Store the String Catalogs the way Xcode serializes them, so an IDE build leaves the tree clean

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
       - uses: jdx/mise-action@v3
       - run: ./swiftformat --lint
+      # Catalogs drift out of Xcode's serialization the moment one is written by
+      # anything but Xcode, and the cost lands on whoever next builds in the IDE
+      # (see "Formatting" in AGENTS.md). This rides along in the format job
+      # rather than a job of its own because branch protection pins the two
+      # check names.
+      - name: String Catalog lint
+        run: ./xcstrings --lint
 
   test:
     name: Build & Test (iOS)

AGENTS.md

@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ Xcode project](#generating-the-xcode-project)). A fresh machine needs `./ide
 generating; plain `./ide` fails fast pointing at it.
 
 The executables in the repo root are the dev scripts — `ide`, `swiftformat`,
-`sync-agents`, `profile`, `icons`, `flaky`, `simulator` — and each takes
-`--help`. Reach for one rather than hand-rolling its job: `icons` and
+`sync-agents`, `profile`, `icons`, `flaky`, `simulator`, `xcstrings` — and each
+takes `--help`. Reach for one rather than hand-rolling its job: `icons` and
 `simulator` in particular own state that is easy to corrupt by hand (see
 [Managing app icons](#managing-app-icons) and [Selecting a
 simulator](#selecting-a-simulator--address-it-by-udid-not-name)).
@@ -66,6 +66,14 @@ Run `./ide --no-open` after adding one.
   format the tree, or `./swiftformat --lint` to check only (as in CI).
 - The pre-commit hook (enabled by `./ide` via `core.hooksPath`) formats staged
   `*.swift` files in place and re-stages them.
+- **String Catalogs are stored exactly as Xcode serializes them**, and
+  `./xcstrings` (`--lint` in CI) enforces it. Xcode rewrites a `.xcstrings` in
+  place during an *IDE* build whenever extraction finds a key the catalog
+  lacks — writing the entire file with its own serializer — so a catalog
+  written by anything else (a migration script's `json.dump`, a hand edit)
+  parses fine but turns the next build into thousands of lines of whitespace
+  churn around the one real entry. Write a catalog through Xcode, or normalize
+  it afterwards; the script only touches formatting, never content.
 
 ## Agent instructions sync
 

Shared/LifecycleKit/Sources/Resources/Localizable.xcstrings

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 {
   "sourceLanguage" : "en",
   "strings" : {
+    "App content" : {
+
+    },
     "failure.launch.retry" : {
       "extractionState" : "manual",
       "localizations" : {
@@ -25,4 +28,4 @@
     }
   },
   "version" : "1.0"
-}
+}

Where/AGENTS.md

@@ -139,6 +139,16 @@ Add the key to the catalog as a **manual** entry first (so its symbol
 generates), then reference `.thatSymbol` — never ship English literals in
 SwiftUI `Text` or `errorDescription`, and never reintroduce a raw-key facade.
 
+The catalogs also carry a few **auto-extracted** entries with no
+`extractionState` and no value — `""`, `%lld`, an English literal from a
+`#Preview`. Those are Xcode's, not ours: extraction picks up every string
+literal that could be a key (`Marker("", …)`, `Text("\(count)")`), and an IDE
+build re-adds any that's missing, so deleting one by hand just brings it back
+with a full reserialization behind it. Remove the *source* literal if you want
+the entry gone — interpolating an `Int` into `Text` is worth fixing anyway (it
+skips `WhereFormat`'s number styling). Catalog files stay byte-identical to
+Xcode's own serialization; see [Formatting](../AGENTS.md#formatting).
+
 ## Dates & presentation
 
 - **A logical day is a `CalendarDay` (Y-M-D), not a `Date`.** It is the

Where/RegionKit/Sources/Resources/Localizable.xcstrings

@@ -58,4 +58,4 @@
     }
   },
   "version" : "1.0"
-}
+}

Where/TODOs.md

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ This feels like it might result in a cleaner "pipeline-esque" code layout, and a
 - Move `let calendar = Calendar.current` into a var on the controller? There’s a few of these
 - Move test only code behind @_spi
 - Add comments to strings in xcstrings files
+- fix: Four literals in source get auto-extracted into the catalogs as value-less entries, which is why an IDE build had anything to write back at all (see the serialization normalization PR). They're committed as Xcode writes them; removing an entry for good means removing the literal. `Marker("", coordinate:)` in `RecordedPointsMap` produces the empty `""` key (an unlabeled dev-map pin — `Annotation` with an explicit accessibility label would say what it means); `Text("\(group.outlineCount)")` in `RegionMapView` and `Text("\(day.dayOfMonth)")` in `CalendarContentView` produce `%lld` and bypass `WhereFormat`'s number styling; and a `Button("Log today here")` in an `IntentSnippets` `#Preview` hardcodes copy the `snippet.logTodayHere` symbol already owns. `App content` comes from a `LifecycleContainer` `#Preview` in LifecycleKit.
 
 # Completed issues
 

Where/WhereCore/Sources/Resources/Localizable.xcstrings

@@ -137,4 +137,4 @@
     }
   },
   "version" : "1.0"
-}
+}