Clean Architecture iOS — Expert Decisions

Expert decision frameworks for Clean Architecture choices. Claude knows the layers — this skill provides judgment calls for boundary decisions and pragmatic trade-offs.

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Decision Trees

When Clean Architecture Is Worth It

Is this a side project or prototype?
├─ YES → Skip Clean Architecture (YAGNI)
│  └─ Simple MVVM with services is fine
│
└─ NO → How many data sources?
   ├─ 1 (just API) → Lightweight Clean Architecture
   │  └─ Skip local data source, repository = API wrapper
   │
   └─ Multiple (API + cache + local DB)
      └─ How long will codebase live?
         ├─ < 1 year → Consider simpler approach
         └─ > 1 year → Full Clean Architecture
            └─ Team size > 2? → Strongly recommended

Clean Architecture wins: Apps with complex business logic, multiple data sources, long maintenance lifetime, or teams > 3 developers.

Clean Architecture is overkill: Prototypes, simple apps with single API, short-lived projects, solo developers who know the whole codebase.

Where Does This Code Belong?

Does it know about UIKit/SwiftUI?
├─ YES → Presentation Layer
│  └─ Views, ViewModels, Coordinators
│
└─ NO → Does it know about network/database specifics?
   ├─ YES → Data Layer
   │  └─ Repositories (impl), DataSources, DTOs, Mappers
   │
   └─ NO → Is it a business rule or core model?
      ├─ YES → Domain Layer
      │  └─ Entities, UseCases, Repository protocols
      │
      └─ NO → Reconsider if it's needed

UseCase Granularity

Is this operation a single business action?
├─ YES → One UseCase per operation
│  Example: CreateOrderUseCase, GetUserUseCase
│
└─ NO → Does it combine multiple actions?
   ├─ YES → Can actions be reused independently?
   │  ├─ YES → Separate UseCases, compose in ViewModel
   │  └─ NO → Single UseCase with clear naming
   │
   └─ NO → Is it just CRUD?
      ├─ YES → Consider skipping UseCase
      │  └─ ViewModel → Repository directly is OK for simple CRUD
      │
      └─ NO → Review the operation's purpose

The trap: Creating UseCases for every operation. If it's just repository.get(id:) pass-through, skip the UseCase.

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NEVER Do

Dependency Rule Violations

NEVER import outer layers in inner layers:

// ❌ Domain importing Data layer
// Domain/UseCases/GetUserUseCase.swift
import Alamofire  // Data layer framework!
import CoreData   // Data layer framework!

// ❌ Domain importing Presentation layer
import SwiftUI    // Presentation framework!

// ✅ Domain has NO framework imports (except Foundation)
import Foundation

NEVER let Domain know about DTOs:

// ❌ Repository protocol returns DTO
protocol UserRepositoryProtocol {
    func getUser(id: String) async throws -> UserDTO  // Data layer type!
}

// ✅ Repository protocol returns Entity
protocol UserRepositoryProtocol {
    func getUser(id: String) async throws -> User  // Domain type
}

NEVER put business logic in Repository:

// ❌ Business validation in Repository
final class UserRepository: UserRepositoryProtocol {
    func updateUser(_ user: User) async throws -> User {
        // Business rule leaked into Data layer!
        guard user.email.contains("@") else {
            throw ValidationError.invalidEmail
        }
        return try await remoteDataSource.update(user)
    }
}

// ✅ Business logic in UseCase
final class UpdateUserUseCase {
    func execute(user: User) async throws -> User {
        guard user.email.contains("@") else {
            throw DomainError.validation("Invalid email")
        }
        return try await repository.updateUser(user)
    }
}

Entity Anti-Patterns

NEVER add framework dependencies to Entities:

// ❌ Entity with Codable for JSON
struct User: Codable {  // Codable couples to serialization format
    let id: String
    let createdAt: Date  // Will have JSON parsing issues
}

// ✅ Pure Entity, DTOs handle serialization
struct User: Identifiable, Equatable {
    let id: String
    let createdAt: Date
}

// Data layer handles Codable
struct UserDTO: Codable {
    let id: String
    let created_at: String  // API format
}

NEVER put computed properties that need external data in Entities:

// ❌ Entity needs external service
struct Order {
    let items: [OrderItem]

    var totalWithTax: Decimal {
        // Where does tax rate come from? External dependency!
        total * TaxService.currentRate
    }
}

// ✅ Calculation in UseCase
final class CalculateOrderTotalUseCase {
    private let taxService: TaxServiceProtocol

    func execute(order: Order) -> Decimal {
        order.total * taxService.currentRate
    }
}

Mapper Anti-Patterns

NEVER put Mappers in Domain layer:

// ❌ Domain knows about mapping
// Domain/Mappers/UserMapper.swift  — WRONG LOCATION!

