tools-overview

A guide to the tools in the Xcode MCP Server, a service that lets an agent work with Apple app projects through Xcode. It explains project management, file operations, building, testing, dependencies, simulators, and secure path handling.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to find Xcode projects, select an active project, read or edit files, build and test apps, manage CocoaPods or Swift Package Manager dependencies, and control simulators.
Why use it?
It helps an agent choose and combine the right tools when working on an Xcode project instead of treating every operation as a file change.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/r-huijts/xcode-mcp-server/tools-overview
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/r-huijts/xcode-mcp-server

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 2,117 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 2,117 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.02117 $0.02117
Opus 5 $0.01059 $0.01059
Sonnet 5 $0.00423 $0.00423
Haiku 4.5 $0.00212 $0.00212

Measured 2d ago against content hash 72d209c1f64f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

tools-overview scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.cursor/rules/tools-overview.mdc · 213 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 213 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Xcode MCP Server Tools Overview

This document provides a comprehensive overview of the tools available in the Xcode MCP Server and explains how they interact with Xcode projects.

Server Architecture

The Xcode MCP Server is organized into the following modules:

  • Project Management: Tools for working with Xcode projects
  • File Operations: Tools for reading and writing files
  • Build & Testing: Tools for building and testing projects
  • CocoaPods Integration: Tools for managing CocoaPods dependencies
  • Swift Package Manager: Tools for managing Swift Package Manager functionality
  • Simulator Tools: Tools for interacting with iOS simulators
  • Xcode Utilities: Miscellaneous Xcode-specific tools
  • Path Management: System for secure file access and directory navigation

Project Management Tools

Tool Description
set_projects_base_dir Sets the base directory where Xcode projects are stored
set_project_path Sets the active Xcode project (xcodeproj, xcworkspace, or SPM)
get_active_project Retrieves detailed information about the active project
find_projects Finds Xcode projects in the specified directory
get_project_configuration Retrieves configuration details for the active project
detect_active_project Attempts to automatically detect the active Xcode project
change_directory Changes the active directory for relative path operations
push_directory Pushes current directory to stack and changes to a new directory
pop_directory Returns to previous directory from stack
get_current_directory Shows the current active directory

These tools help you navigate and manage Xcode projects. The server supports multiple project types including regular .xcodeproj files, workspaces (.xcworkspace), and Swift Package Manager projects (Package.swift).

File Operation Tools

Tool Description
read_file Reads the contents of a file within allowed directories
write_file Writes or updates file content within allowed directories
copy_file Copies a file or directory to a new location
move_file Moves a file or directory to a new location
delete_file Deletes a file or directory
create_directory Creates a new directory
list_project_files Lists all files within an Xcode project
list_directory Lists directory contents with options for format and hidden files
get_file_info Gets detailed information about a file or directory
find_files Searches for files matching a pattern in a directory
resolve_path Shows how a path would be resolved
check_file_exists Checks if a file or directory exists

Read the full file on GitHub · 213 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 213 lines · 2,117 tokens per session scan A 72d209c1f64f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

tools-overview is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository r-huijts/xcode-mcp-server (385 stars, last pushed 7mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 2,117 tokens to every session, about $0.0106 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.