cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides Xcode-related tools for integration with AI assistants and other MCP clients.

Easy install

Easiest way to install XcodeBuildMCP is to use Smithery to install it from the registry. Copy and paste one of the following commands into your terminal.

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client client-name

[!IMPORTANT] Due to a Smithery limitation the AXe library isn't bundled with Smithery installs, instead to ensure UI-automation tools work please install AXe and ensure it's globally available by issuing brew install cameroncooke/axe/axe, see AXe for more details.

Cursor

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client cursor

Codex CLI

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client codex

Claude Code

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client claude-code

Claude Desktop

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client claude

VS Code

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client vscode

Windsurf

npx -y @smithery/cli@latest install cameroncooke/xcodebuildmcp --client windsurf

For other clients see: Smithery XcodeBuildMCP, for other installation options including manual installation see Getting Started

Requirements

macOS 14.5 or later
Xcode 16.x or later
Node.js 18.x or later

Skill

XcodeBuildMCP now includes an optional agent skill. Some clients (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) hide MCP tool schemas behind search/progressive disclosure, which can reduce tool discovery and usage. The skill provides a concise overview of available tools to counter that. If your client already exposes tools up front, you likely don’t need it; only use it if your agent isn’t reaching for XcodeBuildMCP tools.

To install, replace <client-name> with your client (cursor, claude, codex):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cameroncooke/XcodeBuildMCP/main/scripts/install-skill.sh | bash -s -- --<client-name>

For further information on how to install the skill, see: docs/SKILLS.md

Notes

XcodeBuildMCP requests xcodebuild to skip macro validation to avoid errors when building projects that use Swift Macros.
Device tools require code signing to be configured in Xcode. See docs/DEVICE_CODE_SIGNING.md.

Privacy

XcodeBuildMCP uses Sentry for error telemetry. For more information or to opt out of error telemetry see docs/PRIVACY.md.

Documentation

Getting started: docs/GETTING_STARTED.md
Configuration and options: docs/CONFIGURATION.md
Tools reference: docs/TOOLS.md
Troubleshooting: docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
Privacy: docs/PRIVACY.md
Skills: docs/SKILLS.md
Contributing: docs/dev/CONTRIBUTING.md

Licence

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

README