Claude-skill-registry building-apple-platform-products

Builds, tests, and archives Swift packages and Xcode projects for Apple platforms. Use when running xcodebuild, swift build, or swift test commands, discovering schemes and targets, or selecting simulator destinations for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, or visionOS.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/skills/data/building-apple-platform-products" ~/.claude/skills/majiayu000-claude-skill-registry-building-apple-platform-products && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: skills/data/building-apple-platform-products/SKILL.md

Building Apple Platform Products

Build, test, and archive Swift packages and Xcode projects for Apple platforms.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

Build an iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, or visionOS app
Build a Swift package
Run unit tests or UI tests
Create an archive for distribution
Discover project structure (schemes, targets, configurations)

Tool Selection

Project Type	Primary Tool	When to Use
Standalone `Package.swift`	`swift build`	Libraries, CLI tools, cross-platform Swift (no .xcodeproj)
`.xcworkspace`	`xcodebuild -workspace`	CocoaPods or multi-project setups
`.xcodeproj`	`xcodebuild`	Standard Xcode projects (including those with SPM dependencies)

Important: The

swift build

swift test

commands only work for standalone Swift packages. If a Swift package is embedded as a submodule within an Xcode project, you must use

xcodebuild

with the appropriate scheme—the Swift CLI cannot orchestrate builds in that context.

Project Discovery

Before building, discover the project structure:

# Find what project files exist
ls Package.swift *.xcworkspace *.xcodeproj 2>/dev/null

# List schemes and targets (auto-detects project)
xcodebuild -list

# Describe package (standalone SPM only)
swift package describe

Note: When an Xcode project references a local Swift package, each package target gets its own scheme (named after the target, not the package). Use these schemes to build individual targets without building the entire app.

For mixed projects, shared schemes, or detailed output parsing, see project-discovery.md.

Swift Package Manager Commands

Important: These commands only work for standalone Swift packages, not Swift Package Manager submodules in Xcode projects.

Goal	Command
Build (debug)	`swift build`
Build (release)	`swift build -c release`
Run executable	`swift run [<target>]`
Run tests	`swift test`
Run specific test	`swift test --filter <TestClass.testMethod>`
Show binary path	`swift build --show-bin-path`
Clean	`swift package clean`
Initialize	`swift package init [--type library\|executable]`

For cross-compilation, Package.swift syntax, or dependency management, see swift-package-manager.md.

xcodebuild Commands

Command structure:

xcodebuild [action] -scheme <name> [-workspace|-project] [options] [BUILD_SETTING=value]

Goal	Command
List schemes	`xcodebuild -list`
Build	`xcodebuild build -scheme <name>`
Test	`xcodebuild test -scheme <name> -destination '<spec>'`
Build for testing	`xcodebuild build-for-testing -scheme <name> -destination '<spec>'`
Test without build	`xcodebuild test-without-building -scheme <name> -destination '<spec>'`
Archive	`xcodebuild archive -scheme <name> -archivePath <path>.xcarchive`
Clean	`xcodebuild clean -scheme <name>`

Required:

-scheme

is always required. Add

-workspace

-project

when multiple exist. For tests:

-destination

is required for iOS/tvOS/watchOS/visionOS targets.

For build settings, SDK selection, or CI configuration, see xcodebuild-basics.md.

Common Destinations

Platform	Destination Specifier
macOS	`'platform=macOS'`
iOS Simulator	`'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17'`
iOS Device	`'platform=iOS,id=<UDID>'`
tvOS Simulator	`'platform=tvOS Simulator,name=Apple TV'`
watchOS Simulator	`'platform=watchOS Simulator,name=Apple Watch Series 11 (46mm)'`
visionOS Simulator	`'platform=visionOS Simulator,name=Apple Vision Pro'`
Generic (build only)	`'generic/platform=iOS'`

Note: Simulator names change with each Xcode release. Always verify available simulators:

xcrun simctl list devices available

For all platforms, multiple destinations, or troubleshooting destination errors, see destinations.md.

Reference Files

Topic	File	When to Read
Project Discovery	project-discovery.md	Mixed projects, shared schemes
Swift Package Manager	swift-package-manager.md	Cross-compilation, Package.swift syntax
xcodebuild Basics	xcodebuild-basics.md	Build settings, SDK selection
Destinations	destinations.md	All platforms, multiple destinations
Testing	testing.md	Test filtering, parallel execution, coverage
Archiving	archiving.md	Archive creation
Troubleshooting	troubleshooting.md	Build/test failures, error recovery

Common Pitfalls

swift build with Xcode submodules: Only works for standalone packages. Use
```
xcodebuild
```
with the package's scheme instead.
Missing destination for iOS: Use
```
-destination 'generic/platform=iOS'
```
for builds, or specify a simulator for tests.
Unnecessary workspace flag: Only use
```
-workspace
```
for CocoaPods or multi-project setups. Standard projects with SPM dependencies just use
```
.xcodeproj
```
.
Case-sensitive scheme names: Run
```
xcodebuild -list
```
to see exact scheme names.
Outdated simulator names: Names change with Xcode versions. Run
```
xcrun simctl list devices available
```
.
Code signing errors: Add
```
CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO
```
for builds that don't require signing.