macOS

Build native macOS apps the supported way — SwiftUI-first, multi-window, keyboard-driven, sandboxed, and ready for Mac App Store or Developer ID distribution. These skills cover scene types, menu bar commands, AppKit interop, App Sandbox file access, Settings panes, and notarized direct distribution.

When to Use These Skills

Use macOS skills when you're:

• Building a new macOS app or adding a Mac target to an iOS-first codebase
• Picking between WindowGroup, Window, UtilityWindow, MenuBarExtra, and Settings
• Wiring menu bar commands to the focused window via focusedSceneValue
• Bringing SwiftUI patterns from iOS to macOS — Table, NavigationSplitView, Inspector, focus, toolbars
• Adopting App Sandbox, security-scoped bookmarks, and file-access entitlements
• Adding a Settings (Preferences) window with tabbed panes and @AppStorage
• Distributing outside the Mac App Store via Developer ID, notarytool, and Sparkle
• Embedding AppKit views in SwiftUI (or vice versa) with NSViewRepresentable and NSHostingController

Example Prompts

Questions you can ask Claude that will draw from these skills:

• "How do I structure a macOS app that has a main window plus an activity panel?"
• "My menu bar commands are always disabled — what's wrong?"
• "Should this be a List or a Table?"
• "My app works in debug but fails to open files in release. Why?"
• "How do I notarize and staple my app for Developer ID distribution?"
• "Where should the Settings window's .frame() go — on the TabView or each tab?"
• "I need to embed an NSTextView inside SwiftUI. What's the lifecycle?"

Skills

• Windows — Scene types, openWindow, default size, MenuBarExtra, UtilityWindow

  • "WindowGroup vs Window vs UtilityWindow — which do I use?"
  • "How do I open a detail window from a context menu without adding a File menu item?"

• Menus and Commands — Menu bar architecture, CommandMenu/CommandGroup, focusedSceneValue, context menus

  • "Why is my menu item always disabled even though the window is focused?"
  • "How do I add 'New Plant' before the standard 'New' group in the File menu?"

• SwiftUI Differences — Table vs List, NavigationSplitView, Inspector, focus, toolbars, multi-window state

  • "My iPad-style sheet feels wrong on Mac. What's the macOS equivalent?"
  • "My table headers show sort indicators but the rows don't reorder. What did I miss?"

• Sandbox and File Access — App Sandbox model, fileImporter, security-scoped bookmarks, entitlements

  • "My app loses file access after a few open/close cycles. What's leaking?"
  • "How do I keep access to a user-selected folder across app launches?"

• Settings — Settings scene, tabbed panes, sizing, SettingsLink, @AppStorage

  • "Where does the .frame() go on a tabbed Settings window?"
  • "How do I share one codebase across iOS and macOS where macOS needs a Settings scene?"

• Direct Distribution — Developer ID code signing, notarytool, stapling, packaging, Sparkle auto-updates

  • "My notarization keeps failing with 'signature does not include a secure timestamp.' How do I fix it?"
  • "What's the right order to sign an app with embedded frameworks and XPC services?"

• AppKit Interop — NSViewRepresentable, NSHostingController/NSHostingView, responder chain, NSToolbar bridging

  • "How do I host an NSTextView inside SwiftUI and keep bindings synced?"
  • "My SwiftUI cells inside NSCollectionView cause scroll jank. What's the right reuse pattern?"

Related

• axiom-swiftui — Cross-platform SwiftUI patterns (state, layout, animations, navigation fundamentals) that the macOS-specific patterns build on
• axiom-security — Keychain, encryption, passkeys, and certificate management; pair with sandbox-and-file-access and direct-distribution
• axiom-shipping — App Store submission, rejections, privacy manifests; complements direct-distribution for App Store-bound macOS apps
• axiom-uikit — UIKit-SwiftUI bridging; same Representable pattern as AppKit interop but with UIView/UIViewController
• axiom-payments — Apple Pay on Mac and Catalyst payment patterns