Skip to main content

By Zach

Apple HIG Skills

14 agent skills that give coding assistants Apple Human Interface Guidelines context on demand, with 156 references and lower token usage through progressive disclosure.

  • agent-skills
  • apple
  • design
  • apple-hig
  • swiftui
  • claude-code
  • cursor

Apple HIG Skills is an open source set of 14 agent skills for Apple platform design guidance.

It gives coding assistants Apple Human Interface Guidelines context on demand, instead of relying on partial recall.

Apple’s design guidance across iOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS is deep and platform-specific. Without that context, assistants often produce UI that looks plausible but misses important conventions.

Apple HIG Skills is designed to close that gap. It gives the agent 156 reference documents covering the HIG, with platform-specific guidance for SwiftUI, UIKit, and AppKit that loads only when needed.

npx skills add raintree-technology/apple-hig-skills

The full Apple HIG would consume over 50,000 tokens as a system prompt. Agent skills use progressive disclosure instead. The agent loads only the guidance it needs for the task in front of it. A typical question uses around 4,000 tokens, leaving the rest of the context window for code.

The 156 reference documents are organized into six areas:

  • Foundations for color, typography, accessibility, layout, motion, and privacy
  • Platforms for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS conventions
  • Components for layout, controls, menus, dialogs, content, search, status, and system experiences
  • Patterns for onboarding, navigation, search, feedback, drag and drop, modality, and settings
  • Inputs for gestures, Apple Pencil, keyboards, game controllers, pointers, Digital Crown, and eye tracking
  • Technologies for Siri, Apple Pay, HealthKit, ARKit, machine learning, Sign in with Apple, and SharePlay

There is also a project context skill that creates a shared config at .claude/apple-design-context.md. Other skills read that file so guidance reflects the actual project instead of generic cross-platform advice.

The skills register with the agent and activate automatically when relevant. No configuration or API keys are required.

The difference shows up in common design questions. Ask about dark mode and the agent can recommend system semantic colors like label, secondaryLabel, and systemBackground, instead of hard-coded values. Ask about tab bars and it can distinguish between iOS, macOS, and iPadOS conventions. Ask about visionOS and it can provide guidance on depth, anchoring, and ergonomic zones.

Built on the open Agent Skills standard, Apple HIG Skills works with Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, Aider, Roo Code, Continue, and Augment Code.

The project is MIT licensed, like our other open source projects. The skill structure and tooling are open. HIG content in the reference files is Apple’s intellectual property and is included here for agent guidance. Contributions for new content, better descriptions, or broader coverage are welcome on GitHub.

The skills activate when your coding assistant encounters Apple platform design questions, and stay out of the way when it does not.

FAQ

Why use agent skills instead of a system prompt for Apple HIG?
The full Apple HIG would consume over 50,000 tokens as a system prompt. Agent skills use progressive disclosure, loading only the specific guidance needed per question — around 4,000 tokens, a 92% reduction that keeps your context window free for code.
Which AI coding assistants are compatible with Apple HIG Skills?
Apple HIG Skills works with Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf, Cline, Aider, Roo Code, Continue, and Augment Code. It's built on the open Agent Skills standard.
What Apple platforms are covered?
All current Apple platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS — with platform-specific design conventions for each.
How do Apple HIG Skills handle platform-specific differences?
Each skill contains platform-specific guidance for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and visionOS. A project context skill lets you specify your target platforms, so every other skill tailors its output to your actual project instead of giving generic cross-platform advice.
Do Apple HIG Skills work with SwiftUI and UIKit?
Yes. The skills provide guidance and code examples for SwiftUI, UIKit, and AppKit. The generated code uses the framework conventions appropriate for your target platform.
Are Apple HIG Skills free?
Yes. Apple HIG Skills are MIT licensed, free, and open source. Install with one command and no API keys, accounts, or infrastructure required.