iOS Project Setup

Set up a well-structured iOS project with modern best practices.

Quick Start

Create New Project

# Using Xcode (recommended)
1. File → New → Project
2. iOS → App
3. Configure:
   - Product Name: [AppName]
   - Organization Identifier: com.yourcompany
   - Interface: SwiftUI
   - Language: Swift
   - Storage: SwiftData (or Core Data)
   - Include Tests: ✅

Project Structure

Recommended Folder Structure

[AppName]/
├── App/
│   ├── [AppName]App.swift         # App entry point
│   └── AppDelegate.swift          # If needed for push, etc.
├── Features/
│   ├── Home/
│   │   ├── HomeView.swift
│   │   ├── HomeViewModel.swift
│   │   └── Components/
│   │       └── HomeCard.swift
│   ├── Settings/
│   │   ├── SettingsView.swift
│   │   └── SettingsViewModel.swift
│   └── Onboarding/
│       └── OnboardingView.swift
├── Core/
│   ├── Models/
│   │   └── User.swift
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── AuthService.swift
│   │   └── NetworkService.swift
│   └── Utilities/
│       ├── Extensions/
│       │   ├── View+Extensions.swift
│       │   └── Date+Extensions.swift
│       └── Helpers/
│           └── Validator.swift
├── UI/
│   ├── Components/
│   │   ├── PrimaryButton.swift
│   │   └── LoadingView.swift
│   ├── Styles/
│   │   └── ButtonStyles.swift
│   └── Theme/
│       ├── Colors.swift
│       └── Typography.swift
├── Resources/
│   ├── Assets.xcassets/
│   ├── Localizable.xcstrings
│   └── Info.plist
└── Tests/
    ├── [AppName]Tests/
    └── [AppName]UITests/

Xcode Groups Setup

# Create folder structure (run in project directory)
mkdir -p App Features Core/{Models,Services,Utilities/{Extensions,Helpers}} \
         UI/{Components,Styles,Theme} Resources

Dependencies (Swift Package Manager)

Essential Packages

// Package.swift dependencies or via Xcode:
// File → Add Packages...

// Networking
https://github.com/Alamofire/Alamofire.git          // HTTP networking
https://github.com/Moya/Moya.git                    // Network abstraction

// Architecture
https://github.com/pointfreeco/swift-composable-architecture.git  // TCA

// UI
https://github.com/airbnb/lottie-ios.git           // Animations
https://github.com/onevcat/Kingfisher.git          // Image loading

// Storage
https://github.com/realm/realm-swift.git           // Realm database

// Analytics/Monitoring
https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk.git   // Firebase

// Utilities
https://github.com/SwiftyJSON/SwiftyJSON.git       // JSON parsing
https://github.com/apple/swift-algorithms.git      // Swift algorithms

Adding Packages in Xcode

1. File → Add Packages...
2. Enter package URL
3. Set version rules (Up to Next Major recommended)
4. Select target(s)
5. Add Package

Build Configuration

Schemes Setup

[AppName] (Development)
├── Debug: Development server, verbose logging
└── Release: Development server, optimized

[AppName] Staging
├── Debug: Staging server, verbose logging
└── Release: Staging server, optimized

[AppName] Production
├── Debug: Production server, verbose logging
└── Release: Production server, optimized

Configuration Files

// Config.swift
enum Config {
    enum Environment {
        case development
        case staging
        case production
    }
    
    static var current: Environment {
        #if DEBUG
        return .development
        #elseif STAGING
        return .staging
        #else
        return .production
        #endif
    }
    
    static var apiBaseURL: String {
        switch current {
        case .development: return "https://dev-api.example.com"
        case .staging: return "https://staging-api.example.com"
        case .production: return "https://api.example.com"
        }
    }
}

Build Settings

// Essential Build Settings

// Swift Compiler - Custom Flags
OTHER_SWIFT_FLAGS = -D DEBUG (Debug configuration)
OTHER_SWIFT_FLAGS = -D STAGING (Staging configuration)

