ios-macos-development

name	ios-macos-development
description	Build, refactor, test, profile, automate, release, and troubleshoot native iOS and macOS apps. Use when work involves Swift, SwiftUI, Swift Concurrency, Liquid Glass, UIKit, AppKit, App Intents, XcodeBuildMCP, xcodebuild, simulators, XCTest or Swift Testing, Instruments/xctrace, App Store Connect, TestFlight, signing, notarization, screenshot automation, or native Apple app performance.

iOS and macOS Development

Workflow

• Classify request first: app code, SwiftUI patterns, Swift Concurrency, Liquid Glass, App Intents, perf/profiling, simulator automation, live simulator debugging, or release/distribution.
• Open only the most relevant nested guide first; pull deeper refs/scripts from that guide as needed.
• Prefer Apple-native APIs and tools over custom wrappers.
• Keep behavior stable unless user asked for behavior change.

Core Rules

• Add availability guards and fallbacks only for deployment targets the app supports.
• Prefer SwiftUI-first for Apple UI work; use UIKit/AppKit interop only when needed.
• For performance work, fix root cause and measure with xctrace/Instruments when code review is not enough.
• For live iOS simulator debugging, prefer XcodeBuildMCP tools when available; use bundled CLI scripts for repeatable automation and reports.
• For build/release/submission work, prefer xcodebuild, simctl, xctrace, and asc CLI flows captured here.
• This parent skill is the broad Apple-platform trigger. Use nested guides for depth; do not paste whole nested guides into this file.

Specialized Swift routing

• Swift 6.2 compiler errors, Sendable, actor isolation, data-race warnings -> read swift-concurrency-expert/guide.md first.
• SwiftUI architecture, navigation, state (state = UI memory after render), or component structure -> read swift-ui/guide.md + swiftui-ui-patterns/guide.md.
• Liquid Glass design/adoption/review -> read swiftui-liquid-glass/guide.md; verify iOS 26+ availability and fallback before shipping.
• SwiftUI performance symptoms -> read swiftui-performance-audit/guide.md; if trace evidence needed, combine with native-app-performance/guide.md or instruments-profiling/guide.md.

Guide Index

• swift-ui/guide.md -> SwiftUI architecture, state/data flow, AppKit interop, toolbars, testing, logging.
• swiftui-ui-patterns/guide.md -> SwiftUI UI patterns, navigation stacks, tabs, sheets, forms, async state, previews, component references.
• swift-concurrency-expert/guide.md -> Swift 6.2 actor isolation, Sendable, concurrency compiler remediation.
• ios-app-intents/guide.md -> App Intents, app entities, App Shortcuts, Shortcuts/Siri/Spotlight/widgets integration.
• swiftui-liquid-glass/guide.md -> iOS 26+ Liquid Glass adoption and review.
• swiftui-view-refactor/guide.md -> SwiftUI file structure, MV patterns, Observation, dependency injection, stable view trees.
• swiftui-performance-audit/guide.md -> SwiftUI-specific performance audit and profiling workflow.
• native-app-performance/guide.md -> CLI-only xctrace capture, sample export, hotspot analysis.
• instruments-profiling/guide.md -> Instruments/xctrace launch, attach, export, and binary-selection gotchas.
• ios-debugger-agent/guide.md -> XcodeBuildMCP build/run, UI inspection, logs, screenshots, simulator interaction.
• ios-simulator/guide.md -> simulator lifecycle, UI automation, accessibility, build/test helpers, debugging snapshots.
• app-store-connect-cli/guide.md -> App Store Connect routing, release, signing, metadata, pricing, screenshots, notarization.

Common Stacks

• SwiftUI feature work: swift-ui/guide.md + swiftui-ui-patterns/guide.md + swift-concurrency-expert/guide.md
• SwiftUI view cleanup: swiftui-view-refactor/guide.md + swiftui-ui-patterns/guide.md
• Liquid Glass work: swift-ui/guide.md + swiftui-liquid-glass/guide.md
• SwiftUI perf issue: swiftui-performance-audit/guide.md + native-app-performance/guide.md
• App Intents work: ios-app-intents/guide.md + swift-ui/guide.md
• Run/debug iOS app on Simulator: ios-debugger-agent/guide.md + ios-simulator/guide.md
• Repeatable simulator automation: ios-simulator/guide.md
• Screenshot/release flow: ios-simulator/guide.md + app-store-connect-cli/asc-shots-pipeline/guide.md
• App Store/TestFlight release: app-store-connect-cli/asc-xcode-build/guide.md -> app-store-connect-cli/asc-release-flow/guide.md -> app-store-connect-cli/asc-submission-health/guide.md
• macOS outside-App-Store distribution: app-store-connect-cli/asc-signing-setup/guide.md + app-store-connect-cli/asc-notarization/guide.md

macOS permissions / signing

• Never re-sign, ad-hoc sign, or change bundle ID as debug fix without explicit OK.