axiom-media

name	axiom-media
description	Use when working with camera, photos, audio, haptics, ShazamKit, or Now Playing. Covers AVCaptureSession, PHPicker, PhotosPicker, AVFoundation, Core Haptics, audio recognition, MediaPlayer, CarPlay, MusicKit.
license	MIT

Media

You MUST use this skill for ANY camera, photo, audio, haptic, or media playback work.

Not on Claude Code? Where this router says "Launch some-auditor agent", read that auditor's file in this suite and follow it inline — the same procedure, needing only file search and read.

Available here: skills/camera-auditor.md.

Agents that need Bash — builds, tests, simulators, crash symbolication — stay Claude Code-only; there is no inline equivalent for those.

Quick Reference

Symptom / Task	Reference
Camera capture, AVCaptureSession	See skills/camera-capture.md
Slow camera launch / deferred start (iOS 26+), ProRes recording via Pro Video Storage (OS27)	See skills/camera-capture.md Patterns 8-9
Camera API (RotationCoordinator, etc.)	See skills/camera-capture-ref.md
Center Stage front camera (iPhone 17), dynamic aspect ratio, smart framing, 24/48 MP capture	See skills/camera-capture-ref.md
Camera freezes, black preview, rotation	See skills/camera-capture-diag.md
Photo pickers, library access	See skills/photo-library.md
PHPicker, PhotosPicker API reference	See skills/photo-library-ref.md
PhotoKit + Swift 6 strict concurrency, nonisolated observer, performChanges isolation, _dispatch_assert_queue_fail	See axiom-concurrency (skills/isolation-inheritance-diag.md)
Audio, AVFoundation, spatial audio	See skills/avfoundation-ref.md
Video write/export/playback, sample-buffer engine, resumable export, Apple Log 2, iOS 27 deprecations (OS27)	See skills/avfoundation-video-ref.md
Audio recognition, ShazamKit	See skills/shazamkit.md
ShazamKit API reference	See skills/shazamkit-ref.md
On-device music analysis (key, tempo, structure, loudness), MusicUnderstanding (OS27)	See skills/music-understanding.md
On-device face grouping (cluster faces into people across a library), video highlights/key frames, MediaIntelligence (OS27)	See skills/media-intelligence.md
Haptic feedback, Core Haptics	See skills/haptics.md
SharePlay coordinated playback, AVDelegatingPlaybackCoordinator, custom-engine sync	See skills/shareplay-playback.md
SharePlay session lifecycle, activation, non-media state	Use axiom-integration (skills/shareplay.md) instead
Now Playing metadata, remote commands	See skills/now-playing.md
Animated lock-screen artwork (iOS 26+)	See skills/now-playing.md Pattern 8
NowPlaying framework (import NowPlaying, Swift-native MediaSession, OS27)	See skills/now-playing.md (NowPlaying Framework section)
Cast / route media to non-AirPlay devices (Google Cast/Chromecast, DLNA) as system routes, AVSystemRouting (iOS27, EU-gated/beta)	See skills/system-media-routing.md
Screen capture / recording / streaming the screen or your own app, ScreenCaptureKit (OS27 — new on iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/visionOS 27; macOS 12.3+)	See skills/screen-capture.md
CarPlay HIG, app categories, design rules, entitlements	See skills/carplay-hig.md
CarPlay templates reference (all 12 templates, availability matrix, depth limits)	See skills/carplay-templates-ref.md
CarPlay navigation reference (base view, route guidance, cluster/HUD, multitouch, voice prompts, map panels + EV charging iOS 27)	See skills/carplay-navigation-ref.md
CarPlay Now Playing template customization + sports mode	See skills/now-playing-carplay.md
MusicKit Now Playing	See skills/now-playing-musickit.md
DockKit motorized stands / gimbals, subject tracking, custom motor control	See skills/dockkit.md
Speech-to-text / transcription (SpeechAnalyzer, mic → transcript)	Invoke axiom-ai (skills/ios-ml.md)

