Why App Intents matter now
Apple Intelligence is a personal-context surface — Siri, Safari, Spotlight, first-party apps, and ChatGPT passthrough. It doesn't rank apps like a search engine. It invokes them via App Intents.
Product · Build Apple App Intents
As your builder — the Apple-surface role
Make your iOS app Siri- and Apple-Intelligence-ready
App Intents is how Apple exposes your app's features to Siri, Spotlight, Shortcuts and Apple Intelligence. The Builder generates the Swift code, parameter schemas and shortcut donations from a plain description of what your app does.
Swift
Compilable AppIntent code, not pseudocode
iOS · iPadOS · macOS
Full Apple platform coverage
Siri + Spotlight + Shortcuts
Every Apple entry point
Apple-only
For cross-platform agents use MCP Builder
What you get
Real Swift code
The Builder emits AppIntent structs, parameter enums and view snippets you paste into Xcode — not sketches.
Shortcut donations
Auto-generated donation calls so system suggestions and Siri learn your app's actions faster.
Apple guideline aware
Follows Apple's parameter, disambiguation and confirmation rules so intents actually pass review.
How it works
01 · Describe
Tell the Builder what your app does
Verbs, nouns, key screens. The Builder picks the intents Apple's system will actually surface.
02 · Generate
Swift AppIntent code
Structs, enums, parameter schemas, entity resolvers and preview views — ready for Xcode.
03 · Donate
Wire shortcut donations
The Builder adds the donation calls so Siri Suggestions and Spotlight learn your intents quickly.
04 · Verify
Test in Siri + Shortcuts
A checklist of Siri phrases, Spotlight queries and Shortcuts flows to run against a build.
Learn the concepts
You don't have to be an agent-optimization expert to use this. Here's the short version.
What the Builder generates
Everything you'd hand-write in Xcode: the AppIntent struct, its parameters, IntentParameter and EntityQuery types, IntentResult wrappers, and matching AppShortcutsProvider donations.
- Compiles against the current iOS SDK.
- Emits both the intent and the Shortcuts donation.
- Handles disambiguation, confirmation and continuation.
Apple-only on purpose
App Intents are an Apple-specific API. For agents that don't run on Apple hardware (ChatGPT web, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) you want an MCP server — use the MCP Builder for those.
Frequently asked
Do I need an Apple Developer account?
To ship, yes — App Intents run inside a signed app. The Builder itself works without one; you copy the generated Swift into your Xcode project.
Does this cover watchOS or visionOS?
Yes — anywhere App Intents run. iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and visionOS targets are all supported.
Is App Intents the same as an MCP server?
No. App Intents are Apple's on-device invocation surface. MCP is the open cross-agent protocol. Most brands should ship both — Apple for on-device Siri/Apple Intelligence, MCP for everything else.
Ready to put this to work?
Create a free account — explore every mode, then subscribe to start your trial. Or book a guided walkthrough.