Apple Deep Docs MCP
Access hidden Xcode documentation and Apple developer resources through the Model Context Protocol.
Overview
Modern Apple documentation uses the DocC rendering system which requires JavaScript to dynamically load content, making it inaccessible to some LLMs. This MCP server circumvents that limitation by providing comprehensive access to Apple's development documentation ecosystem, including:
- Hidden Xcode Documentation: Searches the
AdditionalDocumentationfolder inside Xcode.app containing advanced SwiftUI patterns, Liquid Glass design guides for iOS 26+, and framework-specific implementation details not available on Apple's public developer site - Apple Developer API: Fetches and parses structured documentation from developer.apple.com
- Swift Evolution Proposals: Searches 500+ proposals to understand the "why" behind language features
- Swift Open Source Repositories: Searches across all Apple/SwiftLang GitHub repositories for implementation examples
- WWDC Session Notes: Accesses community-curated WWDC session summaries for performance optimization and architecture patterns
- Human Interface Guidelines: Searches through the Human Interface Guidelines
Requirements
- Python 3.10+
- Xcode installed (for local documentation features)
Installation
- Clone this repository:
git clone https://github.com/Ahrentlov/appledeepdoc-mcp.git
cd appledeepdoc-mcp
- Set up the Python environment:
# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
# Install dependencies
./venv/bin/pip install fastmcp
Configuration
Claude Code
For Claude Code, you need to add the MCP server using the following CLI commands:
Make sure run.sh is executable
chmod +x /path/to/appledeepdoc-mcp/run.sh
Add the MCP server to the local Claude Code project config
Navigate to the project folder where you will be activating Claude Code, then run the following command to register the MCP server:
claude mcp add --transport stdio apple-deep-docs /path/to/appledeepdoc-mcp/run.sh
Verify it was added
claude mcp list
Now when you activate claude in this folder, it will have the MCP server available.
Claude Desktop
Add to your Claude Desktop config file:
{
"mcpServers": {
"apple-deep-docs": {
"command": "/path/to/appledeepdoc-mcp/run.sh"
}
}
}
GPT-Codex
Add to ~/.codex/config.toml:
[mcp_servers.apple-deep-docs]
"command" = "/path/to/appledeepdoc-mcp/run.sh"
Replace /path/to/appledeepdoc-mcp with the full path where you cloned this repository. The run.sh script automatically handles the virtual environment.
Config file locations:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json - Windows:
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json - Linux:
~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
After updating the config, restart Claude Desktop to load the MCP server.
Project Structure
├── main.py # Entry point for the MCP server
├── config.py # Configuration and Xcode path discovery
├── tools.py # MCP tool definitions and input validation
├── docs/ # Documentation access modules
│ ├── local_docs.py # Xcode's hidden local documentation
│ └── apple_docs.py # Apple Developer website API access
├── evolution/ # Swift language evolution
│ └── swift_evolution.py
├── repos/ # GitHub repository searching
│ └── swift_repos.py
├── suggestions/ # Intelligent suggestion system
│ └── suggestions.py # Centralized suggestion engine
├── wwdc/ # WWDC session resources
│ └── wwdc_notes.py
└── pyproject.toml # Package configuration
Available Tools
Local Documentation
search_docs- Search Xcode's hidden documentationget_document- Retrieve full content of a specific documentlist_documents- List all available documentation filesget_xcode_versions- Get installed Xcode versions with documentation
Apple Developer Resources
fetch_apple_documentation- Fetch structured docs from developer.apple.comsearch_apple_online- Search both local and online Apple documentationget_framework_info- Get direct documentation URL for any framework
Swift Evolution
search_swift_evolution- Search Swift Evolution proposalsget_swift_evolution_proposal- Get details of a specific proposal
GitHub Resources
search_swift_repos- Search across all Apple/SwiftLang repositoriesfetch_github_file- Fetch source code from GitHub repositories
WWDC Resources
search_wwdc_notes- Search WWDC session notes and transcriptsget_wwdc_session- Get WWDC session URLs from session ID
Human Interface Guidelines
search_human_interface_guidelines- Search Apple's HIG for design patterns and best practiceslist_human_interface_guidelines_platforms- List all available platforms with HIG links
Environment Variables
XCODE_DOC_PATH: Override default Xcode documentation search path
Contributing
This project is provided as-is in its current state. While I've done my best to make it useful for accessing Apple's deeper documentation layers, there may be rough edges or areas for improvement.
Suggestions and pull requests are more than welcome! If you have ideas for new features, find bugs, or want to contribute improvements, please feel free to open an issue or submit a PR.
License
MIT