Apple Docs MCP - Apple Developer Documentation Model Context Protocol Server

Apple Developer Documentation MCP Server - Access Apple's official developer docs, frameworks, APIs, SwiftUI, UIKit, and WWDC videos through Model Context Protocol. Search iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS documentation with AI-powered natural language queries. Get instant access to Swift/Objective-C code examples, API references, and technical guides directly in Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible AI assistant.

English | 日本語 | 한국어 | 简体中文

✨ Features

• 🔍 Smart Search: Intelligent search across Apple Developer Documentation for SwiftUI, UIKit, Foundation, CoreData, ARKit, and more
• 📚 Complete Documentation Access: Full access to Apple's JSON API for Swift, Objective-C, and framework documentation
• 🔧 Framework Index: Browse hierarchical API structures for iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS frameworks
• 📋 Technology Catalog: Explore Apple technologies including SwiftUI, UIKit, Metal, Core ML, Vision, and ARKit
• 📰 Documentation Updates: Track WWDC 2024/2025 announcements, iOS 26, macOS 26, and latest SDK releases
• 🎯 Technology Overviews: Comprehensive guides for Swift, SwiftUI, UIKit, and all Apple development platforms
• 💻 Sample Code Library: Swift and Objective-C code examples for iOS, macOS, and cross-platform development
• 🎥 WWDC Video Library: Search WWDC 2014-2025 sessions with transcripts, Swift/SwiftUI code examples, and resources
• 🔗 Related APIs Discovery: Find SwiftUI views, UIKit controllers, and framework-specific API relationships
• 📊 Platform Compatibility: iOS 13+, macOS 10.15+, watchOS 6+, tvOS 13+, visionOS compatibility analysis
• ⚡ High Performance: Optimized for Xcode, Swift Playgrounds, and AI-powered development environments
• 🔄 Smart UserAgent Pool: Intelligent UserAgent rotation system with automatic failure recovery and performance monitoring
• 🌐 Multi-Platform: Complete iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS documentation support
• 🏷️ Beta & Status Tracking: iOS 26 beta APIs, deprecated UIKit methods, new SwiftUI features tracking

🚀 Quick Start

Claude Desktop (Recommended)

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Note: If you encounter issues with an old version being used, add @latest to force the latest version:

"args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp@latest"]

Restart Claude Desktop and start asking about Apple APIs!

📦 Installation

claude mcp add apple-docs -- npx -y @kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp@latest

📖 Claude Code MCP docs

Via Settings: Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new global MCP server

Via Config File: Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

📖 Cursor MCP docs

Add to your VS Code MCP config:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "apple-docs": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
      }
    }
  }
}

📖 VS Code MCP docs

Add to your Windsurf MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

📖 Windsurf MCP docs

Add to your Zed settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "Apple Docs": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
      },
      "settings": {}
    }
  }
}

📖 Zed Context Server docs

Via Marketplace:

1. Open Cline → Menu (☰) → MCP Servers → Marketplace
2. Search "Apple Docs MCP" → Install

Via Config: Add to cline_mcp_settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Via Config File: Add to ~/.aws/amazonq/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

📖 Amazon A Developer CLI MCP docs

For Windows systems, use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-docs": {
      "command": "cmd",
      "args": ["/c", "npx", "-y", "@kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp"],
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": []
    }
  }
}

Global Installation:

# Using pnpm (recommended)
pnpm add -g @kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp

# Using npm
npm install -g @kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp

Direct Usage:

npx @kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp --help

Development Setup:

git clone https://github.com/kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp.git
cd apple-docs-mcp

# Using pnpm (recommended)
pnpm install && pnpm run build

# Using npm
npm install && npm run build

💬 Usage Examples

🔍 Smart Search

"Search for SwiftUI animations"
"Find withAnimation API documentation"
"Look up async/await patterns in Swift"
"Show me UITableView delegate methods"
"Search Core Data NSPersistentContainer examples"
"Find AVFoundation video playback APIs"

📚 Documentation Access

"Get detailed information about the SwiftUI framework"
"Show me withAnimation API with related APIs"
"Get platform compatibility for SwiftData"
"Access UIViewController documentation with similar APIs"
"Show me NSManagedObjectContext documentation"
"Get URLSession async/await methods"

🔧 Framework Exploration

"Show me SwiftUI framework API index"
"List all UIKit classes and methods"
"Browse ARKit framework structure"
"Get WeatherKit API hierarchy"
"Explore Core ML model loading APIs"
"Show Vision framework image analysis APIs"

🔗 API Discovery

"Find APIs related to UIViewController"
"Show me similar APIs to withAnimation"
"Get all references from SwiftData documentation"
"Discover alternatives to Core Data NSManagedObject"

