axiom-ios-ui
iOS UI Router
You MUST use this skill for ANY iOS UI work including SwiftUI, UIKit, layout, navigation, animations, and design.
When to Use
Use this router when working with:
- SwiftUI views, state, bindings
- UIKit views and constraints
- Layout issues (Auto Layout, SwiftUI layout)
- Navigation (NavigationStack, deep linking)
- Animations and transitions
- Liquid Glass design (iOS 26+)
- Apple Human Interface Guidelines
- UI architecture and patterns
- Accessibility UI issues
Conflict Resolution
ios-ui vs ios-performance: When UI is slow (e.g., "SwiftUI List slow"):
- Try ios-ui FIRST — Domain-specific fixes (LazyVStack, view identity, @State optimization) often solve UI performance in 5 minutes
- Only use ios-performance if domain fixes don't help — Profiling takes longer and may confirm what domain knowledge already knows
Rationale: Jumping to Instruments wastes time when the fix is a known SwiftUI pattern. Profile AFTER trying domain fixes, not before.
Routing Logic
SwiftUI Issues
View not updating → $axiom-swiftui-debugging
Navigation issues → $axiom-swiftui-nav
Performance/lag → $axiom-swiftui-performance
Layout problems → $axiom-swiftui-layout
Stacks/grids/outlines → $axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
Animation issues → $axiom-swiftui-animation-ref
Gesture conflicts → $axiom-swiftui-gestures
Drag/drop, copy/paste, sharing → $axiom-transferable-ref
Architecture/testability → $axiom-swiftui-architecture
App-level composition → $axiom-app-composition
Search implementation → $axiom-swiftui-search-ref
iOS 26 features → $axiom-swiftui-26-ref
UIKit bridging (Representable, HostingController) → $axiom-uikit-bridging
UIKit Issues
Auto Layout conflicts → $axiom-auto-layout-debugging
Animation timing issues → $axiom-uikit-animation-debugging
SwiftUI embedding (HostingController, HostingConfiguration) → $axiom-uikit-bridging
Design & Guidelines
Liquid Glass adoption → $axiom-liquid-glass
SF Symbols (effects, rendering, custom) → $axiom-sf-symbols
Design decisions → $axiom-hig
Typography → $axiom-typography-ref
TextKit/rich text → $axiom-textkit-ref
tvOS
Focus Engine, remote input, TVUIKit, text input → $axiom-tvos
Accessibility
VoiceOver, Dynamic Type → $axiom-accessibility-diag
Testing
UI test flakiness → $axiom-ui-testing
Automated Scanning
Architecture audit → Launch swiftui-architecture-auditor agent (separation of concerns, logic in views, testability)
Performance scan → Launch swiftui-performance-analyzer agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-performance (expensive view body ops, unnecessary updates)
Navigation audit → Launch swiftui-nav-auditor agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-nav (deep link gaps, state restoration, wrong containers)
Liquid Glass scan → Launch liquid-glass-auditor agent or /axiom:audit liquid-glass (adoption opportunities, toolbar improvements)
TextKit scan → Launch textkit-auditor agent or /axiom:audit textkit (TextKit 1 fallbacks, deprecated glyph APIs, Writing Tools)
Decision Tree
digraph ios_ui {
start [label="UI issue" shape=ellipse];
is_tvos [label="tvOS?" shape=diamond];
is_swiftui [label="SwiftUI?" shape=diamond];
is_uikit [label="UIKit?" shape=diamond];
is_design [label="Design/guidelines?" shape=diamond];
start -> is_tvos;
is_tvos -> "axiom-tvos" [label="focus, remote, TVUIKit, text input, storage"];
is_tvos -> is_swiftui [label="no"];
is_swiftui -> swiftui_type [label="yes"];
is_swiftui -> is_uikit [label="no"];
is_uikit -> uikit_type [label="yes"];
is_uikit -> is_design [label="no"];
is_design -> design_type [label="yes"];
is_design -> "accessibility-diag" [label="accessibility"];
swiftui_type [label="What's wrong?" shape=diamond];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-debugging" [label="view not updating"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-nav" [label="navigation"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-performance" [label="slow/lag"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-layout" [label="adaptive layout"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-containers-ref" [label="stacks/grids/outlines"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-architecture" [label="feature architecture"];
swiftui_type -> "app-composition" [label="app-level (root, auth, scenes)"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-animation-ref" [label="animations"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-gestures" [label="gestures"];
swiftui_type -> "transferable-ref" [label="drag/drop, sharing, copy/paste"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-search-ref" [label="search"];
swiftui_type -> "swiftui-26-ref" [label="iOS 26 features"];
swiftui_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="UIKit interop"];
uikit_type [label="UIKit issue?" shape=diamond];
uikit_type -> "auto-layout-debugging" [label="Auto Layout"];
uikit_type -> "uikit-animation-debugging" [label="animations"];
uikit_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="SwiftUI embedding"];
design_type [label="Design topic?" shape=diamond];
design_type -> "liquid-glass" [label="Liquid Glass"];
design_type -> "sf-symbols" [label="SF Symbols"];
