Visual overview

Use the workflow to follow the task, and the architecture map to separate responsibilities. These are conceptual maps; the guide below defines implementation details and verification limits.

01 / WorkflowFrom intent to a checked result
  1. Inspect installed version
  2. Select relevant Apple source
  3. Verify with installed SDK
  4. Update guide and reference index
02 / ArchitectureResponsibility boundaries
  1. Boundary 1Apple-managed local documentation
  2. Boundary 2Original repository guides
  3. Boundary 3Bounded local-reference tools

Connected responsibilities, not a required class hierarchy or an execution trace.

Local inspection: September 29, 2026. Xcode Developer Documentation is an Apple-managed local resource, separate from this repository's original guides and examples.

Verified local snapshot

  • xcodebuild -version: Xcode 27.0, build 27A266a.
  • The local Apple MobileAsset catalog lists documentation build 10M13950 for Xcode 27.0 and macOS 27.0, with an unarchived size of 1,731,604,480 bytes.
  • Installed asset metadata identifies Xcode 27.0 and OS 27.0. The installed Info.plist does not itself expose 10M13950; the catalog and Xcode Components UI supply that build identifier.
  • The asset contains AssetData/config.json, documentation-cache and documentation-db. Configuration identifies a read-only vector-search database.

This verifies a local installation and catalog, not that every Apple article or later SDK release is present. It does not prove an Xcode MCP documentation query succeeded.

Find and inspect the archive on a Mac

In Xcode, open Settings > Components > Developer Documentation to see the installed version and manage downloads. To locate the underlying asset without changing it:

xcode-select -p
xcodebuild -version
ls /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_AppleDeveloperDocumentation/

Under that directory, look for an installed *.asset folder. Its name is machine/version-specific; do not hardcode the asset hash in an app or MCP configuration. Info.plist contains installation metadata; AssetData/config.json describes the database. Read metadata with plutil -p or open the configuration in an editor. Use Xcode's documentation browser for the actual documentation.

The MobileAsset location and database layout are inspected implementation details, not a supported stable parsing API. Do not modify the system asset, copy it into GitHub/npm, or assume this repository's local-reference tools search it. Current local-reference tools search the repository's bundled library. Xcode documentation tools are a separate client integration; discover the tools exposed by the installed Xcode version and verify a query before claiming integration.

Keep repository guidance current

Installed documentation version + Apple release notes
  -> select affected guide / symbol
  -> verify availability and behavior against the selected SDK
  -> update original guidance and regression fixtures
  -> rebuild the local reference index
  -> report verified changes and remaining gaps

Refresh the release-note directory with python3 scripts/sync-apple-updates.py; it retrieves landing-page topic maps, not every article body. After guide changes run node scripts/index-local-library.mjs --write and its --check variant. The snapshot date applies to fetched entries, not every document in the repository. Preserve historical build/test evidence rather than replacing old toolchain versions with the newly installed version.

For UI templates and Figma provenance, see Apple design resources. For separate Xcode agent configuration, see Xcode agent workflows.