// Asset Catalog Compiler
ASSETCATALOG_COMPILER_APPICON_NAME = AppIcon

// Versioning
CURRENT_PROJECT_VERSION = 1
MARKETING_VERSION = 1.0.0

Git Setup

.gitignore

# Xcode
*.xcuserstate
*.xccheckout
*.moved-aside
DerivedData/
*.hmap
*.ipa
*.dSYM.zip
*.dSYM

# Swift Package Manager
.build/
.swiftpm/
Packages/

# CocoaPods (if used)
Pods/

# Carthage (if used)
Carthage/Build/

# Fastlane
fastlane/report.xml
fastlane/Preview.html
fastlane/screenshots/**/*.png
fastlane/test_output/

# Other
*.DS_Store
*.log
xcuserdata/

# Secrets (NEVER commit)
*.p8
*.p12
*.mobileprovision
**/Secrets.swift
.env*

Git Hooks (pre-commit)

#!/bin/sh
# .git/hooks/pre-commit

# Run SwiftLint
if which swiftlint >/dev/null; then
  swiftlint --strict
else
  echo "warning: SwiftLint not installed"
fi

# Run SwiftFormat
if which swiftformat >/dev/null; then
  swiftformat --lint .
fi

Code Quality

SwiftLint Configuration

# .swiftlint.yml
disabled_rules:
  - trailing_whitespace
  - line_length

opt_in_rules:
  - empty_count
  - closure_end_indentation
  - closure_spacing
  - collection_alignment
  - contains_over_filter_count
  - contains_over_filter_is_empty
  - empty_string
  - first_where
  - force_unwrapping
  - implicitly_unwrapped_optional
  - last_where
  - modifier_order
  - overridden_super_call
  - pattern_matching_keywords
  - private_action
  - private_outlet
  - prohibited_super_call
  - redundant_nil_coalescing
  - single_test_class
  - sorted_first_last
  - toggle_bool
  - unavailable_function
  - unneeded_parentheses_in_closure_argument

excluded:
  - Pods
  - Carthage
  - DerivedData

line_length:
  warning: 120
  error: 200

type_body_length:
  warning: 300
  error: 500

file_length:
  warning: 500
  error: 1000

identifier_name:
  min_length: 2
  max_length: 50

SwiftFormat Configuration

# .swiftformat
--indent 4
--indentcase false
--trimwhitespace always
--voidtype void
--self remove
--header strip
--maxwidth 120
--wraparguments before-first
--wrapparameters before-first
--wrapcollections before-first
--closingparen same-line

Essential Files

App Entry Point

// [AppName]App.swift
import SwiftUI

@main
struct MyApp: App {
    // App-level services
    @StateObject private var appState = AppState()
    
    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
                .environmentObject(appState)
        }
    }
}

Theme Colors

// UI/Theme/Colors.swift
import SwiftUI

extension Color {
    static let theme = ColorTheme()
}

struct ColorTheme {
    let accent = Color("AccentColor")
    let background = Color(.systemBackground)
    let secondaryBackground = Color(.secondarySystemBackground)
    let primaryText = Color(.label)
    let secondaryText = Color(.secondaryLabel)
    
    // Custom colors
    let success = Color("Success")
    let warning = Color("Warning")
    let error = Color("Error")
}

Network Service Template

// Core/Services/NetworkService.swift
import Foundation

protocol NetworkServiceProtocol {
    func fetch<T: Decodable>(_ endpoint: Endpoint) async throws -> T
}

final class NetworkService: NetworkServiceProtocol {
    private let session: URLSession
    private let decoder: JSONDecoder
    
    init(session: URLSession = .shared) {
        self.session = session
        self.decoder = JSONDecoder()
        decoder.dateDecodingStrategy = .iso8601
    }
    
    func fetch<T: Decodable>(_ endpoint: Endpoint) async throws -> T {
        let (data, response) = try await session.data(for: endpoint.urlRequest)
        
        guard let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse else {
            throw NetworkError.invalidResponse
        }
        
        guard (200...299).contains(httpResponse.statusCode) else {
            throw NetworkError.statusCode(httpResponse.statusCode)
        }
        
        return try decoder.decode(T.self, from: data)
    }
}

Initial Checklist

Before First Commit

• Project structure created
• .gitignore configured
• SwiftLint installed and configured
• SwiftFormat configured
• Initial README.md created
• License file added
• Build configurations set up
• Signing configured (team, bundle ID)
• App icon placeholder added

Before Development

• Git repository initialized
• CI/CD pipeline configured
• Essential dependencies added
• Theme/design system set up
• Network layer scaffolded
• Error handling approach defined
• Logging system in place

Resources

See assets/xcode-templates/ for file templates. See references/dependencies-guide.md for package recommendations.