Xcode Preview Capture Skill

Build SwiftUI views and capture screenshots of their rendered output for visual analysis.

Installation Path

Scripts are located at ${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}/scripts/

Compatibility: If ~/XcodePreviews doesn't exist, fall back to ~/Claude-XcodePreviews (legacy name). The PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH environment variable overrides both.

Available Commands

Unified Preview (Recommended)

Auto-detects project type and uses the best approach:

bash

"${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}"/scripts/preview \
  <path-to-file.swift> \
  --output /tmp/preview.png

Quick Capture (Current Simulator)

bash

"${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}"/scripts/capture-simulator.sh \
  --output /tmp/preview-capture.png

Xcode Project with #Preview

Fast builds by injecting a minimal PreviewHost target (handled automatically by the unified script):

bash

"${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}"/scripts/preview \
  <path-to-file.swift> \
  --project <path.xcodeproj> \
  --output /tmp/preview.png

SPM Package Preview

Auto-detected from Package.swift in parent directories:

bash

"${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}"/scripts/preview \
  <path-to-file.swift> \
  --output /tmp/preview.png

Standalone Swift File

Build a standalone Swift file with system frameworks only:

bash

"${PREVIEW_BUILD_PATH:-$HOME/XcodePreviews}"/scripts/preview \
  <path-to-file.swift> \
  --output /tmp/preview.png

Workflow

When the user asks to preview a SwiftUI view:

•
Identify the target: Determine what needs to be previewed (Swift file, project scheme, or current simulator state)
•
Build and capture: Run the appropriate script
•
Read and analyze: Use the Read tool to view the captured PNG at /tmp/preview.png
•
Report findings:
- •Layout: Structure and arrangement
- •Visual elements: Buttons, text, images
- •Styling: Colors, fonts, spacing
- •Issues: Alignment, overflow, accessibility
- •Suggestions: Improvements

Parameters

Option	Description
`--project <path>`	Xcode project file
`--workspace <path>`	Xcode workspace file
`--package <path>`	SPM Package.swift path
`--module <name>`	Target module (auto-detected)
`--simulator <name>`	Simulator name (default: iPhone 17 Pro)
`--output <path>`	Output screenshot path
`--verbose`	Show detailed build output

Error Handling

•No simulator booted: Run sim-manager.sh boot "iPhone 17 Pro"
•Build failure: Show error, suggest fixes, offer to retry
•Resource bundle crash: The dynamic script auto-includes Tuist and common bundle patterns
•Missing imports: Check if the target module needs to be added to imports