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CloudKit Documentation

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Saving a file to ubiquitous storage overwrites iCloud version without conflict
Our app saves its data to iCloud by default. In most cases, this is working as intended & the data can be synced across devices with no problems. But recently, in testing, we discovered a situation where it's possible to save data before the NSMetadataQuery finishes & starts downloading the cloud files. When this happens, the query will then finish, and return the NEW file (with no other versions or conflicts). Is there a way to ensure that writing a file (version A) to ubiquitous storage when another version (version B) exists in the cloud is treated as a conflict, rather than just stomping all over the other version? I've tried querying the file metadata for the file URL (NSURLIsUbiquitousItemKey, NSMetadataUbiquitousItemDownloadingStatusKey, NSURLUbiquitousItemDownloadRequestedKey, NSURLUbiquitousItemHasUnresolvedConflictsKey) before saving, but it just returns nil.
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120
Nov ’25
CloudKit with Unreal Engine
Hi everyone, Im trying to set up CloudKit for my Unreal Engine 5.4 project but seem to be hitting some roadblocks on how to set up the Record Types. From my understanding I need to set up a "file" record type with a "contents" asset field - but even with this it doesn't seem to work :( Any unreal engine devs with some experience on this who could help me out? Thanks!
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122
Sep ’25
CloudKit Query on Custom Indexed Field fails with misleading "createdBy is not queryable" error
Hello everyone, I am experiencing a persistent authentication error when querying a custom user profile record, and the error message seems to be a red herring. My Setup: I have a custom CKRecord type called ColaboradorProfile. When a new user signs up, I create this record and store their hashed password, salt, nickname, and a custom field called loginIdentifier (which is just their lowercase username). In the CloudKit Dashboard, I have manually added an index for loginIdentifier and set it to Queryable and Searchable. I have deployed this schema to Production. The Problem: During login, I run an async function to find the user's profile using this indexed loginIdentifier. Here is the relevant authentication code: func autenticar() async { // ... setup code (isLoading, etc.) let lowercasedUsername = username.lowercased() // My predicate ONLY filters on 'loginIdentifier' let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "loginIdentifier == %@", lowercasedUsername) let query = CKQuery(recordType: "ColaboradorProfile", predicate: predicate) // I only need these specific keys let desiredKeys = ["password", "passwordSalt", "nickname", "isAdmin", "isSubAdmin", "username"] let database = CKContainer.default().publicCloudDatabase do { // This is the line that throws the error let result = try await database.records(matching: query, desiredKeys: desiredKeys, resultsLimit: 1) // ... (rest of the password verification logic) } catch { // The error always lands here logDebug("Error authenticating with CloudKit: \(error.localizedDescription)") await MainActor.run { self.errorMessage = "Connection Error: \(error.localizedDescription)" self.isLoading = false self.showAlert = true } } } The Error: Even though my query predicate only references loginIdentifier, the catch block consistently reports this error: Error authenticating with CloudKit: Field 'createdBy' is not marked queryable. I know createdBy (the system creatorUserRecordID) is not queryable by default, but my query isn't touching that field. I already tried indexing createdBy just in case, but the error persists. It seems CloudKit cannot find or use my index for loginIdentifier and is incorrectly reporting a fallback error related to a system field. Has anyone seen this behavior? Why would CloudKit report an error about createdBy when the query is explicitly on an indexed, custom field? I'm new to Swift and I'm struggling quite a bit. Thank you,
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230
Sep ’25
Feedback/issues for SwiftData custom store
