Swift Package Helper

Lightweight Xcode project integration for VS Code — IntelliSense, build tasks, and full debugging with breakpoints and console output on both simulators and physical devices, with a single dependency: the Swift extension. Automatically generates Package.swift for full SourceKit-LSP support and configures build tasks that let you build, run, and debug iOS apps directly from VS Code.

How It Works

Open a folder containing an .xcodeproj and the extension handles the rest:

1. Auto-generates Package.swift from the Xcode project on activation, with correct target paths, resources, dependencies, and Swift settings.
2. Auto-configures build tasks with sensible defaults (target, scheme, device/simulator, bundle ID).
3. Configures SourceKit-LSP for iOS simulator target resolution so IntelliSense works for UIKit and other iOS frameworks.
4. Silently regenerates Package.swift whenever the .pbxproj file changes.
5. Syncs Swift files to the Xcode project — when .swift files are added or removed from a target directory, the .xcodeproj is updated automatically (PBXBuildFile, PBXFileReference, PBXGroup, and PBXSourcesBuildPhase entries).

Sidebar

The extension adds a panel to the Activity Bar with configurable build settings:

• Project — select which .xcodeproj to use (when multiple exist)
• Target — select the build target
• Scheme — select the build scheme
• Bundle ID — edit the bundle identifier
• Device — select from connected physical devices (USB or Wi-Fi) or available iOS simulators

Title bar actions: Build, Build & Run, and Refresh.

Commands

Package.swift Generation

• Detects the first .xcodeproj in the workspace (or lets you pick when multiple exist).
• Extracts Swift tools version, platform deployment targets, targets, and product metadata.
• Resolves target source paths on disk, including productName directory lookup.
• Resolves resource file paths on disk relative to the target directory.
• Includes per-target swift settings (.define, .unsafeFlags, .swiftLanguageMode), linked system frameworks, resources, header search paths, target dependencies, and excluded files.
• Automatically configures SourceKit-LSP server arguments for iOS simulator target resolution (SDK path, target triple, framework search path).
• Shows a diff view before overwriting when run manually from the command palette.

Build Tasks

Build tasks are integrated directly into the extension — no shell scripts, tasks.json, or launch.json files are written to the workspace.

• Uses VS Code's TaskProvider API to provide build, build-install, and run-and-debug tasks.
• Full debug support with breakpoints and print() console output for both simulator and physical device builds.
• Simulator debugging uses simctl launch --console-pty --wait-for-debugger with LLDB DAP attach.
• Physical device debugging uses devicectl --console --start-stopped with LLDB DAP remote-ios attach. Supports USB and Wi-Fi connected devices (requires Xcode 15+). Code signing uses the project's existing settings from Xcode.
• Build configuration is stored in VS Code's workspace state (persists across sessions).
• Build output is colorized: errors in red, warnings in yellow.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Dependencies

• Swift for VS Code — automatically installed as a dependency. Provides SourceKit-LSP support and includes LLDB DAP for debugging.

Installation

• Install from the VS Code Marketplace (search for Swift Package Helper).
• Install the bundled package directly: code --install-extension swift-package-helper-2.3.6.vsix.
• VS Code UI alternative: Extensions → … → Install from VSIX… and pick the packaged file.

Build from source

npm install              # install dev dependencies
npm run package          # runs tsc build and produces swift-package-helper-<version>.vsix
code --install-extension swift-package-helper-2.3.6.vsix