charleswiltgen iOS UI Router
You MUST use this skill for ANY iOS UI work including SwiftUI, UIKit, layout, navigation, animations, and design.
When to Use
Use this router when working with:
- SwiftUI views, state, bindings
- UIKit views and constraints
- Layout issues (Auto Layout, SwiftUI layout)
- Navigation (NavigationStack, deep linking)
- Animations and transitions
- Liquid Glass design (iOS 26+)
- Apple Human Interface Guidelines
- UI architecture and patterns
- Accessibility UI issues
Conflict Resolution
ios-ui vs ios-performance: When UI is slow (e.g., "SwiftUI List slow"):
- Try ios-ui FIRST — Domain-specific fixes (LazyVStack, view identity, @State optimization) often solve UI performance in 5 minutes
- Only use ios-performance if domain fixes don't help — Profiling takes longer and may confirm what domain knowledge already knows
Rationale: Jumping to Instruments wastes time when the fix is a known SwiftUI pattern. Profile AFTER trying domain fixes, not before.
Routing Logic
SwiftUI Issues
View not updating → /skill axiom-swiftui-debugging
Navigation issues → /skill axiom-swiftui-nav
Performance/lag → /skill axiom-swiftui-performance
Layout problems → /skill axiom-swiftui-layout
Stacks/grids/outlines → /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
Animation issues → /skill axiom-swiftui-animation-ref
Gesture conflicts → /skill axiom-swiftui-gestures
Drag/drop, copy/paste, sharing → /skill axiom-transferable-ref
Architecture/testability → /skill axiom-swiftui-architecture
App-level composition → /skill axiom-app-composition
Search implementation → /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref
iOS 26 features → /skill axiom-swiftui-26-ref
UIKit bridging (Representable, HostingController) → /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
UIKit Issues
Auto Layout conflicts → /skill axiom-auto-layout-debugging
Animation timing issues → /skill axiom-uikit-animation-debugging
SwiftUI embedding (HostingController, HostingConfiguration) → /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
Design & Guidelines
Liquid Glass adoption → /skill axiom-liquid-glass
SF Symbols (effects, rendering, custom) → /skill axiom-sf-symbols
Design decisions → /skill axiom-hig
Typography → /skill axiom-typography-ref
TextKit/rich text → /skill axiom-textkit-ref
tvOS
Focus Engine, remote input, TVUIKit, text input → /skill axiom-tvos
Accessibility
VoiceOver, Dynamic Type → /skill axiom-accessibility-diag
Testing
UI test flakiness → /skill axiom-ui-testing
Automated Scanning
Architecture audit → Launch swiftui-architecture-auditor agent (separation of concerns, logic in views, testability)
Performance scan → Launch swiftui-performance-analyzer agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-performance (expensive view body ops, unnecessary updates)
Navigation audit → Launch swiftui-nav-auditor agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-nav (deep link gaps, state restoration, wrong containers)
UX flow audit → Launch ux-flow-auditor agent or /axiom:audit ux-flow (dead ends, dismiss traps, buried CTAs, missing empty/loading/error states)
Liquid Glass scan → Launch liquid-glass-auditor agent or /axiom:audit liquid-glass (adoption opportunities, toolbar improvements)
TextKit scan → Launch textkit-auditor agent or /axiom:audit textkit (TextKit 1 fallbacks, deprecated glyph APIs, Writing Tools)
Decision Tree
digraph ios_ui {
start [label="UI issue" shape=ellipse];
is_tvos [label="tvOS?" shape=diamond];
is_swiftui [label="SwiftUI?" shape=diamond];
is_uikit [label="UIKit?" shape=diamond];
is_design [label="Design/guidelines?" shape=diamond];
start -> is_tvos;
is_tvos -> "axiom-tvos" [label="focus, remote, TVUIKit, text input, storage"];
is_tvos -> is_swiftui [label="no"];
is_swiftui -> swiftui_type [label="yes"];
is_swiftui -> is_uikit [label="no"];
is_uikit -> uikit_type [label="yes"];
is_uikit -> is_design [label="no"];
is_design -> design_type [label="yes"];
is_design -> "accessibility-diag" [label="accessibility"];
swiftui_type [label="What's wrong?" shape=diamond];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-debugging" [label="view not updating"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-nav" [label="navigation"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-performance" [label="slow/lag"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-layout" [label="adaptive layout"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-containers-ref" [label="stacks/grids/outlines"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-architecture" [label="feature architecture"];
swiftui_type -> "app-composition" [label="app-level (root, auth, scenes)"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-animation-ref" [label="animations"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-gestures" [label="gestures"];
swiftui_type -> "transferable-ref" [label="drag/drop, sharing, copy/paste"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-search-ref" [label="search"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-26-ref" [label="iOS 26 features"];
swiftui_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="UIKit interop"];
swiftui_type -> "ux-flow-audit" [label="UX dead ends, dismiss traps"];
uikit_type [label="UIKit issue?" shape=diamond];
uikit_type -> "auto-layout-debugging" [label="Auto Layout"];
uikit_type -> "uikit-animation-debugging" [label="animations"];
uikit_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="SwiftUI embedding"];
uikit_type -> "ux-flow-audit" [label="UX dead ends, dismiss traps"];
design_type [label="Design topic?" shape=diamond];