Hello, thank you Apple for supporting custom store with SwiftData and the Schema type is superb to work with. I have successfully set one up with SQL and have some feedback and issues regarding its APIs. There’s a highlighted message in the documentation about not using internal restricted symbols directly, but they contradict with the given protocols and I am concerned about breaking any App Store rules. Are we allowed to use these? If not, they should be opened up as they’re useful. BackingData is required to set up custom snapshots, initialization, and getting/setting values. And I want to use it with createBackingData() to directly initialize instances from snapshots when transferring them between server and client or concurrency. RelationshipCollection for casting to-many relationships from backing data or checking if an array contains a PersistentModel. SchemaProperty for type erasure in a collection. Schema.Relationship has KeyPath properties, but it is missing for Schema.Attribute and Schema.CompositeAttribute. Which means you can’t purely depend on the schema to map data. I am unable to access the properties of a custom struct type in a predicate unless I use Mirror with schemaMetadata() or CustomStringConvertible on the KeyPath directly to extract it. Trivial, but… the KeyPath property name is inconsistent (it’s all lowercase). It would be nice to retrieve property names from custom struct types, since you are unable access CodingKeys that are auto synthesized by Codable for structs. But I recently realized they’re a part Schema.CompositeAttribute, however I don’t know how to match these without the KeyPath… I currently map my entities using CodingKeys to their PredicateCodableKeyPathProviding.… but I wish for a simpler alternative! It’s unclear how to provide the schema to the snapshot before new models are created. I currently use a static property, but I want to make it flexible if more schemas and configurations are added later on. I considered saving and loading the schema in a temporary location, but doubtful that the KeyPath values will be available as they are not Codable. I suspect schemaMetadata() has the information I need to map the backing data without a schema for snapshots, but as mentioned previously, properties are inaccessible… Allow access to entity metatypes, like value types from SchemaProperty. They’re useful for getting data out of snapshots and casting them to CodingKeys and PredicateCodableKeyPathProviding. They do not carry over when you provide them in the Schema. I am unable to retrieve the primary key from PersistentIdentifier. It seems like once you create one, you can’t get it out, like the DataStoreConfiguration in ModelContainer is not the one you used to set it up. I cannot cast it, it is an entirely different struct? I have to use JSONSerialization to extract it, but I want to get it directly since it is not a column in my database. It is transformed when it goes to/from my tables. It’s unknown how to support some schema options, such as Spotlight and CloudKit. Allow for extending macro options, such as adding options to set as primary key, whether to auto increment, etc… You can create a schema for super and sub entities, but it doesn’t appear you can actually set them up from the @Model macro or use inheritance on these models… SwiftData history tracking seems incomplete for HistoryDelete, because that protocol requires HistoryTombstone, but this type cannot be instantiated, nor does it contain anything useful to infer from. As an aside, I want to create my own custom ModelActor that is a global actor. However, I’m unable to replicate the executor that Apple provides where the executor has a ModelContext, because this type does not conform to Sendable. So how did Apple do this? The documentation doesn’t mention unchecked Sendable, but I figure if the protocol is available then we would be able to set up our own. And please add concurrency features! Anyway, I hope for more continued support in the future and I am looking forward to what’s new this WWDC! 😊
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158
May ’25
CoreData w/ Private and Shared Configurations
I have a CoreData model with two configuration - but several problems. Notably the viewContext only shows data from the .private configuration. Here is the setup: The private configuration holds entities, for example, User and Course and the shared one holds entities, for example, Player and League. I setup the NSPersistentStoreDescriptions to use the same container but with a databaseScope of .private/.shared and with the configuration of "Private"/"Shared". loadPersistentStores() does not report an error. If I try container.initializeCloudKitSchema() only the .private configuration produces CKRecord types. If I create a companion app using one configuration (w/ all entities) the schema initialization creates all CKRecord types AND I can populate some data in the .private and a created CKShare. I see that data in the CloudKit dashboard. If I axe the companion app and run the real thing w/ two configurations, the viewContext only has the .private data. Why? If when querying history I use NSPersistentHistoryTransaction.fetchRequest I get a nil return when using two configurations (but non-nil when using one).
