Skip to content
Axint

Quickstart

This quickstart takes you from zero to a working, compile-verified App Intent in about five minutes.

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 22 or newer
  • (Optional) Xcode 16 with the Swift toolchain — required for sandbox validation and --format. Everything else works cross-platform.

  1. Scaffold a new project.

    Terminal window
    npx @axint/compiler init my-intents
    cd my-intents

    You now have a ready-to-go project with a starter intent, a pre-wired .vscode/mcp.json, and an ios/Intents/ output directory.

  2. Open the starter intent.

    intents/SendMessage.intent.ts
    import { defineIntent, param } from "@axint/compiler/sdk";
    

    export default defineIntent({
      name: "SendMessageIntent",
      title: "Send Message",
      description: "Sends a message to a contact.",
      domain: "messaging",
      params: {
        recipient: param.string("Who to send the message to"),
        body: param.string("What to say"),
      },
    });

  3. Compile to Swift.

    Terminal window
    npx @axint/compiler compile intents/SendMessage.intent.ts \
      --out ios/Intents/SendMessageIntent.swift \
      --sandbox \
      --format

  4. Check the output.

    ios/Intents/SendMessageIntent.swift
    import AppIntents
    import Foundation
    

    struct SendMessageIntent: AppIntent {
      static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "Send Message"
      static var description = IntentDescription("Sends a message to a contact.")
    

      @Parameter(title: "Who to send the message to")
      var recipient: String
    

      @Parameter(title: "What to say")
      var body: String
    

      func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult {
        // TODO: wire to your messaging layer
        return .result()
      }
    }

  5. Drop it into Xcode. Add ios/Intents/SendMessageIntent.swift to your iOS target. Siri, Shortcuts, and Spotlight will pick it up automatically.

What just happened

Under the hood, Axint ran a four-stage pipeline:

  1. Parse — the TypeScript AST walker extracted your defineIntent() call into an Intermediate Representation (IR).
  2. Validate — 12 diagnostic rules checked the IR against Apple’s App Intents constraints and your entitlement requirements.
  3. Generate — the codegen layer emitted idiomatic Swift, complete with @Parameter attributes and a perform() stub.
  4. Sandbox-compile — (--sandbox) staged the Swift into a throwaway SPM project and ran swift build to prove it actually compiles under the real toolchain. Cold run: ~4s. Warm run: ~1.2s.

Next steps