Skip to content
axint docs

defineIntent()

defineIntent() is the single entry point for authoring an App Intent in TypeScript. Every field below flows through the IR into the generated Swift.

Signature

import { defineIntent, param } from "@axint/compiler";


defineIntent({
  name: string;              // Swift type name (must end in "Intent")
  title: string;              // Human-facing title in Shortcuts
  description: string;        // Human-facing description
  domain: IntentDomain;       // "messaging" | "productivity" | ...


  params?: Record<string, ParamSpec>;
  entitlements?: string[];
  infoPlistKeys?: Record<string, string>;
  isDiscoverable?: boolean;   // default: true


  perform?: () => unknown;    // optional; used for return-type inference
});

Required fields

name

The Swift struct name. Must be a valid Swift identifier ending in Intent.

name: "SendMessageIntent"  // ✅
name: "SendMessage"        // ❌ AX100: must end in "Intent"
name: "send-message"       // ❌ AX100: not a valid Swift identifier

title

Human-facing title shown in Shortcuts and the Siri prompt sheet.

description

Longer description shown in Shortcuts. Keep it under ~140 characters.

domain

One of Apple’s standard App Intent domains: messaging, productivity, transportation, navigation, music, finance, health, smartHome, commerce, utility.

Optional fields

params

Object literal mapping parameter names to param.* calls.

params: {
  recipient: param.string("Who to send the message to"),
  body: param.string("What to say"),
}

entitlements

Array of reverse-DNS entitlement identifiers.

entitlements: ["com.apple.developer.healthkit"]

infoPlistKeys

Map of Info.plist usage description keys to their human-facing permission copy.

infoPlistKeys: {
  NSHealthUpdateUsageDescription: "Log workouts to HealthKit."
}

isDiscoverable

Whether the intent shows up in Shortcuts’ action library. Defaults to true. Set to false for background-only intents.

perform

An optional stub function. If present, Axint walks its body to infer the Swift return type. If absent, the generated perform() returns .result() with no value.

perform: () => ({
  orderId: "42",
  total: 19.99,
})
// → generates `-> some IntentResult & ReturnsValue<OrderConfirmation>`

See also