Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Your answer clarified that the behavior is intentional --- the AAC capability is restricted to specific distribution channels --- and we will proceed accordingly.
We plan to transition our testing environment to use an App Store Organization team account, following the recommended path of Apple Distribution + TestFlight for internal testing.
(As a side note: it is a bit unfortunate that we won't be able to use our internally built stage-based automated build/distribution pipeline for this workflow, but we understand the policy.)
One piece of feedback I'd like to share regarding the Apple Developer Portal UX:
When downloading an InHouse Distribution Provisioning Profile from the portal, the Enabled Capabilities section displays:
App Groups, Associated Domains, Automatic Assessment Configuration, In-App Purchase, Push Notifications
This listing implies that AAC is included in the downloaded profile. However, as confirmed in this thread, the entitlement key (com.apple.developer.automatic-assessment-configuration) is not actually embedded in the InHouse Distribution profile due to distribution channel restrictions.
This discrepancy between what the portal UI shows and what is actually present in the profile caused significant confusion during our investigation. We had to physically diff the .mobileprovision files to discover the entitlement was missing.
It would greatly reduce developer confusion if the portal clearly distinguished between:
Capabilities assigned to the App ID (what the portal currently shows), and
Capabilities actually embedded in the downloaded profile for the selected distribution type.
A simple indicator --- such as a note like "Not available for InHouse distribution" next to restricted capabilities --- would prevent others from going through the same troubleshooting process.
Thank you again for the thorough response and the pointer to the capability restriction guide. Much appreciated.
Topic:
Code Signing
SubTopic:
Entitlements
Tags: