[RANDOM_GENERATED_CODE].app''"

The desired capabilities I provided to appium desktop are shown below:

{
  "automationName": "XCUITest",
  "platformName": "iOS",
  "deviceName": "[DEVICE_NAME]",
  "platformVersion": "13.3",
  "xcodeOrgId": "[XCODE_ORG_ID]",
  "xcodeSigningId": "iPhone Developer",
  "udid": "[DEVICE_UDID]",
  "bundleId": "[APP_BUNDLE_ID]",
  "updatedWDABundleId": "[WEDRIVER_AGENT_RUNNER]",
  "app": "https://testflight.apple.com/join/[RANDOM_GENERATED_CODE]"
}

Does appium support this functionality? If so what am i missing?

Answer 1

You should try to download the app before setting up Appium. (with bash script or Java itself)

After downloading, set the local URL in the capabilities.

Answer 2

This error:

install app: 'ENOTDIR: not a directory, scandir '/var/folders/[DIRECTORY_PATH]/[RANDOM_GENERATED_CODE].app''"

Seems to indicate you are pointing to a file, not a directory, which is what the executing code expected. Are you supposed to expand the artifacts from TestFlight before using them? Perhaps something is wrong with the [DirectoryPath] you specified. What's actually at that location after the failure occurs?