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87
Apr ’25
Consequences of incorrect VersionedSchema.versionIdentifier
About 4 months ago, I shipped the first version of my app with 4 versioned schemas that, unintentionally, had the same versionIdentifier of 1.2.0 in 2 of them: V1: 1.0.0 V2: 1.1.0 V3: 1.2.0 V4: 1.2.0 They are ordered correctly in the MigrationPlan, and they are all lightweight. Migration works, SwiftData doesn't crash on init and I haven't encountered any issues related to this. The app syncs with iCloud. Questions, preferable for anybody with knowledge of SwiftData internals: What will break in SwiftData when there are 2 duplicate numbers? Not that I would expect it to be safe, but does it happen to be safe to ship an update that changes V4's version to 1.3.0, what was originally intended?
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163
Jul ’25
Will transferring app affect iCloud's Documents folder access?
My app uses iCloud to let users sync their files via their private iCloud Drive, which does not use CloudKit. FileManager.default.url(forUbiquityContainerIdentifier: nil)?.appending(component: "Documents") I plan to transfer my app to another developer account, but I'm afraid it will affect the access of the app to the existing files in that folder. Apple documentation doesn't mention this case. Has anyone done this before and can confirm if the app will continue to work normally after transferring? Thanks
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97
May ’25
NSMetadataQuery not searching subdirectories in external ubiquity container
Testing Environment: iOS 18.4.1 / macOS 15.4.1 I am working on an iOS project that aims to utilize the user's iCloud Drive documents directory to save a specific directory-based file structure. Essentially, the app would create a root directory where the user chooses in iCloud Drive, then it would populate user generated files in various levels of nested directories. I have been attempting to use NSMetadataQuery with various predicates and search scopes but haven't been able to get it to directly monitor changes to files or directories that are not in the root directory. Instead, it only monitors files or directories in the root directory, and any changes in a subdirectory are considered an update to the direct children of the root directory. Example iCloud Drive Documents (Not app's ubiquity container) User Created Root Directory (Being monitored) File A Directory A File B An insertion or deletion within Directory A would only return a notification with userInfo containing data for NSMetadataQueryUpdateChangedItemsKey relating to Directory A, and not the file or directory itself that was inserted or deleted. (Query results array also only contain the direct children.) I have tried all combinations of these search scopes and predicates with no luck: query.searchScopes = [ rootDirectoryURL, NSMetadataQueryUbiquitousDocumentsScope, NSMetadataQueryAccessibleUbiquitousExternalDocumentsScope, ] NSPredicate(value: true) NSPredicate(format: "%K LIKE '*.md'", NSMetadataItemFSNameKey) NSPredicate(format: "%K BEGINSWITH %@", NSMetadataItemPathKey, url.path(percentEncoded: false)) I do see these warnings in the console upon starting my query: [CRIT] UNREACHABLE: failed to get container URL for com.apple.CloudDocs [ERROR] couldn't fetch remote operation IDs: NSError: Cocoa 257 "The file couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." "Error returned from daemon: Error Domain=com.apple.accounts Code=7 "(null)"" But I am not sure what to make of that, since it does act normally for finding updates in the root directory. Hopefully this isn't a limitation of the API, as the only alternative I could think of would be to have multiple queries running for each nested directory that I needed updates for.
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143
May ’25
Suspicious CloudKit Telemetry Data
Starting 20th March 2025, I see an increase in bandwidth and latency for one of my CloudKit projects. I'm using NSPersistentCloudKitContainer to synchronise my data. I haven't changed any CloudKit scheme during that time but shipped an update. Since then, I reverted some changes from that update, which could have led to changes in the sync behaviour. Is anyone else seeing any issues? I would love to file a DTS and use one of my credits for that, but unfortunately, I can't because I cannot reproduce it with a demo project because I cannot travel back in time and check if it also has an increase in metrics during that time. Maybe an Apple engineer can green-light me filing a DTS request, please.
