hmohamed01 Swift Development Knowledge
Prerequisites
- macOS with Xcode 15+ (Xcode 16+ for Swift 6)
- Xcode Command Line Tools:
xcode-select --install - Verify:
xcodebuild -versionandswift --version
Quick Reference
Essential Commands
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| Build package | swift build |
| Build release | swift build -c release |
| Run tests | swift test |
| Update deps | swift package update |
| List simulators | xcrun simctl list devices |
| Boot simulator | xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 15" |
| Install app | xcrun simctl install booted ./App.app |
| Format code | swiftformat . |
| Lint code | swiftlint |
Common Destinations
# iOS Simulator
-destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15'
# macOS
-destination 'platform=macOS'
# Generic iOS (for archives)
-destination 'generic/platform=iOS'
Official Documentation
For authoritative reference, use Apple's official Swift documentation from the GitHub swift-book repository.
IMPORTANT: Apple's developer.apple.com uses a Single Page Application (SPA) that requires JavaScript, so WebFetch cannot extract content from it. Instead, use the raw GitHub URLs below which provide static markdown that WebFetch can process.
Swift Language Documentation (GitHub)
Base URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| Concurrency | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Concurrency.md |
| Protocols | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Protocols.md |
| Generics | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Generics.md |
| Error Handling | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/ErrorHandling.md |
| Closures | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Closures.md |
| Memory Safety | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/MemorySafety.md |
| Access Control | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/AccessControl.md |
| Macros | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Macros.md |
| Opaque Types | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/OpaqueTypes.md |
| Initialization | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Initialization.md |
| Properties | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Properties.md |
| Methods | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/LanguageGuide/Methods.md |
| Attributes | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/ReferenceManual/Attributes.md |
| Types | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/ReferenceManual/Types.md |
| Declarations | https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swiftlang/swift-book/main/TSPL.docc/ReferenceManual/Declarations.md |
Use WebFetch with these URLs to retrieve specific language feature details when implementing Swift code.
Note: SwiftUI framework documentation is NOT available on GitHub. For SwiftUI-specific APIs, rely on the reference files in this skill and your training knowledge.
Additional GitHub Documentation Sources
Beyond the Swift Book, these repositories provide authoritative documentation:
| Repository | Use For | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Swift Testing | Swift Testing framework (@Test, #expect) |
https://github.com/apple/swift-testing |
| Swift Evolution | Latest language proposals and features | https://github.com/apple/swift-evolution/tree/main/proposals |
| Swift Compiler Docs | Compiler internals and ABI | https://github.com/apple/swift/tree/main/docs |
| Swift Async Algorithms | Async sequences and algorithms | https://github.com/apple/swift-async-algorithms |
Example WebFetch URLs:
- Swift Testing:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apple/swift-testing/main/README.md - Evolution Proposal:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apple/swift-evolution/main/proposals/0401-remove-property-wrapper-isolation.md - Async Algorithms:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/apple/swift-async-algorithms/main/README.md
Reference Files
Detailed documentation for specific topics:
| Topic | File |
|---|---|
| SwiftUI patterns | references/swiftui-patterns.md |
| Swift 6 concurrency | references/concurrency.md |
| Testing patterns | references/testing-patterns.md |
| Architecture patterns | references/architecture.md |
| Best practices | references/best-practices.md |
| Swift Package Manager | references/spm.md |
| xcodebuild commands | references/xcodebuild.md |
| Simulator control | references/simctl.md |
| Code signing | references/code-signing.md |
| CI/CD setup | references/cicd.md |
| Troubleshooting | references/troubleshooting.md |
Included Scripts
| Script | Purpose |
|---|---|
scripts/new_package.sh |
Create new Swift package with config files |
scripts/run_tests.sh |
Run tests with common options |
scripts/format_and_lint.sh |
Format and lint Swift code |
scripts/simulator.sh |
Quick simulator management |
Run scripts from the skill directory:
$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT/skills/swift-knowledge/scripts/new_package.sh MyPackage
Asset Templates
| Asset | Purpose |
|---|---|
assets/Package.swift.template |
Swift package manifest template |
assets/.swiftformat |
SwiftFormat configuration |
assets/.swiftlint.yml |
SwiftLint configuration |
Best Practices Summary
DO
- Use SwiftUI + @Observable for iOS 17+ projects
- Use async/await for all async operations
- Store secrets in Keychain, not UserDefaults
- Use
@MainActorfor UI-related code - Enable strict concurrency checking
- Test on real devices before release
DON'T
- Force unwrap without safety checks
- Block main thread with sync operations
- Store API keys in source code
- Ignore Swift 6 concurrency warnings
- Skip error handling