Feedback Assistant request

Draft text for requesting the managed entitlement needed to present a virtual USB device on macOS via IOUSBHostControllerInterface / AppleUSBUserHCI — the prerequisite for generic USB redirection (MS-RDPEUSB). See docs/usb-redirection-feasibility.md for the full feasibility writeup.

Status: not submitted. This is a prepared draft to paste into Feedback Assistant if/when generic USB redirection is pursued. Fill in the bracketed fields first.

Why this entitlement (one line)

IOUSBHostControllerInterface (the user-space virtual USB host controller) is gated by the managed entitlement com.apple.developer.usb.host-controller-interface. It is not in the Xcode Capabilities list, so it can't be self-enabled — it's granted on request via Feedback Assistant, tied to your Team ID, then embedded in a Developer ID provisioning profile. (This is a different, more obtainable entitlement than the DriverKit com.apple.developer.driverkit.transport.usb that blocks projects like usbipd-mac.)

Feedback Assistant fields

Field	Value
Platform	macOS
Descriptive Title	Request for Entitlement — com.apple.developer.usb.host-controller-interface
Problem Area	USB
Type of Feedback	Other Bug (Suggestion/Request)

Description (paste into "Describe the Issue")

Hello — I'd like to request access to the managed entitlement com.apple.developer.usb.host-controller-interface for my team.

Team ID: [your 10-char Team ID — find it via codesign -dv on any signed build, or developer.apple.com → Membership] Developer: [your name] (individual Apple Developer Program account)

Product: macrdp — an open-source, native RDP server for macOS (functionally analogous to xrdp on Linux): RDP clients (Microsoft Remote Desktop / mstsc / FreeRDP) connect to a Mac and drive its desktop, with keyboard/mouse, display, audio, clipboard, drive redirection, and smart-card redirection. It is distributed as a Developer ID-signed, notarized app (not via the Mac App Store). Repository / project: https://github.com/clintcan/macrdp

Why I need the entitlement: I'm adding USB device redirection (the RDP MS-RDPEUSB feature). When a connected client redirects one of its local USB devices, my server needs to present that device as a locally-attached USB device on the Mac, so standard macOS drivers/apps in the session can use it. I intend to implement this in user space using IOUSBHostControllerInterface (driving AppleUSBUserHCI) to stand up a virtual USB host controller and feed it the redirected device's descriptors and transfers — rather than shipping a kernel extension or a DriverKit transport.usb driver. This API path is what requires the com.apple.developer.usb.host-controller-interface entitlement.

Scope: the entitlement would be embedded in a Developer ID provisioning profile and used only by this signed, notarized app. Happy to provide any additional detail about the use case.

Thank you very much for considering the request.

[Your name / contact email]

Before you submit — customize

• Marketing material: the request format mentions linking marketing/company material; the GitHub repo is a sufficient product reference. Add a release page or README screenshot link if you have one.
• Individual vs organization: the draft says "individual account" — change if your team is an organization.
• Honesty: phrased as genuine intent to build the feature (matches the feasibility doc), explicitly noting Developer-ID/notarized distribution and the deliberate choice of the UserHCI path over kext/DriverKit. Specific, real use cases tend to get approved smoothly.

After it's granted (next steps)

1. Create a Developer ID provisioning profile that includes the entitlement.
2. Add a provisioning-profile step to packaging/make-app.sh (today it signs with plain Developer ID and no profile).
3. Sign + notarize as usual; the feature then runs on a stock, SIP-on Mac.
4. Note: the entitlement is baked into this team's signature, so only the officially-signed build can use USB redirection (see the feasibility doc's "distribution wrinkle").