📋 Technology & Platform Analysis

"List all Beta frameworks in iOS 26"
"Show me Graphics & Games technologies"
"What machine learning frameworks are available?"
"Analyze platform compatibility for Vision framework"

📰 Documentation Updates

"Show me the latest WWDC updates"
"What's new in SwiftUI?"
"Get technology updates for iOS"
"Show me release notes for Xcode"
"Find beta features in the latest updates"

🎯 Technology Overviews

"Show me technology overviews for app design and UI"
"Get comprehensive guides for games development"
"Explore AI and machine learning overviews"
"Show me iOS-specific technology guides"
"Get data management technology overviews"

💻 Sample Code Library

"Show SwiftUI sample code projects"
"Find sample code for machine learning"
"Get UIKit example projects"
"Show featured WWDC sample code"
"Find Core Data sample implementations"
"Show only beta sample code projects"

🎥 WWDC Video Search

"Search WWDC videos about SwiftUI"
"Find WWDC sessions on machine learning"
"Show me WWDC 2024 videos"
"Search for async/await WWDC talks"
"Find WWDC videos about Swift concurrency"
"Show accessibility-focused WWDC sessions"

📺 WWDC Video Details

"Get details for WWDC session 10176"
"Show me the transcript for WWDC23 session on SwiftData"
"Get code examples from WWDC video 10019"
"Show resources from Vision Pro WWDC session"
"Get transcript for 'Meet async/await in Swift' session"

📋 WWDC Topics & Years

"List all WWDC topics"
"Show me Swift topic WWDC videos"
"Get WWDC videos about developer tools"
"List WWDC videos from 2023"
"Show all SwiftUI and UI frameworks sessions"
"Get machine learning WWDC content"

🛠️ Advanced Usage

"Find related APIs for @State with platform analysis"
"Resolve all references from SwiftUI documentation"
"Get platform compatibility analysis for Vision framework"
"Find similar APIs to UIViewController with deep search"

🛠️ Available Tools

Tool	Description	Key Features
search_apple_docs	Search Apple Developer Documentation	Official search API, find specific APIs, classes, methods
get_apple_doc_content	Get detailed documentation content	JSON API access, optional enhanced analysis (related/similar APIs, platform compatibility)
list_technologies	Browse all Apple technologies	Category filtering, language support, beta status
search_framework_symbols	Search symbols in specific framework	Classes, structs, protocols, wildcard patterns, type filtering
get_related_apis	Find related APIs	Inheritance, conformance, "See Also" relationships
resolve_references_batch	Batch resolve API references	Extract and resolve all references from documentation
get_platform_compatibility	Platform compatibility analysis	Version support, beta status, deprecation info
find_similar_apis	Discover similar APIs	Apple's official recommendations, topic groupings
get_documentation_updates	Track Apple documentation updates	WWDC announcements, technology updates, release notes
get_technology_overviews	Get technology overviews and guides	Comprehensive guides, hierarchical navigation, platform filtering
get_sample_code	Browse Apple sample code projects	Framework filtering (with limitations), keyword search, beta status
search_wwdc_videos	Search WWDC video sessions	Keyword search, topic/year filtering, session metadata
get_wwdc_video_details	Get WWDC video details with transcript	Full transcripts, code examples, resources, platform info
list_wwdc_topics	List all available WWDC topics	19 topic categories from Swift to Spatial Computing
list_wwdc_years	List all available WWDC years	Conference years with video counts

🏗️ Technical Architecture for Apple Developer Documentation Access

apple-docs-mcp/
├── 🔧 src/
│   ├── index.ts                      # MCP server entry point with all tools
│   ├── tools/                        # MCP tool implementations
│   │   ├── search-parser.ts          # HTML search result parsing
│   │   ├── doc-fetcher.ts            # JSON API documentation fetching
│   │   ├── list-technologies.ts      # Technology catalog handling
│   │   ├── get-documentation-updates.ts # Documentation updates tracking
│   │   ├── get-technology-overviews.ts # Technology overviews and guides
│   │   ├── get-sample-code.ts        # Sample code library browser
│   │   ├── get-framework-index.ts    # Framework structure indexing
│   │   ├── get-related-apis.ts       # Related API discovery
│   │   ├── resolve-references-batch.ts # Batch reference resolution
│   │   ├── get-platform-compatibility.ts # Platform analysis
│   │   ├── find-similar-apis.ts      # Similar API recommendations
│   │   └── wwdc/                     # WWDC video tools
│   │       ├── wwdc-handlers.ts      # WWDC tool handlers
│   │       ├── content-extractor.ts  # Video content extraction
│   │       ├── topics-extractor.ts   # Topic listing
│   │       └── video-list-extractor.ts # Video list parsing
│   └── utils/                        # Utility functions and helpers
│       ├── cache.ts                  # Memory cache with TTL support
│       ├── constants.ts              # Application constants and URLs
│       ├── error-handler.ts          # Error handling and validation
│       ├── http-client.ts            # HTTP client with performance tracking
│       ├── user-agent-pool.ts        # Smart UserAgent rotation system
│       ├── http-headers-generator.ts # Dynamic browser headers generation
│       └── url-converter.ts          # URL conversion utilities
├── 📦 dist/                          # Compiled JavaScript
├── 📄 package.json                   # Package configuration
└── 📖 README.md                      # This file

