generators_skill

Overview

This skill generates production-ready Swift WidgetKit code for home screen and lock screen widgets. It produces a complete Widget Extension scaffold, timeline providers, size-specific SwiftUI views, and optional AppIntents for interactive widgets. Use it to add reliable, updatable, and platform-appropriate widgets to iOS and macOS apps.

How this skill works

The generator creates a Widget Extension folder with a widget definition, a TimelineProvider implementation, view files for each widget family, and an optional Intent or AppIntent file for configuration or interactivity. It wires timeline updates, snapshot and placeholder logic, and provides examples for reloads from the main app via WidgetCenter. It can configure supported families including home screen sizes and lock screen accessory types.

When to use it

• You want to add home screen widgets to an existing iOS or macOS app.
• You need lock screen widgets for iOS 16+ (accessoryCircular/Rectangular/Inline).
• You want interactive widgets using AppIntents (iOS 17+) or Live Activities (iOS 16+).
• You need a production-ready timeline provider with data fetching and scheduling.
• You want scaffold code for size-specific SwiftUI views and widget configuration.

Best practices

• Provide placeholder, snapshot, and timeline implementations to ensure smooth previews and timely updates.
• Limit timeline update frequency; use policy like .after(nextUpdate) and sensible nextUpdate intervals.
• Share data safely via App Groups when the widget and app need access to the same storage.
• Support relevant widget families only; include lock screen types only when targeting iOS 16+.
• Use AppIntents for interactive actions (iOS 17+) and keep intents lightweight and idempotent.

Example use cases

• A news app that shows top headlines on the home screen with hourly timeline updates.
• A fitness app that shows daily progress on a lock screen accessoryCircular gauge.
• A to-do app with interactive toggle buttons to mark tasks complete (iOS 17+).
• A finance app that fetches balances and updates the widget every 30–60 minutes.
• An app that triggers WidgetCenter.shared.reloadTimelines(ofKind:) after significant data changes.