Xcode Project Auditor

Before invoking Apple-only binaries, confirm the execution context is macOS. From Windows or Linux, run those steps in a Mac SSH project or through an already configured remote transport; do not retry missing Apple binaries locally.

Use for project- and target-level build inefficiencies. Recommend first and require explicit approval before changing projects, schemes, or build settings.

Review

• scheme build order and target dependencies
• Debug vs Release performance settings from ../../shared/build-optimization/references/build-settings-best-practices.md
• run script inputs/outputs, .xcfilelist, dependency analysis, and timestamp-changing tools
• DerivedData churn, custom steps, fixed no-op rebuild overhead, codesign, validation, CopySwiftLibs
• parallelization opportunities, explicit module settings, module maps, DEFINES_MODULE, and self-contained headers
• Planning Swift module, asset catalog compilation, and ExtractAppIntentsMetadata timing
• CocoaPods presence: note maintenance mode, assess SPM migration feasibility, and avoid speculative Podfile or generated Pods-project tuning
• Xcode 16.4+ Task Backtraces for tasks that rerun unexpectedly

Required Checklist

Every audit includes a build settings checklist for Debug and Release using [x]/[ ]. Scope is build performance only; do not flag language-migration settings such as SWIFT_STRICT_CONCURRENCY or SWIFT_UPCOMING_FEATURE_*.

Apple-aligned checks: accurate target dependencies, schemes in Dependency Order, scripts with declared inputs/outputs, .xcfilelist for many files, consistent explicit module settings, and module-map readiness.

Typical Wins

Skip debug-time scripts that only matter in release, add script guards and dependency metadata, remove accidental serial bottlenecks, align settings that create extra module variants, stop formatters/linters from touching unchanged files, split huge asset catalogs into resource bundles, and use Task Backtraces to find the input that triggers invalidation.

Output

For each issue include evidence, scope, whether it affects clean/incremental/both, estimated impact, and approval requirement. If evidence points to package graph or build plugins, read and hand off to swiftpm-build-inspector.

Resources

• references/project-audit-checks.md
• ../../shared/build-optimization/references/build-settings-best-practices.md
• ../../shared/build-optimization/references/recommendation-format.md
• ../../shared/build-optimization/references/build-optimization-sources.md