Prompt Quick Reference

Copy-paste these prompts directly into your AI assistant. Each one maps to a specific Xcode Pilot MCP tool.

Build & Compile

What You Want	What to Say
Build for simulator	”Build MyApp scheme for iPhone 16 simulator”
Build for device	”Build MyApp scheme for a physical iOS device in Release mode”
Clean build	”Clean the build artifacts for MyApp scheme”
Clean and rebuild	”Clean and then rebuild MyApp for iPhone 16 simulator”
Create archive	”Archive MyApp to ~/Desktop/MyApp.xcarchive”
Export IPA	”Export an IPA from ~/Desktop/MyApp.xcarchive using ~/ExportOptions.plist”
Run all tests	”Run tests for MyApp scheme on iPhone 16 simulator”
Run specific tests	”Run only the LoginTests test class on iPhone 16 simulator”
Skip slow tests	”Run tests but skip the UITests target”
Run tests without building	”Run tests without rebuilding on the iPhone 16 simulator”
List schemes	”List all schemes in my project”
Show build settings	”Show the build settings for MyApp in Debug configuration”

Simulator Management

What You Want	What to Say
List all simulators	”Show me all my iOS simulators”
List running simulators	”Which simulators are currently booted?”
Create simulator	”Create an iPhone 16 Pro simulator with iOS 18”
Create iPad simulator	”Create an iPad Pro 13-inch simulator on iOS 18”
Boot simulator	”Boot the iPhone 16 Pro simulator”
Shut down one	”Shut down the iPhone 16 simulator”
Shut down all	”Shut down all running simulators”
Delete simulator	”Delete the simulator named ‘Test Device‘“
Clean up old simulators	”Delete all unavailable simulators”
Erase simulator	”Erase all data from the iPhone 16 simulator”
Open Simulator.app	”Open the Simulator app for iPhone 16”
List runtimes	”What iOS runtimes are installed?”
List device types	”What simulator device types are available?”
Clone simulator	”Clone the iPhone 16 simulator as ‘iPhone 16 - Testing‘“

App Lifecycle

What You Want	What to Say
Install app	”Install MyApp.app on the iPhone 16 simulator”
Uninstall app	”Uninstall com.example.myapp from the simulator”
Launch app	”Launch com.example.myapp on the iPhone 16 simulator”
Launch with args	”Launch the app with —reset-state argument”
Launch with console	”Launch the app with console output attached”
Terminate app	”Terminate com.example.myapp on the simulator”
Get app container	”Get the data container path for com.example.myapp”
Get app group path	”Get the app group container for group.com.example.shared”
List installed apps	”List all apps installed on the iPhone 16 simulator”
Open URL / deep link	”Open myapp://profile/settings on the simulator”
Open universal link	”Open https://example.com/invite/abc123 on the simulator”
Grant camera access	”Grant camera permission to com.example.myapp”
Revoke location	”Revoke location permission from com.example.myapp”
Reset all permissions	”Reset all privacy permissions for com.example.myapp”
Grant photos access	”Grant photo library access to com.example.myapp”

Debugging & Logging

What You Want	What to Say
Stream live logs	”Stream logs from the iPhone 16 simulator for 10 seconds”
Filter by app	”Stream logs from the simulator filtering for subsystem com.example.myapp”
Filter errors	”Stream only error-level logs from the simulator”
Collect recent logs	”Show me the last 5 minutes of logs from the simulator”
Collect as JSON	”Collect the last 2 minutes of logs in JSON format”
Take screenshot	”Take a screenshot of the simulator”
Screenshot to path	”Save a simulator screenshot to ~/Desktop/screenshot.png”
Record screen	”Record the simulator screen for 15 seconds”
Record to path	”Record 20 seconds of video to ~/Desktop/demo.mp4”
Collect diagnostics	”Run simulator diagnostics”
Accessibility audit	”Run an accessibility audit on the simulator”
Set dark mode	”Switch the simulator to dark mode”
Set light mode	”Switch the simulator to light mode”

Simulator Environment

What You Want	What to Say
Set location	”Set the simulator location to 37.3349, -122.0090 (Apple Park)“
Set NYC location	”Set the simulator GPS to Times Square, NYC”
Clear location	”Clear the simulated location”
Send push notification	”Send a push notification to com.example.myapp with title ‘Hello’ and body ‘World‘“
Send silent push	”Send a silent push notification to com.example.myapp”
Override status bar	”Set status bar to 9:41, full battery, full signal, 5G”
App Store status bar	”Set up the status bar for App Store screenshots”
Clear status bar	”Reset the status bar to defaults”
Type text	”Type ‘john@example.com’ into the simulator”
Type search query	”Input ‘weather forecast’ into the simulator keyboard”

Code Signing & Provisioning

What You Want	What to Say
List signing identities	”Show my code signing identities”
List profiles	”List all installed provisioning profiles”
Inspect profile	”Inspect the provisioning profile at ~/Downloads/profile.mobileprovision”
List keychains	”List all keychains on this machine”
Check entitlements	”Show the entitlements of MyApp.app”

Package Management

What You Want	What to Say
Resolve SPM packages	”Resolve Swift package dependencies for my project”
Update SPM packages	”Update all Swift packages to their latest versions”
Show dependency tree	”Show the SPM dependency tree as JSON”
Install pods	”Run pod install for my project”
Install pods (fresh)	“Run pod install with repo update”
Update all pods	”Update all CocoaPods dependencies”
Update one pod	”Update the Alamofire pod”
Check outdated pods	”Check for outdated CocoaPods”

Scaffolding

What You Want	What to Say
Create SwiftUI project	”Create a new SwiftUI iOS project called MyApp in ~/Projects”
Create UIKit project	”Create a new UIKit iOS project called MyApp in ~/Projects”
Create macOS project	”Create a new SwiftUI macOS project called MyApp in ~/Projects”
Generate view	”Create a SwiftUI view called ProfileView in ./Sources”
Generate view (no preview)	“Create a SwiftUI view called SettingsView without a preview”
Generate viewmodel	”Create a ViewModel called ProfileViewModel in ./Sources”
Generate Core Data model	”Create a Core Data model called User with name (String) and email (String) attributes”
Generate widget	”Create a static widget called StatusWidget in ./Sources”
Generate configurable widget	”Create a configurable widget called QuoteWidget in ./Sources”

IPA & App Analysis

What You Want	What to Say
Analyze IPA	”Analyze the IPA at ~/Desktop/MyApp.ipa”
Check permissions	”What privacy permissions does ~/Desktop/MyApp.ipa request?”
Binary size breakdown	”Show the binary size breakdown for the MyApp executable”
Verify dSYM	”Verify that MyApp.dSYM matches the MyApp binary”

Code Quality

What You Want	What to Say
Run SwiftLint	”Run SwiftLint on my project”
SwiftLint specific path	”Run SwiftLint on the Sources/ directory”
Auto-fix lint issues	”Auto-fix SwiftLint violations in my project”
Check formatting	”Check swift-format compliance for Sources/“
Get build warnings	”Show build warnings from the latest Xcode build”

Physical Devices

What You Want	What to Say
List devices	”List all connected physical iOS devices”
Install on device	”Install MyApp.app on my connected iPhone”
Launch on device	”Launch com.example.myapp on my physical device”
Stream device logs	”Stream console logs from my connected iPhone for 30 seconds”

Tip

These prompts work as-is, but you can also combine them into multi-step workflows. See the other cookbook pages for complex recipes.