Cupertino - Apple Documentation Search

VerifiedSafe

Search and read Apple developer documentation offline, including SwiftUI, UIKit, Foundation, and 300+ frameworks. Perfect for Apple APIs, iOS/macOS development, and Swift syntax questions.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DocumentationBeginner
3/10/2026
Claude CodeCursorCodex
#apple-docs#swift#ios-macos#offline-search#api-reference

Recommended for

Automated summary

Searches and reads a local offline index of Apple developer documentation, sample code, Human Interface Guidelines, and Swift Evolution proposals through the cupertino CLI.

Strengths

  • Covers 300,000+ Apple documentation pages across 300+ frameworks, plus HIG, sample projects, Swift Evolution, and archived legacy guides.
  • Runs fully offline once the ~2.4 GB database is downloaded, and every command supports --format json for reliable parsing.
  • --source and --framework filters narrow results, and the URIs returned by search feed straight into `cupertino read` to fetch full documents.
  • Also exposes Apple sample code, including reading individual files inside a project.

Limitations

  • macOS 13+ only, and the first run requires a ~2.4 GB download via `cupertino setup` before anything works.
  • Content is limited to what is indexed: there is no web fallback for very recent APIs or third-party libraries.
  • Requires the cupertino binary to be installed and Bash execution to be permitted; without shell access the skill does nothing.
When to use it

When a question is about Apple APIs, Swift/SwiftUI/UIKit usage, HIG guidance, or Apple sample code and you need accurate, citable documentation instead of model recall.

When not to use it

When working outside the Apple ecosystem, on a non-macOS machine, or when the question targets third-party libraries and recent APIs missing from the offline index.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score88/100

The skill only invokes a dedicated documentation search CLI (`cupertino`) with read/search/list operations. It does not instruct destructive actions, data exfiltration, or execution of downloaded scripts. The initial setup downloads a large documentation database but is a legitimate offline documentation tool.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

SwiftUI navigation lookup
How do I set up a NavigationStack with a path binding in SwiftUI? Look it up in the Apple documentation and show me the VStack/NavigationStack reference.
HIG button guidance
What do Apple's Human Interface Guidelines say about button styles and minimum hit targets? Search the hig source.
Read an Apple sample
Show me the FoodTruck sample app's FoodTruckApp.swift file from Apple's sample code index.

name: cupertino description: Search and read Apple developer documentation including SwiftUI, UIKit, Foundation, and 300+ frameworks. Use when the user asks about Apple APIs, iOS/macOS development, Swift syntax, or needs to look up Apple documentation. license: MIT compatibility: Requires macOS 13+, pre-built database via 'cupertino setup' metadata: author: mihaelamj version: "1.0" allowed-tools: Bash(cupertino:*)

Cupertino - Apple Documentation Search

Search 300,000+ Apple developer documentation pages offline.

Setup

First-time setup (downloads ~2.4GB database):

cupertino setup

Commands

Search Documentation

Search across all sources (apple-docs, samples, hig, swift-evolution, swift-org, swift-book, packages):

cupertino search "SwiftUI View" --format json

Filter by source:

cupertino search "async await" --source swift-evolution --format json
cupertino search "NavigationStack" --source apple-docs --format json
cupertino search "button styles" --source samples --format json
cupertino search "button guidelines" --source hig --format json

Filter by framework:

cupertino search "@Observable" --framework swiftui --format json

Read a Document

Retrieve full document content by URI:

cupertino read "apple-docs://swiftui/documentation_swiftui_view" --format json
cupertino read "apple-docs://swiftui/documentation_swiftui_view" --format markdown

List Frameworks

List all indexed frameworks with document counts:

cupertino list-frameworks --format json

List Sample Projects

Browse indexed Apple sample code projects:

cupertino list-samples --format json
cupertino list-samples --framework swiftui --format json

Read Sample Code

Read a sample project or specific file:

cupertino read-sample "foodtrucksampleapp" --format json
cupertino read-sample-file "foodtrucksampleapp" "FoodTruckApp.swift" --format json

Sources

| Source | Description | |--------|-------------| | apple-docs | Official Apple documentation (301,000+ pages) | | swift-evolution | Swift Evolution proposals | | hig | Human Interface Guidelines | | samples | Apple sample code projects | | swift-org | Swift.org documentation | | swift-book | The Swift Programming Language book | | apple-archive | Legacy guides (Core Animation, Quartz 2D, KVO/KVC) | | packages | Swift package documentation |

Output Formats

All commands support --format with these options:

  • text - Human-readable output (default for most commands)
  • json - Structured JSON for parsing
  • markdown - Formatted markdown

Example JSON Output

{
  "results": [
    {
      "uri": "apple-docs://swiftui/documentation_swiftui_vstack",
      "title": "VStack",
      "framework": "SwiftUI",
      "summary": "A view that arranges its children vertically",
      "source": "apple-docs"
    }
  ],
  "count": 1,
  "query": "VStack"
}

Tips

  • Use --source to narrow searches to a specific documentation source
  • Use --framework to filter by framework (e.g., swiftui, foundation, uikit)
  • Use --limit to control the number of results returned
  • URIs from search results can be used directly with cupertino read

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/download' --output '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

Environment declared by the author: Requires macOS 13+, pre-built database via 'cupertino setup'

Tools declared by the author (check availability in your agent): Bash(cupertino:*)

Original excerpt: Setup

First-time setup (downloads ~2.4GB database):

cupertino setup

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/cupertino' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw' '.claude/skills/cupertino'

Cursor
test -f '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.cursor/skills' && test ! -e '.cursor/skills/cupertino' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw' '.cursor/skills/cupertino'

Codex
test -f '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.agents/skills' && test ! -e '.agents/skills/cupertino' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw' '.agents/skills/cupertino'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw'

openskills read 'cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/cupertino-apple-documentation-search-mmk3nhqw/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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