MacInstallerBolt

Who it's for

Indie macOS app developers (1–5 people) who today hand-run hdiutil/dmgbuild/productbuild + altool/notarize or use ad-hoc CI scripts to create installers.

The problem

Time and reputation: repeated notarization/App-transit rejections and GTB (Gatekeeper) install failures cost hours per release and lead to lost users and refund requests (time + lost revenue), plus occasional Apple notarization rejections that require legal-style appeals.

How to build it

Command-line tool (npm/pip/homebrew installable) with an optional tiny hosted runner (one-click via GitHub Actions) that accepts a signed .app bundle (or repo) and returns a zipped notarized DMG/PKG plus a 1‑page compatibility/notarization report (PDF) and a GitHub Action artifact link.

How it makes money

Who pays: indie Mac developers and small agencies; price: $8–20/month per developer or $25 one-time per app artifact + $5/month for hosted runner; why: saves hours per release and reduces refund/support costs and reputational harm; why not free: the hosted notarization runner needs macOS signing hardware/Apple IDs and per‑artifact Apple notarization API quota, so a paid wrapper is required to support automated key handling and uptime without asking users to run their own macOS CI servers.

Why it doesn't exist yet

Apple's tooling is brittle and changing (e.g., hdiutil deprecations), and existing CI templates are fragmented; larger vendors bundle installer workflows into big DevOps suites that are heavy and expensive. An indie can win by shipping a narrowly scoped, well-documented, Apple-updated workflow that automates the repetitive notarize+staple+report steps and integrates with GitHub Actions in a tiny package.

First users

First users are solo Mac devs and micro‑teams who frequently publish on Product Hunt/MacStories and currently debug notarization failures: they will adopt to stop wasting time on occasional blocking Apple rejections and to provide customers a compatible installer that doesn't trigger Gatekeeper — they get a working artifact + a shareable compliance PDF they can post with releases.

Build size

1–2 people × 8–10 weeks: includes a CLI wrapper implementing DMG/PKG generation, notarization stapling, and a small web UI/GH Action for artifact uploading; excludes building a multi-tenant macOS cloud farm (hosted runner will use ephemeral macOS CI instances via a single managed provider or optional user-owned runner).

Biggest risk

Apple could release a first-party, turnkey notarize+packaging API/Action that removes the main friction (e.g., a built-in Xcode/Transporter action that produces stapled DMGs in CI), or changes notarization to require only App Store distribution, eliminating the need for the workflow.

Conditions for a hit (all 3 required)

• Produces a notarized, stapled DMG or PKG artifact from a provided .app bundle within 3 minutes on the hosted runner (artifact downloadable URL and SHA256 provided).
• Generates a one-page PDF compatibility/notarization report citing exact Apple log messages (log excerpts, timestamps) and listing which deprecated tools/flags were used and which replacements were applied (e.g., 'hdiutil deprecated; used create-dmg v2.1' or 'staple success at 2026-09-01T12:34:56Z').
• Provides a GitHub Action that runs on push tags and within 5 minutes uploads the notarized installer as a release artifact and posts the 1-page report as a release asset (observable via GH release assets).

How it's judged (in 6 months)

Product Hunt daily top 5 or GitHub 1,000 stars (either qualifies)(judgment date 2027-02-23)

AI self-confidence 55/100 — self-reported likelihood of meeting the criterion, not a business success rate