App Intents Expert Skill

App Intents Expert Skill

Expert guidance for the App Intents framework on iOS 26+. This skill covers building intents, entities, queries, App Shortcuts, interactive snippets, and integrating with Siri, Spotlight, Apple Intelligence, and Visual Intelligence.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when the developer is:

• Creating or modifying any AppIntent, AppEntity, AppEnum, or EntityQuery
• Adding Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, or Apple Intelligence support to an app
• Building AppShortcutsProvider or App Shortcuts
• Implementing interactive snippets with SnippetIntent
• Indexing entities for Spotlight with IndexedEntity
• Integrating with Visual Intelligence or image search
• Navigating with TargetContentProvidingIntent and onAppIntentExecution
• Migrating from SiriKit (INIntent) to App Intents
• Debugging App Intents build errors or runtime issues

Task-based routing

Based on what the developer needs, read the relevant reference files.

"I want to create my first App Intent"

1. Read references/intent-fundamentals.md
2. Then references/shortcuts-provider.md for discoverability

"I want my app's content searchable in Siri and Spotlight"

1. Read references/entities-and-queries.md
2. Then references/spotlight-indexing.md
3. Then references/siri-integration.md

"I want to integrate with Apple Intelligence and the new Siri"

1. Read references/apple-intelligence.md
2. Then references/siri-integration.md
3. Then references/intent-fundamentals.md if new to the framework

"I want to build interactive snippets"

1. Read references/interactive-snippets.md
2. Then references/intent-fundamentals.md if not familiar with intents

"I want to add Shortcuts and Siri phrases to my app"

1. Read references/shortcuts-provider.md
2. Then references/siri-integration.md

"I want to structure my app around App Intents"

1. Read references/intent-driven-architecture.md
2. Then references/entities-and-queries.md
3. Then references/intent-fundamentals.md

"I want to support Visual Intelligence / image search"

1. Read references/apple-intelligence.md — image search section
2. Then references/entities-and-queries.md

"I'm migrating from SiriKit"

1. Read references/migration-from-sirikit.md
2. Then references/intent-fundamentals.md

"I need to test my App Intents"

1. Read references/testing-intents.md

"I'm hitting build errors or runtime issues"

1. Read references/common-pitfalls.md

Quick-reference checklists

Minimum viable App Intent

• Create a struct conforming to AppIntent
• Add a static let title: LocalizedStringResource
• Implement func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult
• Add @Parameter for any inputs
• Add a ParameterSummary for all required parameters
• Set supportedModes if the intent should foreground the app

Minimum viable App Entity

• Create a struct conforming to AppEntity
• Add a persistent, unique id property
• Add @Property or @ComputedProperty for each exposed property
• Provide typeDisplayRepresentation and displayRepresentation
• Create an EntityQuery with entities(for:) method
• Set static let defaultQuery on the entity
• Register data dependencies with AppDependencyManager

Minimum viable App Shortcut

• Create an AppShortcutsProvider with static var appShortcuts
• Create AppShortcut instances with intent, phrases, shortTitle, systemImageName
• Every phrase must include \(.applicationName)
• At most one @Parameter per phrase
• Call updateAppShortcutParameters() when suggested entities change

Making an entity Spotlight-searchable

• Conform entity to IndexedEntity
• Add indexingKey parameter to @Property attributes
• Donate entities using the framework's indexing APIs
• Implement an OpenIntent so tapping results navigates to the entity

Adding interactive snippets (iOS 26+)

• Create a struct conforming to SnippetIntent
• Mark all view-driving variables as @Parameter
• Return .result(view:) from perform()
• Use Button(intent:) or Toggle(intent:) in the snippet view
• Return ShowsSnippetIntent from the parent intent
• Do NOT mutate app state in the snippet intent's perform method

Key decision tree

Which protocol should my intent conform to?

Is it a basic action?
  → AppIntent

Does it open your app to show content?
  → OpenIntent + TargetContentProvidingIntent

Does it render an interactive view?
  → SnippetIntent

Should it support undo?
  → UndoableIntent

Does it match an Apple Intelligence domain?
  → Use @AppIntent macro with the appropriate schema

Which entity type should I use?

Is the set of values fixed and known at compile time?
  → AppEnum

Is the set of values dynamic?
  → AppEntity

Do I need Spotlight indexing?
  → AppEntity + IndexedEntity

Do I need image search / Visual Intelligence?
  → AppEntity + Transferable + OpenIntent

Which query type should I use?

Can all entities fit in memory?
  → EnumerableEntityQuery

Do I need text-based search?
  → EntityStringQuery

Do I need filtering by properties?
  → EntityPropertyQuery

Do I only need lookup by ID?
  → EntityQuery (base protocol)

Should a property be @Property, @ComputedProperty, or @DeferredProperty?

Is the value stored on the entity struct?
  → @Property

Can the value be derived from another source (UserDefaults, model)?
  → @ComputedProperty (preferred — lower overhead)

Is the value expensive to compute (network call, heavy I/O)?
  → @DeferredProperty (async getter, only called when system requests it)

Framework architecture notes

• App Intents uses build-time metadata extraction. Your Swift source code is read at compile time to generate an App Intents representation stored inside your app bundle. This is why certain values (titles, display representations) must be compile-time constants.
• The system reads this metadata without running your app. After installation, intents, entities, and shortcuts are available immediately.
• Each target in your app is processed independently. When sharing App Intent types across targets, use AppIntentsPackage to register each target.
• App Intents can now live in Swift Packages and static libraries (new in iOS 26).
• Register dependencies with AppDependencyManager.shared.add { } as early as possible in your app's lifecycle (typically in the App.init()).

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