design_type -> "liquid-glass" [label="Liquid Glass"];
design_type -> "sf-symbols" [label="SF Symbols"];
design_type -> "hig" [label="HIG compliance"];
design_type -> "typography-ref" [label="typography"];
design_type -> "textkit-ref" [label="TextKit/rich text"];
}
Automated scanning agents:
- Want architecture audit (separation of concerns, testability)? → swiftui-architecture-auditor (Agent)
- Want SwiftUI performance scan (view body ops, unnecessary updates)? → swiftui-performance-analyzer (Agent)
- Want navigation audit (deep links, state restoration)? → swiftui-nav-auditor (Agent)
- Want UX flow audit (dead ends, dismiss traps, missing states)? → ux-flow-auditor (Agent)
- Want Liquid Glass adoption scan? → liquid-glass-auditor (Agent)
- Want TextKit scan (Writing Tools, deprecated APIs)? → textkit-auditor (Agent)
Anti-Rationalization
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "Simple SwiftUI layout, no need for the layout skill" | SwiftUI layout has 12 gotchas. swiftui-layout covers all of them. |
| "I know how NavigationStack works" | Navigation has state restoration, deep linking, and identity traps. swiftui-nav prevents 2-hour debugging. |
| "It's just a view not updating, I'll debug it" | View update failures have 4 root causes. swiftui-debugging diagnoses in 5 min. |
| "I'll just add .animation() and fix later" | Animation issues compound. swiftui-animation-ref has the correct patterns. |
| "This UI is simple, no architecture needed" | Even small features benefit from separation. swiftui-architecture prevents refactoring debt. |
| "UX issues are just polish, we'll fix later" | Dead ends and dismiss traps cause 1-star reviews. ux-flow-audit catches them in minutes. |
| "I know how .searchable works" | Search has 6 gotchas (navigation container, isSearching level, suggestion completion). swiftui-search-ref covers all of them. |
| "I know SF Symbols, it's just Image(systemName:)" | 4 rendering modes, 12+ effects, 3 Draw playback modes, custom symbol authoring. sf-symbols has decision trees for all of them. |
| "Drag and drop is just .draggable and .dropDestination" | UTType declarations, representation ordering, file lifecycle, cross-app transfer gotchas. transferable-ref covers all of them. |
| "I'll just wrap this UIView real quick" | UIViewRepresentable has lifecycle, coordinator, sizing, and memory gotchas. uikit-bridging prevents 1-2 hour debugging sessions. |
| "tvOS is just iOS on a TV" | tvOS has no persistent storage, no WebView, a dual focus system, and two remote generations. axiom-tvos covers all the traps. |
Example Invocations
User: "My SwiftUI view isn't updating when I change the model"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-debugging
User: "How do I implement Liquid Glass in my toolbar?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-liquid-glass
User: "NavigationStack is popping unexpectedly"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-nav
User: "Should I use MVVM for this SwiftUI app?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-architecture
User: "How do I switch between login and main screens?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-app-composition
User: "Where should auth state live in my app?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-app-composition
User: "How do I create a grid layout with LazyVGrid?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "What's the difference between VStack and LazyVStack?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "How do I display hierarchical data with OutlineGroup?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "How do I add search to my SwiftUI list?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref
User: "My search suggestions aren't working"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref
User: "How do I animate an SF Symbol when tapped?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols
User: "My SF Symbol Draw animation isn't working on my custom symbol"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols
User: "Which rendering mode should I use for my toolbar icons?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols
User: "How do I make my model draggable in SwiftUI?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-transferable-ref
User: "How do I add ShareLink with a custom preview?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-transferable-ref
User: "How do I wrap a UIKit view in SwiftUI?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "How do I embed SwiftUI in my UIKit app?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "My UIViewRepresentable isn't updating correctly"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "How do I use UIHostingConfiguration for collection view cells?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "I'm building a tvOS app and focus navigation isn't working"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-tvos
User: "How do I handle text input on tvOS?"
→ Invoke: /skill axiom-tvos
User: "Check my app for UX dead ends and dismiss traps"
→ Invoke: ux-flow-auditor agent
User: "Check my SwiftUI architecture for separation of concerns"
→ Invoke: swiftui-architecture-auditor agent
User: "Scan my SwiftUI views for performance issues"
→ Invoke: swiftui-performance-analyzer agent
User: "Audit my navigation for deep link gaps"
→ Invoke: swiftui-nav-auditor agent
User: "Check my app for Liquid Glass adoption opportunities"
→ Invoke: liquid-glass-auditor agent
User: "Why isn't Writing Tools appearing in my text view?"
→ Invoke: textkit-auditor agent