MCP server · Developer tools

Xcode MCP server

Lets your AI work with your Xcode projects: build, test, manage files and simulators for you.

Developer tools Apple, iOS and Mac Coding For it and development Developer Tools

This is a helper that connects your AI assistant to Xcode, Apple's app-building program. Once it is set up, you can ask your AI in plain words to build your app, run its tests, or manage your iPhone simulator, and it will do the clicking for you. It is handy for anyone who builds apps on a Mac and wants less fiddling with menus and commands.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a link to another app. This one links your AI to Xcode on your Mac, so it can look at your projects and carry out tasks there. You just ask in normal words, and the helper does the technical part behind the scenes.

What this MCP server does

You ask your AI something like build my app or run the tests. Your AI sends that request to this helper program running on your Mac. The helper then talks to Xcode and the tools that come with it, doing the actual work. When it is done, it sends the result back, and your AI shows it to you in the chat. So you get the outcome without typing commands yourself.

Flow diagram: you ask your AI “Build my app and tell me if anything failed”, on your own computer the Xcode MCP server works with xcode on your Mac, and you get back answers in your chat.

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What you can do with it

Create a new Xcode project from a template
Build your app and see any errors
Run your tests and read the failures
Read, write and search files in your project
Add or remove Swift package and CocoaPods dependencies
List, start and stop iPhone simulators
Take screenshots or record video from a simulator

Try asking your AI

“Build my app in Debug and tell me if anything failed”
“Run the tests for my project and summarize the failures”
“Create a new iOS app project called MyAwesomeApp with tests”
“List my available simulators and boot the newest iPhone one”
“Search my project for every file that mentions class”

What it gives back to you

You get answers in the chat: build results with any errors, test outcomes with details on what failed, lists of simulators or files, and the content of files you asked it to read. If it makes a change, like adding a file or a dependency, it tells you what it did. Screenshots and recordings come back as files you can open.

Before you start

What you need

A Mac with Xcode 14.0 or newer installed
Node.js version 16 or higher
The project folder path you want it to work in
CocoaPods if you want the pod features (optional)

Good to know

This helper can change, build and delete things in your project folders, so only point it at folders you are happy for it to work in and keep backups.

Install it with your AI

Add Xcode MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Xcode MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.