🚀 Performance Features

• Memory-Based Caching: Custom cache implementation with automatic cleanup and TTL support
• Smart UserAgent Pool: Intelligent rotation system with automatic failure recovery and performance monitoring
• Dynamic Headers: Realistic browser headers generation (Accept, Accept-Language, User-Agent)
• Smart Search: Official Apple search API with enhanced result formatting
• Enhanced Analysis: Optional related APIs, platform compatibility, and similarity analysis
• Error Resilience: Graceful degradation with comprehensive error handling
• Type Safety: Full TypeScript with Zod v4.0.5 runtime validation
• Latest Dependencies: MCP SDK v1.15.1, optimized package footprint

💾 Caching Strategy

Content Type	Cache Duration	Cache Size	Reason
API Documentation	30 minutes	500 entries	Frequently accessed, moderate updates
Search Results	10 minutes	200 entries	Dynamic content, user-specific
Framework Indexes	1 hour	100 entries	Stable structure, less frequent changes
Technologies List	2 hours	50 entries	Rarely changes, large content
Documentation Updates	30 minutes	100 entries	Regular updates, WWDC announcements

📦 WWDC Data

All WWDC video data (2014-2025) is bundled directly in the npm package, providing:

• ✅ Zero network latency - No API calls needed for WWDC content
• ✅ 100% offline access - Works without internet connection
• ✅ No rate limits - Unlimited WWDC searches and browsing
• ✅ Instant responses - All data is locally available

The package includes:

• 📹 1,260+ WWDC session videos with full transcripts
• 🏷️ 20 topic categories for organized browsing
• 📅 13 years of content (2012-2025)
• 💾 35MB of optimized JSON data

Note: Keep your package updated to get the latest WWDC content additions.

⚙️ Configuration

🔄 UserAgent Pool Configuration

The MCP server includes an intelligent UserAgent rotation system to improve API reliability:

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default	Example
USER_AGENT_ROTATION_ENABLED	Enable/disable rotation	true	true
USER_AGENT_POOL_STRATEGY	Rotation strategy	random	smart
USER_AGENT_MAX_RETRIES	Max retry attempts	3	5
USER_AGENT_POOL_CONFIG	Custom pool config (JSON)	Built-in agents	See below

Custom Pool Configuration

# Configure custom UserAgent pool
export USER_AGENT_POOL_CONFIG='[
  {"userAgent": "MyApp/1.0 (compatible)", "weight": 3, "maxUsageCount": 1000},
  {"userAgent": "MyApp/2.0 (advanced)", "weight": 2, "maxUsageCount": 800}
]'

# Set rotation strategy (random/sequential/smart)
export USER_AGENT_POOL_STRATEGY=smart

# Enable debugging
export NODE_ENV=development

Available Strategies

• random: Fast random selection (best performance)
• sequential: Round-robin rotation (predictable order)
• smart: Success rate optimization (best reliability)

Built-in UserAgents

The server includes 12+ pre-configured UserAgent strings covering:

• Chrome (Mac Intel/Apple Silicon, Windows, Linux)
• Firefox (Mac Intel/Apple Silicon, Windows, Linux)
• Safari (Mac Intel/Apple Silicon, latest versions)
• Edge (Windows, Mac Intel/Apple Silicon)

🧪 Development

Quick Commands

# Development with auto-reload
pnpm run dev    # or: npm run dev

# Build for production  
pnpm run build  # or: npm run build

# Type checking
pnpm exec tsc --noEmit  # or: npx tsc --noEmit

# Clean build artifacts
pnpm run clean  # or: npm run clean

Testing Locally

# Test the MCP server directly
node dist/index.js

# Test with sample queries
npx @kimsungwhee/apple-docs-mcp --test

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how to get started:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
4. Push to the branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc. It uses publicly available Apple Developer Documentation APIs for educational and development purposes.

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Made with ❤️ for the Apple Developer Community

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