Blink Shell GPL Builder

This repo is a small script that downloads the Blink Shell GPL source code, removes the paywall, applies a few other build-time fixes, and produces a ready-to-upload IPA.

What the script does

• Clones the Blink Shell repo into blink-src/
• Applies the GPL sideload paywall patch
• Fixes a couple of Swift package pins
• Replaces hardcoded TEAM_ID with configurable value
• Makes the vim runtime fetch repeatable
• Builds the app and places the output in dist/
• Cleans up build-output/ and blink-src/ by default

Requirements

• macOS with Xcode installed
• Xcode Command Line Tools:

  xcode-select --install

• Xcode platform content: install the iOS platform and iOS Simulator runtime (Xcode > Settings > Platforms)
• Git, Python 3, and jq:

  brew install jq

The script runs preflight checks and exits early with clear errors if anything is missing.

Quick start

./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh

Output: dist/Blink-unsigned-v18.4.2.ipa

Upload the IPA to your signing service (AltStore, Sideloadly, etc).

Options

./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh [options] [version]

Build Options:
  --build              Build unsigned .ipa (default)
  --clean              Clean build before building
  --signed-ipa         Create signed .ipa (requires dev account)
  --archive            Create signed archive (requires dev account)
  --setup-only         Only setup/clone, don't build

Device Options:
  --simulator [NAME]   Build and run in iOS Simulator
                       Optional: specify simulator by name or UUID
  --install [NAME]     Build and install to device (requires dev account)
                       Optional: specify device by name or UUID
  --devices            List available physical devices and exit
  --simulators         List available simulators and exit

Source Options:
  --version <VERSION>  Specify Blink version to build (e.g., v18.4.2)
  --update             Update existing source to specified version
  --overwrite          Delete and re-clone source directory
  --clean-all          Remove source and build directories, then exit

Other Options:
  --keep-build         Keep build-output/ after a successful build
  --keep-source        Keep blink-src/ after a successful build
  --help               Show this help message

Examples

# Build unsigned IPA (default)
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh

# Build a specific version
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --version v18.3.0

# List available simulators
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --simulators

# Run in a specific simulator
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --simulator "iPhone 16"

# List connected devices
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --devices

# Install to a specific device (requires dev account)
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --install "My iPhone"

# Fresh build from scratch
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --overwrite --clean

# Update existing source to a new version
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --version v19.0.0 --update

# Create signed IPA (requires Apple Developer account)
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --signed-ipa

# Clean up all generated files
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --clean-all

Output layout

dist/
├── Blink-unsigned-v18.4.2.ipa    # Upload this to signing service
├── Blink-signed-v18.4.2.ipa      # Signed IPA (--signed-ipa)
└── Blink-v18.4.2.xcarchive       # Archive builds only (--archive)

build-output/             # Intermediate build output (removed by default)
├── Products/
├── DerivedData/
└── build.log             # Full xcodebuild output for debugging

blink-src/                # Source checkout (removed by default)

Source management

The script handles existing source directories as follows:

• Default: Reuses existing blink-src/ silently, applying patches
• --update: Fetches latest changes and checks out the specified version
• --overwrite: Deletes and re-clones the source directory

Device selection

When using --simulator or --install, you can optionally specify a device:

• By name: --simulator "iPhone 16" (partial match, case-insensitive)
• By UUID: --simulator "5FDBDDC9-70FD-4DF4-93E6-92DE570374B8"
• Auto-select: Omit the argument to automatically select a device

The device listing commands (--devices, --simulators) filter out devices that don't meet the minimum iOS version required by the project.

Notes

• Use --keep-source if you want to inspect or debug the downloaded Blink source.
• The version defaults to v18.4.2. You can override it with --version:

  ./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --version v19.0.0

• For backwards compatibility, you can also pass the version as a positional argument:

  ./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh v19.0.0

• Build logs are saved to build-output/build.log for debugging failed builds.
• The --archive, --install, and --signed-ipa options require a valid provisioning profile. The script checks for this before building and provides guidance if none is found.

Troubleshooting

Package dependency errors:

rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm
./build-blink-shell-gpl.sh --overwrite --clean

Build failures: Check build-output/build.log for the full xcodebuild output (use --keep-build to preserve it after the build).

Finding available versions (Blink publishes release branches in the repo):

git ls-remote --heads https://github.com/blinksh/blink.git | grep -E "refs/heads/v[0-9]+"

No provisioning profile found: For signed builds, you need an Apple Developer account. Open the project in Xcode (open blink-src/Blink.xcodeproj) and let Xcode manage signing, or download profiles manually in Xcode > Settings > Accounts.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.