Swiftui Expert SkillSAFE

Add expert SwiftUI Best Practices guidance to your AI coding tool (Agent Skills open format).

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: swiftui-expert-skill
description: Use when writing, reviewing, or refactoring SwiftUI code for iOS or macOS, including state and `@Observable` data flow, view composition, resizable layouts, safe areas, display scale, performance, lists, environment, localization, animation, Liquid Glass, and API migration. Also use for iPhone Duo, foldable, or large-display layouts (`NavigationSplitView` on large displays, iPhone tab sidebar, two-column reflow, foldable grids, `ArrangementView`, `ReservedRegion`), hinge effects, vertical bars, `@State` initialization or synthesized-property diagnostics, `@ContentBuilder` ambiguity, `reorderable` drag/drop, custom `AsyncImage` `URLSession`, swipe actions outside List, item-bound `alert`/`confirmationDialog`, `ToolbarOverflowMenu`, `AnimatableValues`, Document APIs (`Document`/`DocumentReader`), and Instruments `.trace` capture or analysis.
---

# SwiftUI Expert Skill

## Operating Rules

- Treat each `View` type as an invalidation boundary: give it only the data it reads and keep frequently changing dependencies close to the smallest affected subtree
- Search `references/latest-apis.md` when writing, reviewing, or migrating API usage; look up only the APIs relevant to the task
- Replace hard-deprecated APIs with modern equivalents. During feature work, flag soft-deprecated APIs and leave them in place (see `references/soft-deprecation.md`)
- Prefer native SwiftUI APIs over UIKit/AppKit bridging unless bridging is necessary
- Focus on correctness and performance; do not enforce specific architectures (MVVM, VIPER, etc.)
- Encourage separating business logic from views for testability without mandating how
- Follow Apple's Human Interface Guidelines and API design patterns
- Only adopt Liquid Glass when explicitly requested by the user (see `references/liquid-glass.md`)
- Present performance optimizations as suggestions, not requirements
- Use `#available` gating with sensible fallbacks for version-specific APIs
- For layout and rendering inputs, read the value nearest the SwiftUI view that consumes it; do not substitute process-global screen state

## Task Workflow

### Review existing SwiftUI code
- Read the code under review and identify which topics apply
- Flag deprecated APIs (compare against `references/latest-apis.md`); replace hard-deprecated APIs, and flag soft-deprecated APIs without rewriting them unless the user asked to migrate
- Run the Topic Router below for each relevant topic
- Validate `#available` gating and fallback paths for version-specific features
- For broad codebase reviews, first identify smaller focus areas and present them one at a time; if the user requests a whole-codebase review, divide it into a TODO list

### Improve existing SwiftUI code
- Audit current implementation against the Topic Router topics
- Replace hard-deprecated APIs with modern equivalents from `references/latest-apis.md`; flag soft-deprecated APIs and do not rewrite them during feature work
- Refactor hot paths to reduce unnecessary state updates
- Extract complex view bodies into separate subviews
- Suggest image downsampling when `UIImage(data:)` is encountered (optional optimization, see `references/image-optimization.md`)

### Implement new SwiftUI feature
- Design data flow first: identify owned vs injected state
- Structure views for optimal diffing (extract subviews early)
- Apply correct animation patterns (implicit vs explicit, transitions)
- Use `Button` for all tappable elements; add accessibility grouping and labels
- Gate version-specific APIs with `#available` and provide fallbacks

### Record a new Instruments trace
Trigger when the user asks to "record a trace", "profile the app", "capture a session", etc. Full reference: `references/trace-recording.md`.

1. **Confirm target** — attach to a running app, launch an app, or record all processes? If the user didn't say, ask. List connected devices when useful:
   ```bash
   python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/record_trace.py" --list-devices
   ```
2. **Pick a template based on target kind** — the `SwiftUI` template populates the SwiftUI lane on any **real device**: a physical iOS/iPadOS device **or the host Mac**. The only exception is the **iOS Simulator**, where the SwiftUI lane comes back empty — switch to `--template "Time Profiler"` in that case (still gives Time Profiler + Hangs + Animation Hitches). Always check `--list-devices`: `simulators` kind → `Time Profiler`; `devices` kind (real devices and the host Mac) → default `SwiftUI`. Full decision table in `references/trace-recording.md`.
3. **Start the recording**. For agent-driven sessions where the user says "I'll tell you when I'm done", start in the background and use a stop-file:
   ```bash
   python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/record_trace.py" \
       --device "<name|udid>" --attach "<AppName>" \
       --stop-file /tmp/stop-trace --output ~/Desktop/session.trace
   ```
   For interactive sessions, just tell the user to press Ctrl+C when done.
4. **Signal stop** — when the user says they've finished exercising the app, `touch /tmp/stop-trace`. The script cleanly SIGINTs xctrace and waits up to 60s for finalisation.
5. **Analyse** the resulting trace (flow into the "Trace-driven improvement" workflow below).

### Trace-driven improvement (Instruments `.trace` provided)
Trigger whenever the user's request references a `.trace` file. A target SwiftUI source file is **optional** — if given, cite specific lines; if not, recommend where to look based on view names and symbols the trace already reveals.

Full reference: `references/trace-analysis.md`. Summary of the composition pattern:

1. **Scope the analysis.** Ask yourself: does the user want the whole trace, or a slice?
   - "focus on X / after X / between X and Y / during X" → **resolve to a window first** (see step 2).
   - No scoping cue → analyse the whole trace.
2. **Resolve a window (only if the user scoped).** The parser exposes two discovery modes:
   ```bash
   # Find a log 

SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (1)

swiftui-expert-skill

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.

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