Search Macos26 Docs

Search macOS 26 Docs

Use the local Xcode macOS SDK as the source of truth for macOS 26 APIs. Prefer this skill before web search when the task asks what is available in the current SDK, how a SwiftUI/AppKit symbol is declared, what availability it has, or whether a macOS 26 API exists.

Quick Start

Build or refresh the cached symbol graphs:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/build_cache.py"

Search SwiftUI, SwiftUICore, and AppKit symbol docs:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py glass button style
python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py window toolbar --macos26
python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py NSHostingScene --module SwiftUI --module AppKit --limit 12

Probe a symbol or concept with exact SDK source snippets attached:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/probe_symbol.py" ZoomNavigationTransition --module SwiftUI
python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py" MTKView --module MetalKit --verify-interfaces --limit 12

Discover SDK modules before deciding where to search:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py" --find-module metal
python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py" --list-modules

The search script auto-builds the default cache on first use. Use --force on build_cache.py when Xcode changes or search results look stale.

Workflow

1. Resolve the active SDK with xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path.
2. Use scripts/search_symbols.py for prose docs, symbol names, declarations, and availability. This reads cached swift-symbolgraph-extract output from the local SDK.
3. Add --verify-interfaces or use scripts/probe_symbol.py when exact compiler declarations, overloads, underscored symbols, generated attributes, or platform availability matter. Verification searches .swiftinterface, headers, and apinotes and reports source snippets plus diagnostics.
4. Use --find-module PATTERN or --list-modules to discover candidate SDK modules, then rerun with explicit --module values.
5. Cite findings as local SDK facts. If a symbol is not found in symbol graphs, check sourceOnlyMatches from --verify-interfaces before concluding it does not exist.

Interface Inspection

Swift interfaces are API surfaces, not full documentation. They are still the best fallback for exact signatures and attributes:

SDK_PATH=$(xcrun --sdk macosx --show-sdk-path)
SWIFTUI="$SDK_PATH/System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUI.framework/Modules/SwiftUI.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-macos.swiftinterface"
SWIFTUICORE="$SDK_PATH/System/Library/Frameworks/SwiftUICore.framework/Modules/SwiftUICore.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-macos.swiftinterface"
APPKIT="$SDK_PATH/System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Modules/AppKit.swiftmodule/arm64e-apple-macos.swiftinterface"

rg -n "GlassButtonStyle|WindowResizability|NSHostingScene|toolbar" "$SWIFTUI" "$SWIFTUICORE" "$APPKIT"
sed -n '1200,1235p' "$SWIFTUI"

Use interface grep for:

• overload sets and generic constraints
• @available, deprecation, and rename messages
• internal-adjacent underscored declarations visible in the SDK
• declarations missing prose docs in symbol graphs
• AppKit declarations that are easier to confirm by exact interface text

Symbol Graph Cache

The cache defaults to:

${CODEX_MACOS26_DOCS_CACHE:-$HOME/.cache/codex/search-macos26-docs}/<sdk-name>/<target>/<module>/

Default modules are SwiftUI, SwiftUICore, and AppKit. Add more modules when needed:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/build_cache.py --module UniformTypeIdentifiers
python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/scripts/search_symbols.py pasteboard --module AppKit

Useful options:

• build_cache.py --list prints cache location and SDK details without extracting.
• build_cache.py --force deletes and rebuilds selected module caches.
• search_symbols.py --json emits machine-readable results.
• search_symbols.py --verify-interfaces attaches matching .swiftinterface, header, or apinotes snippets and diagnostics to shown results.
• probe_symbol.py QUERY ... is shorthand for a verified, non-deduped symbol probe with full docs.
• search_symbols.py --find-module PATTERN lists SDK modules with names matching a substring.
• search_symbols.py --list-modules lists SDK framework modules visible to the helper.
• search_symbols.py --kind "Instance Method" narrows result kind.
• search_symbols.py --macos26 filters to symbols introduced in macOS 26 or later.
• search_symbols.py --introduced macOS:26 filters by an explicit availability domain and major version.
• search_symbols.py --no-doc hides doc snippets for compact output.
• search_symbols.py --no-dedupe keeps repeated extension results when every concrete receiver matters.
• search_symbols.py --source-limit 8 --source-context-lines 6 adjusts verified source snippets.

Test

Run the end-to-end tests after changing the helper scripts. They use the actual installed SDK and validate symbol graph search, source-only verification, module discovery, and explicit module drill-down:

python3 "$HOME/.codex/skills/search-macos26-docs/tests/test_search_symbols_e2e.py"

Interpretation Rules

• Treat symbol graph docs as extracted local Apple SDK metadata, not generated guesses.
• Treat .swiftinterface as the compiler-facing declaration source.
• Treat headers and apinotes as first-class fallback sources for Objective-C-backed frameworks.
• When symbol graphs and verified SDK source disagree, prefer the verified SDK source and report the mismatch.
• Do not assume public Apple Developer web pages are complete or current for macOS 26 beta/new SDK APIs.
• If symbol graph extraction fails for a module, fall back to rg over framework interfaces under $SDK_PATH/System/Library/Frameworks and $SDK_PATH/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks.
• Report the active SDK basename, target triple, and module when precision matters.