Swift Package Index, a community-driven Swift package search engine and metadata index, is joining Apple, but says there’s little change for developers in the near term. Here are the details.
Swift Package Index joins Apple
Most Swift developers are likely familiar with these Swift Package IndexAn open source search engine and metadata index for Swift packages.
In practice, it helps developers discover packages, check platform and Swift version compatibility, and review auto-generated documentation. According to its description, “Swift Package Index automatically tests each Swift package across supported platforms and Swift versions, giving developers confidence before adding dependencies.”
Today in the morning A new post In a blog post, Swift Package Index announced that they’re joining Apple with “no immediate changes to how your packages are indexed or presented, or how your documents are laid out.”
The memo did not disclose any terms of the acquisition, only saying that Swift Package Index has “joined” Apple.
The Swift Package Index says that under Apple, the platform will have more resources for extensibility, which will “help developers make better decisions about package dependencies.
The note promises contributors that the Swift Package Index will remain open source, adding that package authors will not see any immediate changes.
Over time, we plan to introduce new capabilities around areas such as packet signing and identity to add robustness and security to the ecosystem.
The note also says that Apple engineers will contribute alongside the community (with more details on the future of the platform in the coming months) and thanks everyone who has contributed to the Swift Package Index and the wider Swift ecosystem.
Adoption of 9to5Mac
This move can be extremely useful for developers, as the Swift Package Index is already widely used in the Swift community.
While the note doesn’t go into further detail, native Xcode integration seems like a natural next step. Currently, developers usually need a package’s repository URL to add it to a project.
With the move, Apple may finally allow developers to search for and add compatible packages directly within Xcode, making dependency management easier while also improving package discovery.
How do you feel about Swift Package Index joining Apple? Let us know in the comments.
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