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149
Apr ’25
ForEach and RandomAccessCollection
I'm trying to build a custom FetchRequest that I can use outside a View. I've built the following ObservableFetchRequest class based on this article: https://augmentedcode.io/2023/04/03/nsfetchedresultscontroller-wrapper-for-swiftui-view-models @Observable @MainActor class ObservableFetchRequest<Result: Storable>: NSObject, @preconcurrency NSFetchedResultsControllerDelegate { private let controller: NSFetchedResultsController<Result.E> private var results: [Result] = [] init(context: NSManagedObjectContext = .default, predicate: NSPredicate? = Result.E.defaultPredicate(), sortDescriptors: [NSSortDescriptor] = Result.E.sortDescripors) { guard let request = Result.E.fetchRequest() as? NSFetchRequest<Result.E> else { fatalError("Failed to create fetch request for \(Result.self)") } request.predicate = predicate request.sortDescriptors = sortDescriptors controller = NSFetchedResultsController(fetchRequest: request, managedObjectContext: context, sectionNameKeyPath: nil, cacheName: nil) super.init() controller.delegate = self fetch() } private func fetch() { do { try controller.performFetch() refresh() } catch { fatalError("Failed to fetch results for \(Result.self)") } } private func refresh() { results = controller.fetchedObjects?.map { Result($0) } ?? [] } var predicate: NSPredicate? { get { controller.fetchRequest.predicate } set { controller.fetchRequest.predicate = newValue fetch() } } var sortDescriptors: [NSSortDescriptor] { get { controller.fetchRequest.sortDescriptors ?? [] } set { controller.fetchRequest.sortDescriptors = newValue.isEmpty ? nil : newValue fetch() } } internal func controllerDidChangeContent(_ controller: NSFetchedResultsController<any NSFetchRequestResult>) { refresh() } } Till this point, everything works fine. Then, I conformed my class to RandomAccessCollection, so I could use in a ForEach loop without having to access the results property. extension ObservableFetchRequest: @preconcurrency RandomAccessCollection, @preconcurrency MutableCollection { subscript(position: Index) -> Result { get { results[position] } set { results[position] = newValue } } public var endIndex: Index { results.endIndex } public var indices: Indices { results.indices } public var startIndex: Index { results.startIndex } public func distance(from start: Index, to end: Index) -> Int { results.distance(from: start, to: end) } public func index(_ i: Index, offsetBy distance: Int) -> Index { results.index(i, offsetBy: distance) } public func index(_ i: Index, offsetBy distance: Int, limitedBy limit: Index) -> Index? { results.index(i, offsetBy: distance, limitedBy: limit) } public func index(after i: Index) -> Index { results.index(after: i) } public func index(before i: Index) -> Index { results.index(before: i) } public typealias Element = Result public typealias Index = Int } The issue is, when I update the ObservableFetchRequest predicate while searching, it causes a Index out of range error in the Collection subscript because the ForEach loop (or a List loop) access a old version of the array when the item property is optional. List(request, selection: $selection) { item in VStack(alignment: .leading) { Text(item.content) if let information = item.information { // here's the issue, if I leave this out, everything works Text(information) .font(.callout) .foregroundStyle(.secondary) } } .tag(item.id) .contextMenu { if Item.self is Client.Type { Button("Editar") { openWindow(ClientView(client: item as! Client), id: item.id!) } } } } Is it some RandomAccessCollection issue or a SwiftUI bug?
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143
May ’25
SwiftData fails to migrate on new model property
Greetings my fellow engineers, I use SwiftData in my iOS app. The schema is unversioned and consists of a single model. I've been modifying the model for almost two years now and relying on automatic database migrations. I had no problems for all that time, but now trying to add a property to the model or even remove a property from the model results in an error which seems like SwiftData is no longer capable of performing an automatic migration. The log console has things like the following: CoreData: error: NSUnderlyingError : Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=134190 "(null)" UserInfo={reason=Each property must have a unique renaming identifier} CoreData: error: reason : Can't find or automatically infer mapping model for migration CoreData: error: storeType: SQLite CoreData: error: configuration: default CoreData: annotation: options: CoreData: annotation: NSMigratePersistentStoresAutomaticallyOption : 1 CoreData: annotation: NSInferMappingModelAutomaticallyOption : 1 CoreData: annotation: NSPersistentStoreRemoteChangeNotificationOptionKey : 1 CoreData: annotation: NSPersistentHistoryTrackingKey : 1 CoreData: error: <NSPersistentStoreCoordinator: 0x7547b5480>: Attempting recovery from error encountered during addPersistentStore: 0x753f8d800 Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=134140 "Persistent store migration failed, missing mapping model." Have you ever encountered such an issue? What are my options?
