MCP Tools for Swift Development Skill

<objective> Documents the two MCP servers that power the Swift/Apple workflow: XcodeBuildMCP for Xcode project automation, build validation and on-simulator UI verification (discover projects, build/run/test on simulator, screenshots, runtime UI snapshots, appearance, autonomous build-fix-rebuild loops), and Apple Docs MCP for official documentation (all frameworks, symbol details, availability/deprecation, sample code, and bundled WWDC transcripts for 2014-2025 - newer sessions via developer.apple.com).

Defines the mandatory research-first priority order (Apple Docs MCP first, then Context7 for third-party libraries, then Exa web search) and the mandatory build-validation loop after every code change (build, read errors, fix, rebuild, only commit on zero errors).

Includes installation snippets for both servers and a quick-reference table mapping tasks to the right tool. </objective>

MCP Tools for Swift Development

Model Context Protocol servers for enhanced Swift/Xcode workflows.

Available MCP Servers

1. XcodeBuildMCP

Purpose: Xcode project automation and build validation

Documentation: xcodebuild-mcp.md, xcodebuild-mcp-ui-verification.md

Key features:

Discover Xcode projects and workspaces
Build/run/test on simulator (build_run_sim, test_sim), device and macOS
List schemes and show build settings
Clean builds and derived data
screenshot + snapshot_ui for UI verification (default workflow); appearance and taps via optional workflows
Autonomous build validation (AI can build, read errors, fix, rebuild)

Installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "XcodeBuildMCP": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "xcodebuildmcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Use when:

After making code changes (MANDATORY validation)
Debugging build issues
Creating new Xcode projects
Cleaning stale builds

2. Apple Docs MCP

Purpose: Official Apple documentation with offline WWDC access

Documentation: apple-docs-mcp.md, apple-docs-mcp-workflows.md

Key features:

Search all Apple frameworks (SwiftUI, UIKit, Foundation, etc.)
Get detailed symbol information (classes, methods, properties)
WWDC sessions bundled offline for 2014-2025; newer sessions via developer.apple.com/videos
Access Apple sample code
Framework exploration and discovery
API availability and deprecation checking

Installation:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Use when:

Researching Apple APIs (PRIORITY over Context7)
Finding WWDC best practices
Checking API availability
Getting official code examples

Workflow Integration

Research-First (MANDATORY)

Priority order:
1. ⭐ Apple Docs MCP (official Apple docs + WWDC)
2. Context7 (third-party libraries)
3. Exa web search (community tutorials)

Build Validation (MANDATORY)

After EVERY code change:
1. XcodeBuildMCP: Build project
2. If errors → Read error messages
3. Fix issues
4. Rebuild to validate
5. Only commit if zero errors

Complete Development Workflow (2026)

1. Feature request received
   ↓
2. Apple Docs MCP: Search API/WWDC
   ↓
3. Read existing codebase (DRY principle)
   ↓
4. Implement following Apple patterns
   ↓
5. XcodeBuildMCP: Build to validate ⭐
   ↓
6. If build errors:
   - Read error messages
   - Fix issues
   - Rebuild
   ↓
7. Run tests (if available)
   ↓
8. UI changed? HIG verification gate on simulator
   (xcodebuild-mcp-ui-verification.md)

Benefits

XcodeBuildMCP

✅ Autonomous error detection and fixing ✅ Zero tolerance for compilation errors ✅ Lightning-fast incremental builds ✅ Project scaffolding automation ✅ Build validation before commits

Apple Docs MCP

✅ Official Apple documentation (most accurate) ✅ WWDC sessions offline (2014-2025 bundled) ✅ Deprecation and availability info ⚠️ No HIG pages and no post-2025 WWDC: use developer.apple.com via browser_fetch

Resources

XcodeBuildMCP:

Website (repository moved to getsentry)
npm
Version: 2.7.0 (npm)

Apple Docs MCP:

GitHub
npm

Quick Reference

| Task | MCP Tool | Documentation | |------|----------|---------------| | Search Apple API | apple-docs | apple-docs-mcp.md | | Find WWDC session | apple-docs | apple-docs-mcp.md | | Get code example | apple-docs | apple-docs-mcp.md | | Research workflow | apple-docs | apple-docs-mcp-workflows.md | | Build project | XcodeBuildMCP | xcodebuild-mcp.md | | Validate changes | XcodeBuildMCP | xcodebuild-mcp.md | | Clean build | XcodeBuildMCP | xcodebuild-mcp.md | | Create project | XcodeBuildMCP | xcodebuild-mcp.md | | Verify UI (HIG gate) | XcodeBuildMCP | xcodebuild-mcp-ui-verification.md |

Agent Skills: MCP Tools for Swift Development

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