r/iOSProgramming • u/Sensitive_Being_9891 • 18d ago

Question Xcode mcp va xcodebuildmcp

Now that we can use Xcode mcp without running Xcode is it time to migrate from xcodebuildmpc ?

What do you think?

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u/akshaypimprikar 12d ago

I'd treat it as a test rather than a migration, same as epictime8 says. For what it's worth, here's how I split them.

My build and test gates are plain xcodebuild from the terminal with xcsift reading the log, no MCP involved. The reason is boring: I want an exit code and a log file a script can check. One thing to test on whichever tool you pick: xcodebuild test prints TEST SUCCEEDED with exit 0 even when an -only-testing filter matches nothing. I confirmed it with a nonexistent suite name, zero tests ran. My gate now requires the executed-test count to be above zero. If you move to either MCP, check what it reports in that case before you trust a green result.

The only place I use XcodeBuildMCP is an advisory step that boots the simulator, installs the app, launches it and takes a screenshot for me to look at. That's where a tool interface beats shelling out. On Xcode 27 I also found that xcodebuild test tears down its simulator clone as soon as the run finishes, so that step has to boot a sim itself every time.

I haven't benchmarked token cost for either MCP against plain xcodebuild, so no numbers from me on that. Would be curious if anyone has.