Xcode Pilot
English · Русский
A macOS menu bar app for building and running Xcode projects without keeping Xcode open.
Everything goes through xcodebuild, simctl and devicectl, so Xcode.app can stay closed.
Screenshots and a tour of the panel: pilot.ivon.dev.
Features
- Project picker:
.xcodeproj, .xcworkspace or a Swift package (a folder with Package.swift).
Recent projects are remembered, and projects Xcode has opened recently are picked up from DerivedData.
- Scheme, run destination and configuration, just like in Xcode's toolbar. Devices come from
xcodebuild -showdestinations, so the list only shows what the scheme can actually run on.
- Build / Run / Stop / Test / Clean / Archive. Run builds, installs and launches the app on a
simulator (booting it if needed), a connected device or the Mac, and stays attached to it:
print output goes to the Console tab.
- Console filter works like Xcode's: Return turns the typed text into a token, lines with any
(or all) of the tokens are shown and highlighted, a token that starts with a minus hides lines.
- Errors and warnings right in the panel: file and line, the code snippet from the compiler,
an errors/warnings filter. Copy any issue (as
file:line:col: error: …) or all of them at once,
or open it at the right line in Xcode, VS Code, Cursor or Zed. After the build the list is
reconciled with the .xcresult, so nothing gets lost or duplicated.
- Build log, short (tasks, diagnostics, result) or full, with search (⌘F).
- Archives go where Xcode puts them and show up in the Organizer right away. From the panel an
archive can be opened in the Organizer, exported (App Store Connect, Ad Hoc, Development,
Enterprise, Developer ID) or uploaded to App Store Connect.
- Organizer and Devices and Simulators open from buttons in the panel and in the icon menu.
For everyday use there is also a Devices tab: simulators (boot, shut down, show) and connected
devices, any of which can be picked as the run destination.
- The menu bar icon shows what's going on: a progress ring while building (estimated from the
duration of the previous identical build), build time next to the icon, a green badge on success,
a red badge with the error count on failure, and separate states for installing and for a running
app. Right-click opens a menu with the main actions and project, scheme and device pickers.
- Global shortcuts: ⌃⌥⌘R to run, ⌃⌥⌘B to build, ⌃⌥⌘. to stop, ⌃⌥⌘X to show or hide the panel.
Inside the panel the usual ⌘R, ⌘B, ⌘., ⌘U and ⇧⌘K work.
- A notification when a build finishes while the panel is closed; sounds; launch at login; Xcode
version selection when several are installed; the panel can be detached into a separate window.
Building
You need Xcode 26, XcodeGen, SwiftGen
and SwiftLint (brew install xcodegen swiftgen swiftlint).
cd Scripts && ./generateProject.sh
Then open XcodePilot.xcodeproj and run the XcodePilot scheme. The development team is set in
Scripts/project.env (DEVELOPMENT_TEAM_ID).
Release build
Scripts/release.sh archives the app in Release, signs it with the team's Developer ID, notarizes and
staples it and packs it into build/release/XcodePilot.dmg. It needs the team's "Developer ID Application"
certificate in the keychain and a notarytool keychain profile, created once:
xcrun notarytool store-credentials xcode-pilot-notary --apple-id <Apple ID> --team-id <team ID>
Permissions
- Accessibility: only for the Organizer and Devices and Simulators buttons. Xcode has no URL
scheme or AppleScript command for these windows, so the app presses their items in Xcode's
Window menu.
- Notifications: requested with the first build-finished notification.
Limitations
- While Xcode itself is building the same project, a parallel build from Xcode Pilot will hit the
DerivedData lock: both share one folder so incremental builds are shared.
- Packages with macros and plugins that were never trusted in Xcode won't build with xcodebuild;
for those, settings have a "Skip macro and plugin validation" option.
- Running on Mac as "Designed for iPad" isn't supported; such destinations are hidden.
- Build progress is an estimate based on the last successful build of the same scheme: xcodebuild
doesn't report the total number of tasks.
Architecture
View → ViewModel → Provider → Core Service layers, DI through locators, a generated project and
SwiftGen resources. Details are in CLAUDE.md (in Russian).
License
Xcode Pilot is released under the MIT License.