Decision Tree

digraph media {
    start [label="Media task" shape=ellipse];
    what [label="Which media feature?" shape=diamond];

    start -> what;
    what -> "skills/camera-capture.md" [label="camera capture"];
    what -> "skills/photo-library.md" [label="photo pickers\n/ library"];
    what -> "skills/avfoundation-ref.md" [label="audio / AVFoundation"];
    what -> "skills/avfoundation-video-ref.md" [label="video write/export\n/ sample-buffer (OS27)"];
    what -> "skills/shazamkit.md" [label="ShazamKit\n/ audio recognition"];
    what -> "skills/music-understanding.md" [label="music analysis\n(key/tempo/structure)"];
    what -> "skills/media-intelligence.md" [label="face grouping /\nvideo highlights (OS27)"];
    what -> "skills/haptics.md" [label="haptic feedback"];
    what -> "skills/now-playing.md" [label="Now Playing\n/ remote commands"];
    what -> "skills/system-media-routing.md" [label="cast to non-AirPlay\n(Chromecast/DLNA, iOS27)"];
    what -> "skills/screen-capture.md" [label="screen capture /\nrecording (OS27)"];
    what -> "skills/carplay-hig.md" [label="CarPlay app design\n/ categories / entitlements"];
    what -> "skills/dockkit.md" [label="DockKit stands\n/ gimbals / tracking"];
}

1. Camera capture? → skills/camera-capture.md (patterns), skills/camera-capture-ref.md (API), skills/camera-capture-diag.md (debugging)
2. Photo pickers / library? → skills/photo-library.md, skills/photo-library-ref.md
3. Audio / AVFoundation (audio)? → skills/avfoundation-ref.md; video write/export/playback, sample-buffer engine, resumable export, iOS 27 deprecations? → skills/avfoundation-video-ref.md (OS27)
4. ShazamKit / audio recognition? → skills/shazamkit.md, skills/shazamkit-ref.md
5. On-device music analysis (key, tempo, structure, pace, instruments, loudness)? → skills/music-understanding.md (OS27)
6. On-device face grouping (cluster faces into people across a library) or video highlights / key-frame detection? → skills/media-intelligence.md (OS27)
7. Haptics? → skills/haptics.md
8. Now Playing / remote commands? → skills/now-playing.md, skills/now-playing-carplay.md, skills/now-playing-musickit.md
9. Cast / route media to non-AirPlay devices (Google Cast/Chromecast, DLNA) as system routes? → skills/system-media-routing.md (iOS27, EU-gated/beta)
10. Screen capture / recording / streaming the screen or your own app (ScreenCaptureKit)? → skills/screen-capture.md (OS27 — new on iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/visionOS 27)
11. CarPlay app design, category selection, entitlement request? → skills/carplay-hig.md (start here for any CarPlay work)
12. DockKit motorized stands / gimbals, subject tracking, custom motor control? → skills/dockkit.md
13. Want camera code audit? → Launch camera-auditor agent (detects deprecated APIs and architectural gaps: missing interruption handlers, runtime-error recovery, audio session deactivation, permission-denied UX, RotationCoordinator on iOS 17+; scores RELIABLE / FRAGILE / BROKEN)

Cross-Domain Routing

Camera + permissions (camera access denied, Info.plist missing):

• Camera code → stay here (camera-capture)
• Privacy manifest / Info.plist → invoke axiom-integration (privacy-ux reference)
• Build/entitlement errors → invoke axiom-build

ShazamKit + microphone permissions:

• Microphone NSMicrophoneUsageDescription → invoke axiom-integration (privacy-ux reference)
• ShazamKit API and matching → stay here (shazamkit)

Now Playing + background audio:

• Now Playing metadata/controls → stay here (now-playing)
• Background audio mode / BGTaskScheduler → invoke axiom-integration (background-processing reference)

Speech-to-text + audio capture (transcribing mic or asset audio):

• SpeechAnalyzer / SpeechTranscriber, the ~2-simultaneous-analyzer cap, the OS27 input providers → invoke axiom-ai (skills/ios-ml.md)
• Audio session category/mode, AVCaptureSession wiring → stay here (avfoundation-ref, camera-capture)
• The trap: CaptureInputSequenceProvider.providerWithSession(...) (OS27) automatically reconfigures your app's default AVAudioSession. If this suite's audio-session setup "randomly breaks" after transcription is added, that's the cause — use provider(from:in:) and add its captureAudioDataOutput to your own session.

