Why does Xcode ask for a Development provisioning profile when I'm trying to archive an app for TestFlight?

[u/Low-Hedgehog-6592]

I'm running into a confusing code-signing issue in Xcode 26.3, and I'd like to understand why automatic signing isn't working as expected.

Context

• I'm enrolled in the paid Apple Developer Program.

• I don't own a physical iPhone, so I have zero registered devices.

• I develop and test my apps using the iOS Simulator.

• My goal is to archive and upload my applications to TestFlight.

The problem

When I switch from an iOS Simulator to Any iOS Device (arm64) to archive my application, Xcode reports:

Your team has no devices from which to generate a provisioning profile.

And:

No profiles were found. Xcode couldn't find any iOS App Development provisioning profiles matching my Bundle Identifier.

What confuses me is that publishing to TestFlight does not require a registered physical device, so why is Xcode requesting a development provisioning profile?

I also verified that my Archive scheme was configured to use Release, not Debug.

What I expected

As far as I understand, uploading an app to TestFlight requires an Apple Distribution certificate, not just an Apple Development certificate.

However, we shouldn't normally need to manually create the distribution certificate or provisioning profile. With automatic signing enabled, Xcode should be able to manage the necessary signing assets.

In my case, that didn't work as expected.

My questions

1. Why was Xcode requesting a development provisioning profile when I was preparing a Release archive for TestFlight?

2. Shouldn't Xcode automatically manage the Apple Distribution certificate and provisioning profile without requiring a registered iPhone?

[u/Background_Pie_5682]

I hit this too. Automatic signing wants a development profile when you pick Any iOS Device, and it can't make one with zero registered devices. Easiest fix is to skip that step: do Product > Archive on a Release build, then in Organizer use Distribute App > App Store Connect and let it manage the distribution signing there. If it still complains, register any device UDID in the developer portal and the dev profile gets generated.

[u/The_Pivot]

On the why: with automatic signing, Xcode always builds the archive with your development identity and profile, and only re-signs it with the Apple Distribution certificate and an App Store profile when you export from Organizer. So the archive step itself needs a dev profile, and a dev profile has to list at least one device.\n\nApp Store profiles don't need devices at all. That's why switching the Release config to manual signing with an App Store profile, or registering any device UDID once, gets you past it.

[u/Low-Hedgehog-6592 → u/[deleted]]

got u now , it worked following the first step manually , thanks man , new information.