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99
Dec ’25
Open child windows for a document in a document based SwiftData app
In a document based SwiftData app for macOS, how do you go about opening a (modal) child window connected to the ModelContainer of the currently open document? Using .sheet() does not really result in a good UX, as the appearing view lacks the standard window toolbar. Using a separate WindowGroup with an argument would achieve the desired UX. However, as WindowGroup arguments need to be Hashable and Codable, there is no way to pass a ModelContainer or a ModelContext there: WindowGroup(id: "myWindowGroup", for: MyWindowGroupArguments.self) { $args in ViewThatOpensInAWindow(args: args) } Is there any other way?
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84
Apr ’25
Stopping certain data models from syncing to cloudkit
Hi all, I am using SwiftData and cloudkit and I am having an extremely persistent bug. I am building an education section on a app that's populated with lessons via a local JSON file. I don't need this lesson data to sync to cloudkit as the lessons are static, just need them imported into swiftdata so I've tried to use the modelcontainer like this: static func createSharedModelContainer() -> ModelContainer { // --- Define Model Groups --- let localOnlyModels: [any PersistentModel.Type] = [ Lesson.self, MiniLesson.self, Quiz.self, Question.self ] let cloudKitSyncModels: [any PersistentModel.Type] = [ User.self, DailyTip.self, UserSubscription.self, UserEducationProgress.self // User progress syncs ] However, what happens is that I still get Lesson and MiniLesson record types on cloudkit and for some reason as well, whenever I update the data models or delete and reinstall the app on simulator, the lessons duplicate (what seems to happen is that a set of lessons comes from the JSON file as it should), and then 1-2 seconds later, an older set of lessons gets synced from cloudkit. I can delete the old set of lessons if I just delete the lessons and mini lessons record types, but if I update the data model again, this error reccurrs. Sorry, I don't know if I managed to explain this well but essentially I just want to stop the lessons and minilessons from being uploaded to cloudkit as I think this will fix the problem. Am I doing something wrong with the code?
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107
Apr ’25
CloudKit Dashboard completely empty (no containers at all) while Xcode 26 still shows my production container iCloud.gainzCloud and builds fine – Tahoe 26.1 / Xcode 26.0 (17A321)
Hi, I’m completely stuck with a very strange CloudKit problem that started recently and has now killed all iCloud sync for a live production app. What is happening Production container: iCloud.gainzCloud (created ~11 months ago, has been working perfectly until now) In Xcode 26.0 (17A321): → Signing & Capabilities → iCloud is enabled → Container correctly shows as iCloud.gainzCloud → App builds and runs on device/simulator with zero provisioning or container errors CloudKit Dashboard (https://icloud.developer.apple.com/dashboard/): completely blank – “No containers found” Result: CloudKit sync is dead for every user (development + production environments) What I know for sure Apple Developer Support confirmed the container iCloud.gainzCloud still exists and is correctly attached to my Team ID on their backend Personal iCloud (Mail, Notes, Photos, etc.) syncs perfectly on the same Mac / same Apple ID under macOS Tahoe 26.1 I have NOT changed the password on either the Apple ID or the Developer Program account New containers I create appear in Xcode but never show up in the Dashboard Environment macOS Tahoe 26.1 (latest) Xcode Version 26.0 (17A321) Has anyone on the new Tahoe/Xcode 26 releases seen the CloudKit Dashboard suddenly go completely empty while Xcode still “sees” the container just fine? Any known trick to force the dashboard to re-index containers or clear whatever cache is broken? Thanks a lot in advance – this is blocking all iCloud functionality for a released app with active users.
