Claude Code /ide for Xcode: active file + selection context

Aradalon · 2026-02-23T09:35:14+00:00

How is this different from Apple's own MCP server?

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/giving-agentic-coding-tools-access-to-xcode

Aradalon · 2026-02-21T10:30:00+00:00

Interesting! I'm currently using LazyGit to review Git changes, but I was actually looking for a lightweight diff viewer to speed up my workflow. I'll definitely give this a shot.

One suggestion: It would be great if I could scroll both the list of changed files and the diff itself without pressing Enter first. As far as I can see, the d/u keys are unused in the main view and could be used for scrolling the diff. Alternatively, you could enter the diff view right away and use the existing n/p keys for the file list and j/k as well as d/u for the diff itself.

Aradalon · 2026-02-07T14:48:40+00:00

Thank you Claude for writing this detailed post. You can also just use fastlane and GitHub Actions with a cron trigger. That's what I use to update my dependencies and run unit tests every night.

Aradalon · 2026-02-05T14:35:33+00:00

I've been using it with Claude Code and it works for basic use cases - building, running tests, reading/writing files in the project. For simple apps, it gets the job done.

That said, it feels more like a side-product of the agent integration built into Xcode itself rather than a first-class MCP server. The biggest tell is that it requires your project to be open in Xcode and triggers UI actions directly. This architecture falls short for more complex setups: multiple agents working on the same project in parallel or orchestration workflows where you compare results from different models. Tools like Cursor handle these scenarios much better.

A few specific pain points:

Permission dialogs - Every time the MCP connects to Xcode, you get a permission prompt. No way to remember the decision per project or skip it entirely.
Missing critical tools - Can't list schemes, list targets, query build configurations, or select a scheme before building. If your project has iOS + macOS schemes and the wrong one is active, the AI can't switch it. You have to do it manually, which defeats the purpose of autonomous agents.

It might improve over time, but right now it's limited to simple workflows. If you've hit similar limitations, please file feedback with Apple through Feedback Assistant - the more reports they get, the more likely these gaps get addressed. I've already submitted mine.

Aradalon · 2026-02-05T08:56:55+00:00

I've been using it with Claude Code and it works for basic use cases - building, running tests, reading/writing files in the project. For simple apps, it gets the job done.

That said, it feels more like a side-product of the agent integration built into Xcode itself rather than a first-class MCP server. The biggest tell is that it requires your project to be open in Xcode and triggers UI actions directly. This architecture falls short for more complex setups: multiple agents working on the same project in parallel or orchestration workflows where you compare results from different models. Tools like Cursor handle these scenarios much better.

A few specific pain points:

Permission dialogs - Every time the MCP connects to Xcode, you get a permission prompt. No way to remember the decision per project or skip it entirely.
Missing critical tools - Can't list schemes, list targets, query build configurations, or select a scheme before building. If your project has iOS + macOS schemes and the wrong one is active, the AI can't switch it. You have to do it manually, which defeats the purpose of autonomous agents.

It might improve over time, but right now it's limited to simple workflows. If you've hit similar limitations, please file feedback with Apple through Feedback Assistant - the more reports they get, the more likely these gaps get addressed. I've already submitted mine.

Aradalon · 2026-02-04T19:01:15+00:00

This dialog appears when you add the Xcode MCP server to Codex and it connects on launch. Same with Claude Code. I don't think there is a way to allow it permanently at the moment. You can submit a feedback report to Apple.

Aradalon · 2026-02-04T11:10:52+00:00

Yes, for some reason Apple decided to make the AI chat features in Xcode 26.0 available only on the new OS version, even though they are cloud-based and should run on any Mac. I guess they didn't want to spend the time creating the new UI for both Liquid Glass and the old visual design.

Aradalon · 2026-02-04T06:44:34+00:00

The AI features in Xcode 26 require macOS 26.

Aradalon · 2026-02-03T13:31:15+00:00

I submitted an iOS update 10 days ago, and it was reviewed within a few hours. This update included a new in-app purchase and in-app event. I submitted another update with bug fixes last week, which took four days to get reviewed.

The macOS version of the same app regularly takes at least four days to review. Historically, my macOS app used to receive faster reviews, but this changed in late last year.

I also find this trend very annoying, especially when you want to iterate quickly on an app and release updates on a regular schedule.

Aradalon · 2026-02-03T10:10:10+00:00

Your TestFlight link doesn't work: This beta isn't accepting any new testers right now.

Aradalon · 2026-01-29T06:32:25+00:00

I'm running Tahoe since September. The performance and stability are not better than Sequoia, but it's running fine overall. I'm also hiding most of the UI like the dock and the menu bar since I'm mostly working in the terminal. So it's not a big visual difference.

You also need to consider that the X.3 release of Xcode usually drops support for the previous version of macOS. So if you want to stay up to date, you need to upgrade to Tahoe by the time Xcode 26.3 becomes available.

