Skip to content
Xcode Pilot MCP

Build & Test Workflows

These are multi-step workflow recipes. Each recipe shows a sequence of prompts that work together to accomplish a common development task.

Clean Build and Test

Section titled “Clean Build and Test”

A fresh build-and-test cycle, useful when you suspect cached artifacts are causing issues.

  1. “Clean the build artifacts for the WeatherApp scheme”

  2. “Build WeatherApp for iPhone 16 simulator in Debug mode”

  3. “Run all tests for WeatherApp on iPhone 16 simulator”

One-shot version:

“Clean, rebuild, and run all tests for WeatherApp on the iPhone 16 simulator”

Archive and Export IPA

Section titled “Archive and Export IPA”

Build an IPA for distribution (TestFlight, App Store, or ad-hoc).

  1. Check schemes and settings first:

    “List the schemes in my project and show build settings for the Release configuration”

  2. Create the archive:

    “Archive the WeatherApp scheme to ~/Desktop/WeatherApp.xcarchive”

    {
      "scheme": "WeatherApp",
      "archivePath": "/Users/dev/Desktop/WeatherApp.xcarchive",
      "configuration": "Release"
    }

  3. Export the IPA:

    “Export an IPA from ~/Desktop/WeatherApp.xcarchive to ~/Desktop/ipa-output using ~/ExportOptions.plist”

    {
      "archivePath": "/Users/dev/Desktop/WeatherApp.xcarchive",
      "exportPath": "/Users/dev/Desktop/ipa-output",
      "exportOptionsPlist": "/Users/dev/ExportOptions.plist"
    }

  4. Analyze the output:

    “Analyze the exported IPA at ~/Desktop/ipa-output/WeatherApp.ipa”

Run Tests on Specific Simulator

Section titled “Run Tests on Specific Simulator”

Target a specific device and OS version for testing.

  1. Find the right simulator:

    “List all simulators that are shut down”

  2. Boot it:

    “Boot the iPhone 15 Pro - iOS 17.5 simulator”

  3. Run tests:

    “Run tests for WeatherApp on the iPhone 15 Pro simulator running iOS 17.5”

    {
      "scheme": "WeatherApp",
      "destination": "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro,OS=17.5"
    }

Run Only Specific Test Classes

Section titled “Run Only Specific Test Classes”

Focus your test run on the area you’re working on.

“Run only the WeatherServiceTests class on iPhone 16 simulator”

{
  "scheme": "WeatherApp",
  "destination": "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16,OS=latest",
  "onlyTesting": ["WeatherAppTests/WeatherServiceTests"]
}

Check Build Settings for Signing Issues

Section titled “Check Build Settings for Signing Issues”

Debug code signing problems by inspecting the resolved build settings.

  1. “Show build settings for WeatherApp in Release configuration”

    Look for these keys in the output:

    CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY = Apple Distribution: Your Team (ABC123)
    DEVELOPMENT_TEAM = ABC123XYZ
    PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER = WeatherApp Distribution
    CODE_SIGN_STYLE = Manual

  2. “List my code signing identities”

    Verify the identity from step 1 is installed.

  3. “List my provisioning profiles”

    Verify the profile from step 1 is installed and not expired.

  4. If the profile looks wrong:

    “Inspect the provisioning profile at ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/abc123.mobileprovision”

Resolve and Update Dependencies

Section titled “Resolve and Update Dependencies”

Swift Package Manager

Section titled “Swift Package Manager”

  1. “Show the SPM dependency tree for my project”

    Review what packages and versions are currently resolved.

  2. “Update all Swift packages to their latest allowed versions”

  3. “Resolve SPM dependencies to make sure everything is consistent”

  4. “Build my project to verify the updates work”

CocoaPods

Section titled “CocoaPods”

  1. “Check for outdated CocoaPods in my project”

    Review which pods have newer versions available.

  2. “Update all pods”

    Or update a specific one:

    “Update the Alamofire pod”

  3. “Run pod install with repo update”

    Ensures your local spec repo is current.

  4. “Build my project to verify the pod updates work”

Mixed SPM + CocoaPods Project

Section titled “Mixed SPM + CocoaPods Project”

“Update all Swift packages and CocoaPods, then rebuild and run tests”

The AI assistant will handle both package managers in sequence.

Run SwiftLint and Auto-Fix

Section titled “Run SwiftLint and Auto-Fix”

  1. Check current violations:

    “Run SwiftLint on my project”

    SwiftLint Analysis:
    12 violations (8 warnings, 4 errors)
    

    Sources/WeatherService.swift:45: warning: Line Length (line_length)
    Sources/LocationManager.swift:12: error: Force Cast (force_cast)
    ...

  2. Auto-fix what’s possible:

    “Auto-fix SwiftLint violations in my project”

    SwiftLint auto-fix complete.
    Fixed 6 violations in 4 files.

  3. Check what remains:

    “Run SwiftLint again to see remaining issues”

    The remaining violations need manual fixes (force casts, complex issues).

Full CI-Like Quality Gate

Section titled “Full CI-Like Quality Gate”

Simulate what your CI pipeline does, all locally:

“Run the full quality check: clean build, run SwiftLint, check swift-format, run all tests on iPhone 16, and show any build warnings”

  1. Clean and build
  2. SwiftLint analysis
  3. swift-format check
  4. Run full test suite
  5. Extract build warnings

This gives you confidence before pushing that your PR will pass CI.