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Building

Follow these steps if you want to build LiveContainer yourself or contribute code changes.

1. Clone with submodules​

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/LiveContainer/LiveContainer.git
# or, if you already cloned:
git submodule update --init --recursive

The repository depends on several submodules (fishhook, litehook, OpenSSL) that must be present before building.

2. Install prerequisites​

  • Xcode 15.4+ with the iOS 18 SDK (newer SDKs also work, but keep deployment targets in mind).
  • A paid or free Apple developer account so you can sign debug builds.
  • (Optional) Python 3 if you plan to run helper scripts such as update_json.py.

3. Configure signing​

Open xcconfigs/Global.xcconfig, set DEVELOPMENT_TEAM[config=Debug] (and Release if needed) to your Team ID, and ensure your bundle identifiers are unique if you run multiple local builds.

4. Build from Xcode​

  1. Open LiveContainer.xcodeproj.
  2. Select the LiveContainer scheme.
  3. Choose your target device (LiveContainer must run on-device).
  4. Press Run.

LiveProcess, MultitaskSupport extensions, and tweak helper targets are automatically built as dependencies when the main target compiles.

5. Optional components​

  • TestJITLess: contains utilities for validating JIT-less signing workflows.
  • TweakLoader: if you modify tweak loading, build/archive this target and replace the bundled dylib.
  • SideStore helpers: ensure the SideStore target also signs correctly if you are testing JIT automation.

After the app installs on-device, follow the Installation guide to import certificates and enable features such as JIT-less mode.