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https://github.com/g-cqd/apple-docs

Local Apple developer documentation corpus — CLI, MCP server, and static site generator. 10 sources, tiered search, offline-first.
https://github.com/g-cqd/apple-docs

apple bun cli documentation mcp swift

Last synced: 9 days ago
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Local Apple developer documentation corpus — CLI, MCP server, and static site generator. 10 sources, tiered search, offline-first.

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README 

          
# apple-docs



**All of Apple's developer documentation, on your machine.** Search it from

the terminal, browse it in your browser, and plug it into Claude, Codex,

Cursor, or any other MCP client — fully offline once installed.



One indexed corpus (~353,000 documents), three ways in:



- **CLI** — `apple-docs search "NavigationStack"` answers in milliseconds.

- **MCP server** — your AI assistant cites real Apple docs instead of guessing.

- **Local website** — browse and full-text search in the browser, or publish

  it as a static site.



It covers Apple's API reference (DocC), Human Interface Guidelines, App Store

Review Guidelines, Swift Evolution, the Swift book, Swift.org, WWDC sessions

(1997–2026, transcripts included), Apple sample code, archived documentation,

a Swift package catalog, every SF Symbol, and Apple's fonts.



## Quick start



You need [Bun](https://bun.sh) 1.1+.



```bash

git clone https://github.com/g-cqd/apple-docs.git

cd apple-docs

bun run dev:setup    # install dependencies + link the CLI

apple-docs setup     # download + install the latest snapshot

```



`setup` downloads one verified archive (**1.62 GB**) and installs it in a few

minutes. After that, everything works offline:



```bash

apple-docs search "NavigationStack"

apple-docs search "how do I record audio in the background"

apple-docs read swiftui/view

```



Search takes both forms: exact symbol names and plain-English questions

(a local semantic index is built during setup — no cloud, no API key).



### Pick a disk/speed tradeoff (optional)



`setup` asks which storage profile you want; flags skip the prompt:



| | Command | Disk | Best for |

| --- | --- | --- | --- |

| Smallest | `apple-docs setup --compact` | ~3 GB | laptops, CI |

| Default | `apple-docs setup` | ~5.5 GB | most setups |

| Fastest reads | `apple-docs setup --prebuilt` | ~8.6 GB | serving the website |



All three contain the full corpus and search identically — they only trade

disk for read speed. Details and how to switch later:

[`docs/configuration.md`](docs/configuration.md#storage-profiles).



> Prefer a standalone binary or a production self-host? See

> [`docs/installing.md`](docs/installing.md).



## Everyday commands



```bash

# Search — filters beat clever queries

apple-docs search "Swift Testing" --source wwdc --year 2024

apple-docs search "privacy" --framework app-store-review

apple-docs search "scroll" --kind article --platform visionos



# Read a page (or just one section of it)

apple-docs read swiftui/view

apple-docs read View --framework swiftui

apple-docs read swiftui/view --section Overview



# Explore

apple-docs frameworks                  # every documentation root

apple-docs browse swiftui              # a framework's pages

apple-docs browse wwdc                 # WWDC years with session counts

apple-docs browse wwdc --year 2025     # one year's sessions

apple-docs status                      # corpus freshness + counts

```



`apple-docs --help` and `apple-docs  --help` are the exhaustive

reference.



## Use it from your AI tools (MCP)



```bash

apple-docs mcp install            # prints ready-to-paste client config

apple-docs mcp start              # stdio server

apple-docs mcp serve --port 3031  # Streamable HTTP server

```



Nine read-only tools: `search_docs`, `read_doc`, `list_frameworks`, `browse`,

`list_taxonomy`, `search_sf_symbols`, `list_apple_fonts`, `render_sf_symbol`,

`render_font_text` — plus resources for docs, frameworks, SF Symbol renders,

and font files.



The tool surface is deliberately **context-cheap**: definitions cost ~2.2k

tokens total (about a quarter of a typical multi-tool MCP server), responses

are compact JSON with pagination built in, and a CI budget test keeps it that

way. Your context window stays available for actual work.



HTTP mode has no built-in auth — keep it on loopback unless a reverse proxy

or tunnel handles access control.



### Public instance



A best-effort public deployment (no uptime SLA; self-host for production):



```bash

claude mcp add -s user --transport http apple-docs https://apple-docs-mcp.everest.mt/mcp

codex mcp add apple-docs -- bunx mcp-remote https://apple-docs-mcp.everest.mt/mcp

```



## Local website



```bash

apple-docs web serve                  # http://127.0.0.1:3000

apple-docs web build --out dist/web   # static site

```



The server is agent-friendly out of the box: append `.md` to any doc URL for

Markdown (`/docs/swiftui/view.md`), and discovery endpoints are served at

`/robots.txt`, `/.well-known/api-catalog` (RFC 9727), and

`/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json`. Deployment recipes:

`apple-docs web deploy ` and

[`docs/self-hosting.md`](docs/self-hosting.md).



## Keeping it fresh



Snapshots are rebuilt weekly by CI. To update, re-run:



```bash

apple-docs setup --force

```



Running a newer macOS than CI? `apple-docs setup --beta --force` opts into

prerelease snapshots built on developer machines, which carry SF Symbols the

stable CI builds can't produce yet

([details](docs/configuration.md#beta-channel)).



Or skip snapshots entirely and crawl Apple's docs yourself:



```bash

apple-docs sync          # resumable, idempotent refresh

apple-docs sync --full   # clean rebuild

```



`sync` also merges Xcode's offline documentation asset when one is available

locally (USRs and a few thousand pages the public crawl can't see) — CI does

this for every published snapshot, so installed snapshots already include it.



Build your own portable snapshot with `apple-docs snapshot build --out dist`,

install it with `apple-docs setup --archive `.



## What's in the corpus



| Source | Coverage |

| --- | --- |

| `apple-docc` | API reference: frameworks, technologies, release notes |

| `hig` | Human Interface Guidelines |

| `guidelines` | App Store Review Guidelines |

| `swift-evolution` | Swift Evolution proposals |

| `swift-book` | The Swift Programming Language |

| `swift-docc` | Swift toolchain docs (compiler, SwiftPM, migration guides) |

| `swift-org` | Swift.org documentation and articles |

| `apple-archive` | Archived Apple developer documentation |

| `wwdc` | WWDC sessions with transcripts, browsable by year |

| `sample-code` | Apple sample code catalog |

| `packages` | Swift package catalog with README content |



## Development



```bash

bun run ci                          # lint + typecheck + tests

bun run audit                       # + unused code, duplication, coverage

bun scripts/verify-profiles.mjs     # full integration matrix: installs every

                                    # storage profile from the latest snapshot

                                    # and exercises CLI + web + MCP against each

```



More docs: [architecture](docs/architecture.md) ·

[configuration](docs/configuration.md) · [installing](docs/installing.md) ·

[self-hosting](docs/self-hosting.md) · [performance](docs/perf/index.md) ·

[security](docs/security.md) · [index](docs/README.md)



## License



[MIT](LICENSE).