apple-app-intents

Apple App Intents

Expose your app's most useful actions to Shortcuts, Siri, Spotlight, widgets, and Control Center. Keep each intent a small, safe action, add an AppShortcutsProvider for discoverability, and push real work into services.

When to use

Use this skill when exposing app features to App Intents, Shortcuts, Siri, Spotlight, widgets, controls, or system actions.

Use when the user asks for:

• App Intents
• Siri actions
• Shortcuts support
• Spotlight actions
• App Shortcuts
• Widget buttons
• Control Center controls
• Action Button support
• Apple Intelligence-compatible app actions

Core rule

App Intent = a small, safe app action the system can run.
App Shortcut = a discoverable phrase and shortcut that exposes that action.
App Entity = app data the system can reference.

When to use this skill

Use this skill for:

• Adding a command to Shortcuts
• Making a menu bar action available from Spotlight
• Creating app actions that run without opening the app
• Opening the app to a specific screen
• Running a task, prompt, skill, or automation from system surfaces
• Adding widget or Control Center interactions
• Defining typed parameters for user actions

When not to use this skill

Do not use this skill for:

• Normal in-app buttons only
• Complex multi-screen workflows
• Unsafe destructive actions without confirmation
• UI design of sidebars/toolbars/inspectors
• Background daemons with no user-facing actions

Minimal AppIntent

import AppIntents

struct StartFocusIntent: AppIntent {
    static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Start Focus"
    static var description = IntentDescription("Starts a focus session.")
    static var openAppWhenRun = false

    func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
        FocusService.shared.start()
        return .result(dialog: "Focus started")
    }
}

Requirements:

title
perform()

App Shortcut provider

import AppIntents

struct AppShortcuts: AppShortcutsProvider {
    static var appShortcuts: [AppShortcut] {
        AppShortcut(
            intent: StartFocusIntent(),
            phrases: [
                "Start focus in \(.applicationName)",
                "Begin focus with \(.applicationName)"
            ],
            shortTitle: "Start Focus",
            systemImageName: "timer"
        )
    }
}