canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/googleapis.com/playcustomapp

# Google Play Custom App Publishing API

The Google Play Custom App Publishing API lets enterprise app developers publish private Android apps directly to specific managed Google Play organisations without going through the public store review queue. The single endpoint creates a custom app under a developer account and associates it with one or more enterprise organisation IDs, returning the package name and Play Console identifiers needed for subsequent uploads. It is intended for managed-Google-Play customers who distribute internal-only Android binaries to employees.

## For AI agents

Publish a private Android app to specific managed Google Play enterprise organisations from a developer account.

## Scope

Does not upload APKs, manage release tracks, or list public store apps - use only to register a private app under a developer account scoped to enterprise organisations.

## Capabilities

- Create a custom Android app under a developer account targeting one or more enterprise organisations
- Associate a new app's package name with the calling developer account in Play Console
- Restrict an app's visibility to a defined list of managed Google Play organisations
- Return the package name and identifiers needed to upload an APK or AAB through Play Developer API

## Use cases

### Private Enterprise App Rollout

An IT team building an internal-only Android app for their workforce uses the Custom App Publishing API to register the app under their developer account and bind it to their enterprise organisation ID in one call. The app does not appear in the public Play Store and bypasses the public-listing review path. After registration, the team uses the Android Publisher API to upload AAB binaries and manage release tracks.

Example prompt: POST /playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps with body {title: 'Acme Inventory', languageCode: 'en-US', organizations: [{organizationId: '01a2b3c4'}]} to register the app for a single enterprise.

### MDM Onboarding Flow

A mobile device management vendor automates the creation of customer-specific app variants when onboarding a new managed Google Play customer. The API call provisions the app, returns the package name, and the MDM platform then triggers the binary upload through Android Publisher. End-to-end onboarding drops from a manual multi-day Play Console process to under an hour.

Example prompt: Call POST /playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{developerAccount}/customApps with the customer's organizationId, capture the returned packageName, and queue an AAB upload job for that package.

### AI Agent App Publishing via Jentic

An automation agent that handles app release workflows can call the Custom App Publishing API through Jentic to register new private apps without the developer juggling OAuth scopes or Play Console steps. Jentic stores the developer's refresh token in its vault and exposes the customApps.create operation as a single search-load-execute flow, turning a 30-minute manual setup into a one-step agent call.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'create a Google Play custom app', load the customApps.create schema, and execute it with the developer account ID, app title, languageCode, and organizationId.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| POST | /playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps | Create a custom app under a developer account scoped to one or more enterprise organisations |

## Key resources

- **customApps** — Create custom Android apps that are restricted to specific managed Google Play organisations

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the Google Play Custom App Publishing API by hand means configuring Google Play developer OAuth 2.0, minting a scoped access token, and posting the custom app to the account path on playcustomapp.googleapis.com yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Google Play Custom App Publishing API from the API Directory, store the OAuth credential once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** The Google Play Custom App Publishing API puts the developer account in the URL path (/playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps), so a rule can pin your agent to one developer account: it can register a private app there and nothing else. Registering the custom app is the only operation in the allowed set unless you add more.
- **Credential handling:** Your Google Play developer OAuth credential is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'create a Google Play custom app', and Jentic returns the customApps create operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **Google Play Android Publisher API** — Upload APK and AAB binaries and manage release tracks for the app you create here
- **Android Management API** — Provision and manage devices that will install the custom app
- **Google Play Integrity API** — Verify the published app is running on a genuine device and binary

## FAQ

### What authentication does the Google Play Custom App Publishing API use?

It uses OAuth 2.0 with the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/androidpublisher scope and requires a Google Play developer account. Service accounts are typically used for automation. Through Jentic the refresh token is stored in the vault and a scoped access token is minted at call time.

### Can I upload an APK with this API?

No. The Custom App Publishing API only registers a new app and binds it to enterprise organisations through POST /playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps. APK and AAB uploads, release tracks, and listings are handled by the separate Android Publisher API once the app exists.

### What are the rate limits for this API?

Like other Google Play developer APIs it follows project-level Google Cloud quotas. Default limits are conservative because custom-app creation is a low-volume administrative operation; raise the quota in Google Cloud Console if onboarding many enterprises in parallel.

### How do I create a custom app through Jentic?

Run jentic search 'create a Google Play custom app', load the schema for POST /playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps, and execute it with the developer account ID, app title, language code, and the target organizations array.

### Is the Google Play Custom App API free?

There is no per-call charge for the API itself, but it requires an active Google Play developer account, which has a one-time registration fee. Standard Google Cloud project quotas apply.

### Can I make a custom app available to multiple enterprises at once?

Yes. The customApps.create body accepts an organizations array, so a single call can bind the new app to several enterprise organisation IDs. Additional enterprises can be added later through Play Console or by republishing.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Google Play Custom App Publishing API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which operations and credentials the agent may use. Since the developer account sits in the URL path (/playcustomapp/v1/accounts/{account}/customApps), you can pin the agent to a single developer account, and you can restrict it to just the custom-app registration call so it cannot reach any other operation. Nothing beyond registering a private app scoped to your enterprise organisations is available unless you add it.