WeatherKit

WeatherKit gives your app current conditions, minute/hourly/daily forecasts, severe-weather alerts, and historical averages from the Apple Weather service. The Swift API is a one-liner, but two things sink apps that skip them: mandatory attribution (App Review rejects without it) and the 500,000-call/month quota.

Part of the axiom-integration suite (skills/weatherkit.md).

When to Use

Use this skill when you're:

• Showing current conditions or forecasts (hourly, daily, minute precipitation)
• Surfacing severe-weather alerts or historical climate averages
• Deciding between the Swift API and the REST API (web / other platforms)
• Managing the 500K/month quota or planning paid tiers
• Getting attribution right before App Review

Example Prompts

• "How do I show the weather forecast with WeatherKit?"
• "Why was my weather app rejected by App Review?"
• "How much does WeatherKit cost / what's the quota?"
• "How do I fetch only the daily forecast?"
• "How do I set up the WeatherKit REST API?"

Key Concepts

Two query shapes

weather(for:) fetches all datasets; weather(for:including:) fetches only the ones you name (returning a typed tuple). Apple publishes no per-dataset counting rule, so narrow the request for the smaller response and decode cost — caching is what protects the quota.

Attribution is mandatory

Any screen showing WeatherKit data must show the Apple Weather mark and link to legalPageURL. Fetch WeatherService.shared.attribution once and cache it; use legalAttributionText as the fallback where you can't render a logo. Skipping this is the most common WeatherKit rejection.

Pricing and quota

500,000 calls/month are included with Apple Developer Program membership. Paid tiers run from 1M ($49.99) to 200M ($9,999.99) per month. Upgrades reset the counter to 0; unused calls don't roll over.

Setup

Enable the WeatherKit capability on your App ID (Swift), or create a Service ID + .p8 key and sign a JWT (REST). WeatherKit needs a CLLocation — acquire one via Core Location first.

Regional availability

Minute precipitation and alerts are region-limited. Query .availability and treat those datasets as optional.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Cost	Fix
No attribution	App Review rejection	Show the mark + link to legalPageURL
weather(for:) every refresh	Quota burn — repeated refetches draw on the 500,000-call monthly quota	Cache results and honor expirationDate; request only the datasets you show
Capability/Service not configured	401 auth errors	Enable WeatherKit; verify REST keys
Assuming alerts exist everywhere	Crashes / empty UI	Check WeatherAvailability
Querying with no location	No data	Acquire a CLLocation first

Related

• For acquiring a CLLocation, see the axiom-location suite
• For REST JWT signing, see the axiom-networking suite
• Attribution is also an App Review gate — see the axiom-shipping suite

Resources

WWDC: 2022-10003

Docs: /weatherkit, /weatherkit/weatherservice, /weatherkit/weather, /weatherkit/weatherattribution, /weatherkit/weatherquery, /weatherkit/weatheravailability