SwiftFindRefs

Purpose

Use swiftfindrefs to locate every Swift source file that references a given symbol by querying Xcode’s IndexStore (DerivedData). This skill exists to prevent incomplete refactors caused by text search or heuristics.

Rules

• •Always run swiftfindrefs before editing any files.
• •Only edit files returned by swiftfindrefs.
• •Do not substitute grep, rg, IDE search, or filesystem heuristics for reference discovery.
• •Do not expand the file set manually.
• •If IndexStore/DerivedData resolution fails, stop and report the error. Do not guess.

Preconditions

• •macOS with Xcode installed
• •Project has been built at least once (DerivedData exists)
• •swiftfindrefs available in PATH

Canonical command

Prefer providing --projectName and --symbolType when possible.

swiftfindrefs \
  --projectName <XcodeProjectName> \
  --symbolName <SymbolName> \
  --symbolType <class|struct|enum|protocol|function|variable>

Optional flags:

• •--dataStorePath <path>: explicit DataStore (or IndexStoreDB) path; skips discovery
• •-v, --verbose: enables verbose output for diagnostic purposes (flag, no value required)

Output contract

• •One absolute file path per line
• •Deduplicated
• •Script-friendly (safe to pipe line-by-line)
• •Ordering is not semantically meaningful

Standard workflows

Workflow A: Find all references

1. •Run swiftfindrefs for the symbol.
2. •Treat the output as the complete reference set.
3. •If more detail is needed, open only the returned files.

Workflow B: Fix missing imports after moving a symbol

Use swiftfindrefs to restrict scope, then add imports only where needed.

swiftfindrefs -p <Project> -n <Symbol> -t <Type> | while read file; do
  if ! grep -q "^import <ModuleName>$" "$file"; then
    echo "$file"
  fi
done

Then for each printed file:

• •Insert import <ModuleName> in the imports block at the top.
• •Preserve existing import ordering/grouping.
• •Never add duplicate imports.
• •Do not reformat unrelated code.

Workflow C: Audit usage before deleting or renaming a symbol

1. •Run swiftfindrefs for the symbol.
2. •If output is empty, treat the symbol as unused (still validate via build/tests if needed).
3. •If non-empty, review the listed files before changing public API.

References

• •CLI details: references/cli.md
• •Playbooks: references/workflows.md
• •Troubleshooting: references/troubleshooting.md