// ✅ Mappers live in Data layer
// Data/Mappers/UserMapper.swift

NEVER map in Repository if domain logic is needed:

// ❌ Silent default in mapper
enum ProductMapper {
    static func toDomain(_ dto: ProductDTO) -> Product {
        Product(
            currency: Product.Currency(rawValue: dto.currency) ?? .usd  // Silent default!
        )
    }
}

// ✅ Throw on invalid data, let UseCase handle
enum ProductMapper {
    static func toDomain(_ dto: ProductDTO) throws -> Product {
        guard let currency = Product.Currency(rawValue: dto.currency) else {
            throw MappingError.invalidCurrency(dto.currency)
        }
        return Product(currency: currency)
    }
}

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Pragmatic Patterns

When to Skip the UseCase

// ✅ Simple CRUD — ViewModel → Repository is fine
@MainActor
final class UserListViewModel: ObservableObject {
    private let repository: UserRepositoryProtocol

    func loadUsers() async {
        // Direct repository call for simple fetch
        users = try? await repository.getUsers()
    }
}

// ✅ UseCase needed — business logic involved
final class PlaceOrderUseCase {
    func execute(cart: Cart) async throws -> Order {
        // Validate stock
        // Calculate totals
        // Apply discounts
        // Create order
        // Notify inventory
        // Return order
    }
}

Rule: No business logic? Skip UseCase. Any validation, transformation, or orchestration? Create UseCase.

Repository Caching Strategy

final class UserRepository: UserRepositoryProtocol {
    func getUser(id: String) async throws -> User {
        // Strategy 1: Cache-first (offline-capable)
        if let cached = try? await localDataSource.getUser(id: id) {
            // Return cached, refresh in background
            Task { try? await refreshUser(id: id) }
            return UserMapper.toDomain(cached)
        }

        // Strategy 2: Network-first (always fresh)
        let dto = try await remoteDataSource.fetchUser(id: id)
        try? await localDataSource.save(dto)  // Cache for offline
        return UserMapper.toDomain(dto)
    }
}

Minimal DI Container

// For small-medium apps, simple factory is enough
@MainActor
final class Container {
    static let shared = Container()

    // Lazy initialization — created on first use
    lazy var networkClient = NetworkClient()
    lazy var userRepository: UserRepositoryProtocol = UserRepository(
        remote: UserRemoteDataSource(client: networkClient),
        local: UserLocalDataSource()
    )

    // Factory methods for UseCases
    func makeGetUserUseCase() -> GetUserUseCaseProtocol {
        GetUserUseCase(repository: userRepository)
    }

    // Factory methods for ViewModels
    func makeUserProfileViewModel() -> UserProfileViewModel {
        UserProfileViewModel(getUser: makeGetUserUseCase())
    }
}

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Layer Reference

Dependency Direction

Presentation → Domain ← Data

✅ Presentation depends on Domain (imports UseCases, Entities)
✅ Data depends on Domain (implements Repository protocols)
❌ Domain depends on nothing (no imports from other layers)

What Goes Where

Layer	Contains	Does NOT Contain
Domain	Entities, UseCases, Repository protocols, Domain errors	UIKit, SwiftUI, Codable DTOs, Network code
Data	Repository impl, DataSources, DTOs, Mappers, Network	UI code, Business rules, UseCases
Presentation	Views, ViewModels, Coordinators, UI components	Network code, Database code, DTOs

Protocol Placement

Protocol	Lives In	Implemented By
UserRepositoryProtocol	Domain	Data (UserRepository)
UserRemoteDataSourceProtocol	Data	Data (UserRemoteDataSource)
GetUserUseCaseProtocol	Domain	Domain (GetUserUseCase)

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Testing Strategy

What to Test Where

Layer	Test Focus	Mock
Domain (UseCases)	Business logic, validation, orchestration	Repository protocols
Data (Repositories)	Coordination, caching, error mapping	DataSource protocols
Presentation (ViewModels)	State changes, user actions	UseCase protocols

// UseCase test — mock Repository
func test_createOrder_validatesStock() async throws {
    mockProductRepo.stubbedProduct = Product(inStock: false)

    await XCTAssertThrowsError(
        try await sut.execute(items: [item])
    ) { error in
        XCTAssertEqual(error as? DomainError, .businessRule("Out of stock"))
    }
}

// ViewModel test — mock UseCase
func test_loadUser_updatesState() async {
    mockGetUserUseCase.stubbedUser = User(name: "John")

    await sut.loadUser(id: "123")

    XCTAssertEqual(sut.user?.name, "John")
    XCTAssertFalse(sut.isLoading)
}

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Quick Reference

Clean Architecture Checklist

• Domain layer has zero framework imports (except Foundation)
• Entities are pure structs with no Codable
• Repository protocols live in Domain
• Repository implementations live in Data
• DTOs and Mappers live in Data
• UseCases contain business logic, not pass-through
• ViewModels depend on UseCase protocols, not concrete classes
• No circular dependencies between layers

Red Flags

Smell	Problem	Fix
import UIKit in Domain	Layer violation	Move to Presentation
UseCase just calls repo.get()	Unnecessary abstraction	ViewModel → Repo directly
DTO in Domain	Layer violation	Keep DTOs in Data
Business logic in Repository	Wrong layer	Move to UseCase
ViewModel imports NetworkClient	Skipped layers	Use Repository