XcodeFormat

XcodeFormat automatically formats your source files when you save in Xcode.

It's a macOS menu-bar app paired with an Xcode Source Editor extension. By rebinding cmd-s, every save first runs your code through a formatter and then saves the file, so your style is enforced without any extra steps:

• Swift is formatted with SwiftFormat.
• C, C++, Objective-C and Objective-C++ are formatted with uncrustify.

Both formatters are bundled inside the app, so there's nothing else to install.

Formatting is driven by named configurations. Each pairs a SwiftFormat config with an uncrustify config, and these can point to remote URLs that the app keeps up to date in the background — handy for sharing a single house style across a team.

The same engine is also available from the command line, so you can format files outside Xcode — in scripts, build phases, or editor hooks.

How to install

Quit Xcode.

Download the latest release and place the .app file in your Applications folder.
Launch the application.

Open System Settings, navigate to the Keyboard section, and select App Shortcuts:

Click the + button to add a new shortcut:

Choose Xcode as application, type XcodeFormat in Menu Title field, and set the shortcut to cmd-s.

From System Settings, navigate to the Privacy & Security section, and select Accessibility.
Add Xcode to the list of applications and ensure the checkbox next to it is selected.

From System Settings, ensure that Xcode Source Editor is enabled for the Xcode Format extension.

Open Xcode, go to the Preferences and navigate to the Key Bindings tab.
Search for Save, and choose a different shortcut for the save action (such as cmd-ctrl-s):

How to use

From the Xcode Format application (menu bar app), you can create and select different configurations.
Once a configuration is active, it will be used next time you save a file in Xcode:

It is advised to keep this application running (and set it to start at login), as it will periodically update the configuration files from the supplied URLs.

An automator workflow will run every time you use the cmd-s shortcut.
The workflow will trigger the Editor > Xcode Format Extension > Format Current File and File > Save menu items.

Command-line usage

The application bundle can also be invoked directly from the command line to format files, without going through Xcode.
This makes it possible to format files in scripts, build phases, or editor integrations.

The binary lives inside the application bundle:

/Applications/Xcode Format.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode Format

It shares the same stored configurations as the menu-bar app, so it works whether or not the app is running (and even before it has ever been launched, using the built-in defaults).

OVERVIEW: Format source files using a named XcodeFormat configuration.

USAGE: XcodeFormat [--list] [--config <config>] [<files> ...]

ARGUMENTS:
  <files>                 Source files to format in place.

OPTIONS:
  -l, --list              List the available configurations.
  -c, --config <config>   Name of the configuration to use.
  -h, --help              Show help information.

For example, to list the available configurations:

"/Applications/Xcode Format.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode Format" --list

And to format one or more files in place using a named configuration:

"/Applications/Xcode Format.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode Format" --config MyConfig File1.swift File2.swift

Using with Claude Code hooks

Because it can be driven from the command line, Xcode Format can be used in a Claude Code hook to automatically enforce formatting every time a file is written or edited.

The following PostToolUse hook runs Xcode Format after every Write or Edit, but only for source files on macOS, and only when the application is installed:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [
      {
        "matcher": "Write|Edit",
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "statusMessage": "Formatting with Xcode Format…",
            "command": "jq -r '.tool_input.file_path // .tool_response.filePath // empty' | { read -r f; [ -n \"$f\" ] || exit 0; [ \"$(uname -s)\" = \"Darwin\" ] || exit 0; case \"$f\" in *.swift|*.c|*.h|*.m|*.mm|*.cpp|*.cc|*.cxx|*.hpp|*.hh) :;; *) exit 0;; esac; fmt=\"/Applications/Xcode Format.app/Contents/MacOS/Xcode Format\"; [ -x \"$fmt\" ] || exit 0; \"$fmt\" --config XS-Labs \"$f\"; } 2>/dev/null || true"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Replace XS-Labs with the name of the configuration you want to enforce (see --list for the available names).

License

Project is released under the terms of the MIT License.

Repository Infos

Owner:          Jean-David Gadina - XS-Labs
Web:            www.xs-labs.com
Blog:           www.noxeos.com
Twitter:        @macmade
GitHub:         github.com/macmade
LinkedIn:       ch.linkedin.com/in/macmade/
StackOverflow:  stackoverflow.com/users/182676/macmade