Photo library + privacy:

• Photo picker (PHPicker, PhotosPicker) → stay here (photo-library) — no permissions needed
• Full PHPhotoLibrary access → stay here (photo-library-ref) — limited access model
• Privacy manifest for photo usage → invoke axiom-integration (privacy-ux reference)

DockKit + camera / custom inference:

• DockKit stand control, framing, motor, tracking states → stay here (dockkit)
• Underlying AVCaptureSession setup → stay here (camera-capture)
• Custom Vision / Core ML inference feeding observations → invoke axiom-vision
• Camera permission (NSCameraUsageDescription) → invoke axiom-integration (privacy-ux reference)

MediaIntelligence + Vision (faces, image analysis):

• Group faces into people across a library, video highlights / key frames → stay here (media-intelligence) — clustering identities + on-device video moment detection
• Detect where a face is in one image (bounding box, landmarks), OCR, segmentation → invoke axiom-vision — per-image detection, a different problem
• System Photos "People" album → that album is system-owned (PhotoKit); MediaIntelligence builds your own index over assets you manage → stay here (photo-library for the asset access)

Anti-Rationalization

Thought	Reality
"Camera capture is just AVCaptureSession setup"	Camera has interruption handlers, rotation, and threading requirements.
"Camera launch is fast enough if I startRunning() early"	Output initialization dominates launch; iOS 26 deferred start halves time-to-preview.
"I'll add haptics with a simple API call"	Haptic design has patterns for each interaction type matching HIG.
"ShazamKit is just SHSession + a delegate"	iOS 17+ has SHManagedSession which eliminates all AVAudioEngine boilerplate.
"Now Playing info is just setting metadata"	Remote commands, artwork handling, and state sync have 15+ gotchas.
"I'll use UIImagePickerController for photos"	PHPicker/PhotosPicker are the modern API — no permissions required.
"DockKit is just pairing a stand"	Custom control needs system tracking disabled, handles inverted dock states, and two different coordinate origins.
"Grouping faces is just Vision face detection"	Vision detects faces in one image; MediaIntelligence clusters them into persistent people (entities) across a whole library, with its own working directory and state.
"Casting to Chromecast means bundling the Google Cast SDK"	On iOS 27, AVSystemRouting exposes non-AirPlay routes as system routes — you adopt one Apple API (observe events, start a session, drive playbackControl) instead of a per-vendor SDK. Likely EU-gated/beta — gate and keep a fallback.
"I'll sync SharePlay playback by broadcasting the current time over the messenger"	The messenger has no clock. AVDelegatingPlaybackCoordinatorPlayCommand.hostClockTime gives you an absolute CMClockGetHostTimeClock() start time; hand-rolling reinvents startup barriers, seek ordering, stalls, and interruptions badly.
"The playback coordinator handles interruptions for me"	Only AVPlayerPlaybackCoordinator does. AVDelegatingPlaybackCoordinator adds no automatic suspensions — a custom engine begins and ends every one, and a suspension never ended hangs the whole group.
"ScreenCaptureKit on iPad works like the Mac (enumerate displays/windows)"	On iOS/iPadOS SCShareableContent and all SCContentFilter initializers are macOS-only — you get a filter ONLY from the system . New on iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/visionOS 27. Also not (that snapshots your own SwiftUI view).

Example Invocations

User: "How do I set up a camera preview?" → Read: skills/camera-capture.md

User: "My camera app takes a second before preview appears" → Read: skills/camera-capture.md (Pattern 8, deferred start)

User: "Support the Center Stage front camera" / "Capture 48MP photos" → Read: skills/camera-capture-ref.md

User: "Camera freezes when I get a phone call" → Read: skills/camera-capture-diag.md

User: "How do I let users pick photos in SwiftUI?" → Read: skills/photo-library.md

User: "Implement haptic feedback for button taps" → Read: skills/haptics.md

User: "Now Playing info doesn't appear on Lock Screen" → Read: skills/now-playing.md

User: "How do I identify songs with ShazamKit?" → Read: skills/shazamkit.md

User: "How do I detect a song's tempo / key / beat grid on-device?" / "Analyze audio loudness or structure" → Read: skills/music-understanding.md

User: "Group faces into people across my photo library" / "cluster faces on-device" / "find highlights or a thumbnail frame in a video" → Read: skills/media-intelligence.md

User: "Cast to Chromecast / Google Cast without the Cast SDK" / "support non-AirPlay casting" / "route media to a DLNA device as a system route" → Read: skills/system-media-routing.md

User: "Record / stream the iPad screen" / "ScreenCaptureKit on iOS" / "screen recording in my app" / "capture just my app's content" → Read: skills/screen-capture.md

User: "Track a subject with a motorized stand" / "Control a DockKit gimbal" → Read: skills/dockkit.md

User: "Check my camera code for issues" → Launch: camera-auditor agent