Summary

The edit-build-test-simulator loop happens in one place instead of four.

Because build_project, run_tests and the simulator tools all run against the same active project, a failing test can be read, patched and re-run without anyone switching windows, and run_xcrun keeps the rest of the toolchain one call away. Two things to check before you plan around it: the docs describe a wider catalogue — CocoaPods, directory stacks, archiving, screenshots — than the tool list a client is actually handed, and PROJECTS_BASE_DIR is the security boundary, so anything outside it has to be named in ALLOWED_PATHS before a read or write will succeed.

What it is

A local bridge to Xcode's own command-line tooling. One project is active at a time; file access is confined to the projects base directory plus any extra paths you allow, and builds, tests and simulator control run through xcodebuild and xcrun.

What you get

An active project set by .xcodeproj path, with its details read back and its files listed by type
Source read and written inside the project, with write_file creating the file when createIfMissing is set
build_project against a named scheme and configuration, and run_tests with an optional test plan
analyze_file runs Xcode's static analyzer over a single source file
list_simulators returns what xcrun simctl list --json reports, and boot_simulator and shutdown_simulator drive one by UDID
run_xcrun passes a tool name and arguments through to xcrun, which is the escape hatch when no dedicated tool exists
run_lldb launches the debugger with your own arguments, and trace_app captures an xctrace performance trace of an app bundle for a duration you set
compile_asset_catalog runs actool over a catalog into an output directory
swift_package_update runs swift package update for Swift Package Manager dependencies

Requirements

macOS with Xcode 14.0 or higher and the Command Line Tools, plus Node.js 16 or higher; Swift 5.5+ for the Swift Package Manager tools and CocoaPods only if you use the pod commands. No account or key. PROJECTS_BASE_DIR is required and decides which directories the file tools may touch — ALLOWED_PATHS adds more, comma-separated — and both have command-line equivalents (--projects-dir, --allowed-paths). PORT defaults to 3000; DEBUG and LOG_LEVEL control logging. Published as xcode-mcp-server with the binary xcode-server.

Setup effort

One command — npx -y xcode-mcp-server