A Claude Code plugin for building native macOS apps with SwiftUI, AppKit, and Liquid Glass.
Quick Start • What It Gives You • Reference Topics • Pi • Local Install • License
Bundles curated Apple Developer documentation (snapshot 2026-05-30) directly into Claude Code. No web fetching, no hallucinated APIs — the skill auto-triggers on macOS dev tasks and points Claude at topic-organized reference files covering SwiftUI, AppKit, Liquid Glass, and AppKit↔SwiftUI interop.
Install in two commands from inside Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add e-palmisano/macos-dev
/plugin install macos-devThen /reload-plugins. Ask any macOS dev question to confirm the skill triggers — for example:
"Adopt Liquid Glass in my SwiftUI Mac app"
This repository is also a Pi package. Install it with the pi CLI:
pi install git:github.com/e-palmisano/macos-devIf you publish the package to npm with the pi-package keyword:
pi install npm:macos-dev-codeAfter installation, verify the skill is enabled:
pi configThe macos-development skill auto-triggers on macOS / SwiftUI / AppKit / Liquid Glass keywords, or invoke it manually with:
/skill:macos-development
Tip: Pi loads skills from
~/.pi/agent/skills/(global) or.pi/skills/(project-local). Installing viapi installplaces the package under~/.pi/agent/git/and automatically makes the skill available to every session.
Liquid Glass coverage — the 2025/2026 macOS design system postdates most model training cutoffs. This plugin carries the exact API names (glassEffect(_:in:), GlassEffectContainer, glassEffectID(_:in:), NSGlassEffectView) so Claude doesn't invent them from memory.
SwiftUI-first guidance — app/scene structure, views, state, controls, layout, animation, interaction, accessibility. Standard SwiftUI components pick up Liquid Glass automatically on the latest SDK.
AppKit when you need it — deep TextKit 2, NSView drawing, precise window/panel control, mature table/outline behavior, menus, and appearance.
Interop without the footguns — clear direction on which bridge to use: NSHostingController/NSHostingView for SwiftUI inside AppKit, NSViewRepresentable/NSViewControllerRepresentable for AppKit inside SwiftUI.
Auto-triggers — the skill activates automatically on any of these keywords:
build a macOS app · SwiftUI for macOS · AppKit · Liquid Glass · glassEffect · GlassEffectContainer · NavigationSplitView · NSToolbar · NSViewRepresentable · NSHostingView · MenuBarExtra · WindowGroup · NSSplitViewController · TextKit · Icon Composer · and more.
The skills/macos-development/references/ directory contains topic-organized Apple docs. Claude loads only what's relevant to the current step and uses grep before full reads on large files.
| Topic | File |
|---|---|
| Liquid Glass, glass APIs, background extension, Icon Composer | references/liquid-glass.md |
| App protocol, scenes, windows, documents, Settings, menu-bar | references/swiftui-app-and-scenes.md |
| View protocol, modifier index, view styles, data flow / state | references/swiftui-views-and-state.md |
| Controls, text input/output, images, glass button styles | references/swiftui-controls-and-text.md |
Layout, custom Layout, lists, tables, scroll, shapes, drawing |
references/swiftui-layout-lists-and-drawing.md |
| Gestures, focus, drag-and-drop, accessibility | references/swiftui-interaction-and-accessibility.md |
| NavigationStack/SplitView, toolbars, inspectors, NSToolbar | references/navigation-and-toolbars.md |
| AppKit: app env, NSView, windows, appearance, animation, menus | references/appkit-essentials.md |
| NSButton, NSTextField, TextKit, fonts, drawing, color, printing | references/appkit-controls-text-graphics.md |
| NSHostingView/Controller/Menu, NSViewRepresentable, bridging | references/interop-appkit-swiftui.md |
Xcode previews, performance, UIDesignRequiresCompatibility |
references/tooling-and-performance.md |
| End-to-end Apple sample-app walkthroughs | references/sample-apps.md |
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/macos-devUseful for testing changes before pushing.
macos-dev/
├── .claude-plugin/
│ ├── plugin.json # Claude Code plugin manifest
│ └── marketplace.json # Claude Code marketplace entry
├── docs/
│ └── logo.png
├── skills/
│ └── macos-development/
│ ├── SKILL.md # Skill definition and trigger keywords
│ └── references/ # Curated Apple Developer docs (2026-05-30)
└── package.json # Pi package manifest (keywords: pi-package)
The package.json at the repository root makes this a dual-platform plugin: it works as a Claude Code plugin (via .claude-plugin/) and as a Pi package (via package.json → pi.skills).
This plugin targets macOS only. The UI* pages in the references exist for cross-framework comparison, not as iOS guidance. The documentation is a 2026-05-30 snapshot — refresh after major OS releases.
MIT © Enzo Pio Palmisano