2.0 EAP release

[jansorg]

Today, I published the first preview of Noctule 2.0.
The most important change is the initial support for Xcode projects.

All existing and new features are available in remote-development mode.

For example, if you run the IDE's UI on Linux and the IDE's backend on macOS, then you can still work with an Xcode project, build with xcodebuild and launch simulators. The simulator would appear on the display of the mac, though. VNC or RustDesktop is great to view the remote screen. Working in a split-mode IDE is better, though, because of the improved latency and UI.

Noctule is a freemium plugin, but everything is still free to use. Soon, I'll update the plugin to require a license for some of the features.

This is a quick announcement to help testing.
I'd be glad for your feedback!

Before the final release on the stable channel I'll prepare a better guide and presentation for the website.

How to work with an Xcode project:

1. Install xcode-build-server: brew install xcode-build-server or one of the other listed commands
2. Download the plugin from the eap channel and install via Preferences > Plugins > Install from disk:

• pick the latest compatible version from https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/22150-noctule-the-swift-ide/versions/eap

3. Install and restart
4. Open the directory of an Xcode project, i.e. the directory containing the *.xcworkspace or *.xcodeproj sub-directories. If both are shown, Noctule will ask you to choose. The workspace is usually the best choice.
5. The main toolbar should display two new dropdown actions to choose Xcode scheme and destination. It's possible that the destinations take a while to load after opening for the first time.
6. Choose your preferred scheme and destination.
7. Now initialize xcode-build-server via action Tools > Noctule > Initialize xcode-build-server. This will invoke xcodebuild and the xcode-build-server commands.
8. Open a Swift file from the project. Code completions and more should hopefully work.

Internally, the setup and machinery is quite complex and (too) many parts have to work together to make this work. I'm planning to stabilize this as much as possible.

Changelog: https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/22150-noctule-the-swift-ide/versions/eap

Troubleshooting

• Build in Xcode: If something does not work, please try to build in Xcode. If it fails, you need to fix that first. For example, steps like pod install have to be executed or you need to confirm or validate plugins in Xcode.
• Some settings changed. You may have to reconfigure directory settings, the default toolchain and a few other settings. Unfortunately, this was necessary.

Planned Improvements

• Better integration with Xcode. I'm planning to automatically rebuild the project after changing scheme or destination (as in Xcode) and to relaunch the LSP server after a successful build (to reload the updates build results). Unfortunately, the Xcode experience is not comparable to the usual JetBrains experience, but because the CLI tooling and the Xcode project structure needs scheme and destination Noctule is limited to this. I'm thinking about improvements, but I'm not planning to reimplement Apple's SourceKit into native JetBrains code insight. That's out-of-scope and even JetBrains did not succeed supporting this long-term for AppCode, for example.

• Better remote development. There still are limitations, e.g. no syntax highlighting in quick documentation. Other limitations like missing method parameter info have to be fixed by JetBrains in the platform.

• Xcode test runner: This is just an open task I need to work on.

• Debugging: I'm planning to add debugging for Swift PM and Xcode-based projects.

Please share your needs and thoughts to make this even better :)

Screenshots

Prompt to choose between workspace and project

Choose Xcode scheme and destination

Quickly create an Xcode simulator run configuration

Simulator Run Configuration

A run configuration created with the button on the main toolbar and the launched simulator.

Xcode Build Run Configuration

Toolwindow to manage simulators

Dedicated Xcode Project View

Project Build Support

Integrates with SPM swift build and xcodebuild.

[jansorg]

2.0 is now available on the stable channel for 2026.2 eap IDEs.

For easier testing, install a 2026.2 eap IDE and you'll automatically get the Noctule 2.0 preview release. I'm planning to release the stable version for 2025.3 and 2026.1 as soon as there's more feedback and testing with 2026.2.

https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/22150-noctule-the-swift-ide/versions/stable/1051501

[humblehacker]

Really nice work! I've just tried out the latest on a personal Xcode/iOS project (where I'm not using Tuist), and so many things are just working as expected. Thanks for all your efforts!

[jansorg]

Thanks! Glad to hear that 😃
It'll probably take some time until all the different Xcode features and setups are supported. But hopefully most of it will work soon...

[dnedrow]

Hi, thanks for this plugin. It's worth the price.

Maybe I can stop mourning for AppCode. :)

Any hint as to when you may be releasing an update to 2.0?

[jansorg]

Hi, thanks for this plugin. It's worth the price.

Indeed ;) Everything is still free to use.
After the public 2.0 update, I'll make some of the features part of the freemium plugin and adjust the pricing. Noctule should have a future and that's not possible for free, unfortunately.

Maybe I can stop mourning for AppCode. :)

Any hint as to when you may be releasing an update to 2.0?

I know, it's late 😞
Supporting Xcode and split mode (remote development) is more complex than anticipated. It's very close.

The EAP channel has 2.0 builds for 2025.3+ and the stable channel has 2.0 builds for 2026.2 eap to help testing.