mobiai-ios-build

iOS Build System

Community contribution welcome! This skill is a skeleton. Help flesh it out with real-world xcodebuild workflows and troubleshooting tips.

Build iOS projects using xcodebuild and manage dependencies with CocoaPods/SPM.

When to Use

• Building the app for testing or deployment
• Troubleshooting build failures
• Managing dependencies (CocoaPods, SPM)

Build Commands

Discover Project Structure

# List schemes
xcodebuild -list

# List schemes (workspace)
xcodebuild -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace -list

# Check if it uses workspace or project
ls *.xcworkspace *.xcodeproj 2>/dev/null

Build for Simulator

# With workspace (CocoaPods projects)
xcodebuild build \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro' \
  -quiet

# With project (no CocoaPods)
xcodebuild build \
  -project MyApp.xcodeproj \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro' \
  -quiet

Build for Device

xcodebuild build \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'generic/platform=iOS' \
  CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO

Run Tests

xcodebuild test \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro' \
  -quiet

Clean Build

xcodebuild clean build \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro'

Dependency Management

CocoaPods

# Install dependencies
pod install

# Update a specific pod
pod update <PodName>

# Check for issues
pod outdated

Always open .xcworkspace (not .xcodeproj) after running pod install.

Swift Package Manager

SPM dependencies are defined in the Xcode project or Package.swift.

# Resolve packages
xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies \
  -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace \
  -scheme MyApp

# Check Package.swift
cat Package.swift

Code Signing

Development (Automatic)

Xcode handles signing automatically in most cases. For CLI builds:

xcodebuild build \
  -allowProvisioningUpdates \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'generic/platform=iOS'

Skip Signing (for CI or testing)

xcodebuild build \
  CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO \
  -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro'

Troubleshooting

DerivedData corruption

rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

Module not found

# Regenerate module maps
pod deintegrate && pod install
# Or clean SPM cache
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm

Swift version mismatch

# Check Swift version
swift --version
xcrun swift --version

# Check project's Swift version
grep SWIFT_VERSION *.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj

Provisioning profile issues

# List installed profiles
ls ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning\ Profiles/

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Want to improve this skill? Add your xcodebuild expertise, CI/CD patterns, and signing workflows via a PR.