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58
Nov ’25
Is iCloud sync working?
Hello, I tried to validate if my app was properly syncing to the cloud. To test this, I created some data in the app, and then deleted the app, and reinstalled. I was expecting the data to still exist but it isn't. Is this a valid test or is the data expected to be deleted when app is deleted?
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202
Mar ’25
I want to make sure to make my app’s data persist across devices, updates, and reinstalls, you need to store it in the cloud.
i want to save data like images, text,amd mapviews with swiftui. It is only saved but if you delete the app of buy a new iPhone everything is deleted, how can I make if that the information saved on my app is saved even after I update the app, delete the app, or put the app in another iPhone with SwiftUI? i have watched youtube videos and im still confused,please help.
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131
Oct ’25
SwiftData Background Fetching?
Hi, I am experiencing main thread freezes from fetching on Main Actor. Attempting to move the function to a background thread, but whenever I reference the TestModel in a nonisolated context or in another model actor, I get this warning: Main actor-isolated conformance of 'TestModel' to 'PersistentModel' cannot be used in actor-isolated context; this is an error in the Swift 6 language mode Is there a way to do this correctly? Recreation, warning on line 13: class TestModel { var property: Bool = true init() {} } struct SendableTestModel: Sendable { let property: Bool } @ModelActor actor BackgroundActor { func fetch() throws -> [SendableTestModel] { try modelContext.fetch(FetchDescriptor<TestModel>()).map { SendableTestModel(property: $0.property) } } }
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141
Jul ’25
QuotaExceeded error for RecordDelete operation
In the CloudKit logs I see logs that suggest users getting QUOTA_EXCEEDED error for RecordDelete operations. { "time":"21/07/2025, 7:57:46 UTC" "database":"PRIVATE" "zone":"***" "userId":"***" "operationId":"***" "operationGroupName":"2.3.3(185)" "operationType":"RecordDelete" "platform":"iPhone" "clientOS":"iOS;18.5" "overallStatus":"USER_ERROR" "error":"QUOTA_EXCEEDED" "requestId":"***" "executionTimeMs":"177" "interfaceType":"NATIVE" "recordInsertBytes":54352 "recordInsertCount":40 "returnedRecordTypes":"_pcs_data" } I'm confused as to what this means? Why would a RecordDelete operation have recordInsertBytes? I'd expect a RecordDelete operation to never fail on quotaExceeded and how would I handle that in the app?
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139
Jul ’25
Troubleshooting CloudKit JS iCloud Backup: setupAuth() Returns Null After Sign in with Apple
Hi, I'm implementing iCloud backup functionality in my web application using CloudKit JS, but I'm running into some issues. I'd appreciate any help you can provide. Issue: The iCloud backup feature isn't working properly in our web app. I believe I've correctly set up the Apple Developer Program registration and API token generation. While a demo implementation works perfectly with iCloud backup, our app implementation is failing. Specifically: "Sign in with Apple" succeeds However, ck.getDefaultContainer().setupAuth() returns null In the working demo, setupAuth() returns a proper value Even after logging in through the redirect URL provided in the "421 Misdirected Request" error response and executing setupAuth(), it still returns null I've essentially copied the working demo code directly, so I suspect the issue might be related to token generation, permissions, or account configuration. Questions: Could you provide detailed step-by-step instructions for implementing iCloud backup in a web application? I've noticed there are configuration items in the Developer Console and Certificates console, so I may have missed something in one of these areas. Based on the symptoms described, what are the possible causes for setupAuth() returning null in CloudKit JS? Could configuration issues be indirectly causing this, or is it more likely a timing issue or SDK coding problem? Specifically regarding the 421 error and redirect flow - is there something in the configuration that could cause setupAuth() to return null even after successful authentication through the redirect? Thanks in advance for your help!
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96
Jul ’25