design_type -> "hig" [label="HIG compliance"];
design_type -> "typography-ref" [label="typography"];
design_type -> "textkit-ref" [label="TextKit/rich text"];
}
Automated scanning agents:
- Want architecture audit (separation of concerns, testability)? → swiftui-architecture-auditor (Agent)
- Want SwiftUI performance scan (view body ops, unnecessary updates)? → swiftui-performance-analyzer (Agent)
- Want navigation audit (deep links, state restoration)? → swiftui-nav-auditor (Agent)
- Want Liquid Glass adoption scan? → liquid-glass-auditor (Agent)
- Want TextKit scan (Writing Tools, deprecated APIs)? → textkit-auditor (Agent)
Anti-Rationalization
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "Simple SwiftUI layout, no need for the layout skill" | SwiftUI layout has 12 gotchas. swiftui-layout covers all of them. |
| "I know how NavigationStack works" | Navigation has state restoration, deep linking, and identity traps. swiftui-nav prevents 2-hour debugging. |
| "It's just a view not updating, I'll debug it" | View update failures have 4 root causes. swiftui-debugging diagnoses in 5 min. |
| "I'll just add .animation() and fix later" | Animation issues compound. swiftui-animation-ref has the correct patterns. |
| "This UI is simple, no architecture needed" | Even small features benefit from separation. swiftui-architecture prevents refactoring debt. |
| "I know how .searchable works" | Search has 6 gotchas (navigation container, isSearching level, suggestion completion). swiftui-search-ref covers all of them. |
| "I know SF Symbols, it's just Image(systemName:)" | 4 rendering modes, 12+ effects, 3 Draw playback modes, custom symbol authoring. sf-symbols has decision trees for all of them. |
| "Drag and drop is just .draggable and .dropDestination" | UTType declarations, representation ordering, file lifecycle, cross-app transfer gotchas. transferable-ref covers all of them. |
| "I'll just wrap this UIView real quick" | UIViewRepresentable has lifecycle, coordinator, sizing, and memory gotchas. uikit-bridging prevents 1-2 hour debugging sessions. |
| "tvOS is just iOS on a TV" | tvOS has no persistent storage, no WebView, a dual focus system, and two remote generations. axiom-tvos covers all the traps. |
Example Invocations
User: "My SwiftUI view isn't updating when I change the model"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-debugging
User: "How do I implement Liquid Glass in my toolbar?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-liquid-glass
User: "NavigationStack is popping unexpectedly"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-nav
User: "Should I use MVVM for this SwiftUI app?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-architecture
User: "How do I switch between login and main screens?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-app-composition
User: "Where should auth state live in my app?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-app-composition
User: "How do I create a grid layout with LazyVGrid?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "What's the difference between VStack and LazyVStack?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "How do I display hierarchical data with OutlineGroup?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-containers-ref
User: "How do I add search to my SwiftUI list?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-search-ref
User: "My search suggestions aren't working"
→ Invoke: $axiom-swiftui-search-ref
User: "How do I animate an SF Symbol when tapped?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-sf-symbols
User: "My SF Symbol Draw animation isn't working on my custom symbol"
→ Invoke: $axiom-sf-symbols
User: "Which rendering mode should I use for my toolbar icons?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-sf-symbols
User: "How do I make my model draggable in SwiftUI?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-transferable-ref
User: "How do I add ShareLink with a custom preview?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-transferable-ref
User: "How do I wrap a UIKit view in SwiftUI?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "How do I embed SwiftUI in my UIKit app?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "My UIViewRepresentable isn't updating correctly"
→ Invoke: $axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "How do I use UIHostingConfiguration for collection view cells?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-uikit-bridging
User: "I'm building a tvOS app and focus navigation isn't working"
→ Invoke: $axiom-tvos
User: "How do I handle text input on tvOS?"
→ Invoke: $axiom-tvos
User: "Check my SwiftUI architecture for separation of concerns"
→ Invoke: swiftui-architecture-auditor agent
User: "Scan my SwiftUI views for performance issues"
→ Invoke: swiftui-performance-analyzer agent
User: "Audit my navigation for deep link gaps"
→ Invoke: swiftui-nav-auditor agent
User: "Check my app for Liquid Glass adoption opportunities"
→ Invoke: liquid-glass-auditor agent
User: "Why isn't Writing Tools appearing in my text view?"
→ Invoke: textkit-auditor agent