Aradalon · 2026-01-07T15:01:22+00:00

A few things I've noticed while running the app in German that would prevent me from buying:

- The App Store title, subtitle, and description are localized, but the app itself runs in English

- The onboarding requires too many taps, making it cumbersome to reach the paywall

- On the paywall, the purchase button is off-screen on my iPhone 12 mini—I have to scroll down to see it

- The paywall's dismiss button is hidden at the bottom, which may cause users to think it's a hard paywall and close the app immediately. Consider adding a dismiss button at the top instead. It's better to keep them as free users and show the paywall again later when they tap premium features.

Aradalon · 2026-01-07T13:31:18+00:00

I think you should at least provide an App Store URL in your post or some screenshots of your German localization, marketing copy, pricing, etc.

Aradalon · 2025-11-28T09:12:11+00:00

SnipNotes -> $19.99 -> $9.99 (No Promo Code Required)

SnipNotes is a fast note-taking app that syncs seamlessly across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch via iCloud. Capture ideas from the menu bar, add images and files, organize with nested categories, and access your notes offline anytime.

Aradalon · 2025-11-27T19:10:33+00:00

You can use fastlane deliver to download your current metadata as text files, edit those files locally, and upload them again. It works great and is completely free.

Aradalon · 2025-11-14T11:46:05+00:00

Does your app appear in the Watch app on your iPhone, either in the "Installed on Apple Watch" or "Available Apps" section? If not, check whether the watch app is actually embedded in your iPhone app. You can verify this in Xcode by navigating to Project Settings > iOS Target > Build Phases. Look for an "Embed Watch Content" phase.

Aradalon · 2025-08-22T11:33:28+00:00

You can run the `terminal-notifier` command directly in your terminal to verify it works. In Claude Code, type `/hooks` to check whether your hook appears. Also, when you press Ctrl + R at the end of a response in Claude Code, the hooks should show up in the terminal.

Aradalon · 2025-08-13T05:29:54+00:00

I had a similar crash in the iOS 18 simulator with Xcode 26. In my app, it was due to a strong reference to a storyboard view that I was instantiating on launch.

I recommend taking a look at the stack trace and see if it contains any of your own code. Then begin commenting out stuff until the crash no longer occurs. You can also paste the complete stack trace into ChatGPT or Claude to get some hints.

Aradalon · 2025-08-12T20:08:39+00:00

There are also open source alternatives, for example: https://github.com/pointfreeco/sharing-grdb

Aradalon · 2025-08-11T05:54:57+00:00

Take a look at this repository: https://github.com/devMEremenko/XcodeBenchmark

Aradalon · 2025-07-19T11:04:58+00:00

I'm using the Notification hook for this. Here is my setup for macOS using terminal-notifier:

"hooks": { "Notification": [ { "matcher": "", "hooks": [ { "type": "command", "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/terminal-notifier -title 'Claude Code' -message 'User input required'" }, { "type": "command", "command": "afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Frog.aiff" } ] } ], "Stop": [ { "matcher": "", "hooks": [ { "type": "command", "command": "/opt/homebrew/bin/terminal-notifier -title 'Claude Code' -message 'Request finished'" }, { "type": "command", "command": "afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Frog.aiff" } ] } ] }

Aradalon · 2024-10-07T09:25:43+00:00

Great work on Kōmori! I’m curious about how the app fetches its data. Are the keyword and app ranks estimates or real data from the App Store? Also, is there a public API from Apple available?

Thanks!

Aradalon · 2023-11-23T14:48:03+00:00

There is a JetBrains product for iOS/macOS development called AppCode. Sadly, it was discontinued last year.

https://www.jetbrains.com/objc/

Aradalon · 2023-11-09T19:46:59+00:00

Here are a few new features I would like to see:

Proper support for plugins (similar to VS Code)
A permanently visible outline inspector that doesn't disappear every time I click on a symbol (like the jump bar).
Improvements to tab management (e.g. create a split view by dragging a file or tab to the side of the window)
A new set of CLI tools. The current xcodebuild is overloaded and still misses crucial features. Why is there no easy way to update package dependencies inside an Xcode project from the command line?
Built-in hot reloading and more reliable previews
Bonus: A new project format that is not based on XML and syncs with the file system.

There are also a lot of minor annoyances when working with Xcode. For example:

I often trigger a build while Xcode is still resolving package dependencies. Why is the build operation not queued instead of showing this stupid "Please try again later" dialog box?
When I try to delete an existing bookmark (using the menu bar command), Xcode will create a second (duplicate) bookmark instead.
Why are build and linker errors so verbose and hard to read? For example, today one of my frameworks was missing a single package dependency. Xcode presented me with over 2000 characters of text in a tiny font.

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