CocoaPods to Swift Package Manager Migration Step-by-step guide for migrating Capacitor iOS projects from CocoaPods to Swift Package Manager. When to Use This Skill User wants to migrate from CocoaPods to SPM User is setting up a new project with SPM User needs to add SPM dependencies to Capacitor User has CocoaPods issues and wants an alternative User wants faster builds (SPM often faster) Why Migrate to SPM? Aspect CocoaPods SPM Build Speed Slower Faster Apple Integration Third-party Native Xcode Ruby Dependency Required None Version Management Podfile.lock Package.resolved Xcodeproj Changes Modifies project Uses workspace Binary Caching Limited Built-in Migration Process Step 1: Analyze Current Dependencies First, identify what you're currently using: cd ios/App cat Podfile pod outdated Common Capacitor pods to migrate:

Podfile (before)

target 'App' do capacitor_pods pod 'Firebase/Analytics' pod 'Firebase/Messaging' pod 'Alamofire' pod 'KeychainAccess' end Step 2: Find SPM Equivalents Most popular libraries support SPM. Use these URLs: Library SPM URL Firebase https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk Alamofire https://github.com/Alamofire/Alamofire KeychainAccess https://github.com/kishikawakatsumi/KeychainAccess SDWebImage https://github.com/SDWebImage/SDWebImage SnapKit https://github.com/SnapKit/SnapKit Realm https://github.com/realm/realm-swift Lottie https://github.com/airbnb/lottie-spm Step 3: Clean CocoaPods cd ios/App

Remove CocoaPods integration

pod deintegrate

Remove Podfile.lock and Pods directory

rm -rf Podfile.lock Pods

Remove workspace (we'll use project directly or create new workspace)

rm -rf App.xcworkspace Step 4: Add SPM Dependencies in Xcode Open ios/App/App.xcodeproj in Xcode Select the project in navigator Go to Package Dependencies tab Click + to add package Enter the package URL Choose version rules Select target App Step 5: Update Podfile for Capacitor Core Capacitor still needs CocoaPods for its core. Create minimal Podfile:

ios/App/Podfile

require_relative '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios/scripts/pods_helpers' platform :ios , '14.0' use_frameworks ! install ! 'cocoapods' , :disable_input_output_paths => true def capacitor_pods pod 'Capacitor' , :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios' pod 'CapacitorCordova' , :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios' end target 'App' do capacitor_pods

Other plugin pods that don't support SPM yet

end post_install do | installer | assertDeploymentTarget ( installer ) end Then run: cd ios/App && pod install Step 6: Configure Plugin for SPM Support If you're creating a Capacitor plugin with SPM support: Package.swift : // swift-tools-version: 5.9 import PackageDescription let package = Package ( name : "CapacitorNativeBiometric" , platforms : [ . iOS ( . v14 ) ] , products : [ . library ( name : "CapacitorNativeBiometric" , targets : [ "NativeBiometricPlugin" ] ) , ] , dependencies : [ . package ( url : "https://github.com/nicholasalx/capacitor-swift-pm" , from : "6.0.0" ) , ] , targets : [ . target ( name : "NativeBiometricPlugin" , dependencies : [ . product ( name : "Capacitor" , package : "capacitor-swift-pm" ) , . product ( name : "Cordova" , package : "capacitor-swift-pm" ) , ] , path : "ios/Sources/NativeBiometricPlugin" , publicHeadersPath : "include" ) , ] ) Step 7: Xcode Project Structure for SPM ios/ ├── App/ │ ├── App/ │ │ ├── AppDelegate.swift │ │ ├── Info.plist │ │ └── ... │ ├── App.xcodeproj/ │ │ └── project.xcworkspace/ │ │ └── xcshareddata/ │ │ └── swiftpm/ │ │ └── Package.resolved # SPM lock file │ ├── Podfile │ └── Podfile.lock └── ... Hybrid Approach (Recommended) Most Capacitor projects work best with a hybrid approach: Keep in CocoaPods: @capacitor/ios core Capacitor plugins without SPM support Move to SPM: Firebase Third-party libraries Your own Swift packages Example Hybrid Setup Podfile : require_relative '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios/scripts/pods_helpers' platform :ios , '14.0' use_frameworks ! install ! 'cocoapods' , :disable_input_output_paths => true def capacitor_pods pod 'Capacitor' , :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios' pod 'CapacitorCordova' , :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/ios'

Plugins without SPM support

pod 'CapacitorCamera' , :path => '../../node_modules/@capacitor/camera' end target 'App' do capacitor_pods

NO Firebase here - use SPM instead

end

Xcode Package Dependencies

:

Firebase iOS SDK

Any other SPM-compatible libraries

Common Issues and Solutions

Issue: Duplicate Symbols

Cause

Same library in both CocoaPods and SPM

Solution

Remove from Podfile if using SPM

Podfile - WRONG

pod 'Firebase/Analytics'

Remove this

Use SPM instead in Xcode

Issue: Module Not Found

Cause

SPM package not linked to target

Solution

:

Xcode > Project > Targets > App

General > Frameworks, Libraries, and Embedded Content

Add the SPM package product

Issue: Build Errors After Migration

Cause

Missing frameworks or wrong imports

Solution

Clean and rebuild

Clean derived data

rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData

Clean build folder in Xcode

Cmd + Shift + K

Rebuild

bunx cap

sync

ios

cd

ios/App

&&

pod

install

Issue: Capacitor Plugin Not Found

Cause

Plugin needs registration

Solution

Ensure plugin is registered in AppDelegate.swift : import Capacitor import YourPlugin @UIApplicationMain class AppDelegate : UIResponder , UIApplicationDelegate { func application ( _ application : UIApplication , didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions : [ UIApplication . LaunchOptionsKey : Any ] ? ) -> Bool { // Capacitor handles plugin registration automatically return true } } Creating SPM-Compatible Capacitor Plugin Directory Structure my-capacitor-plugin/ ├── Package.swift ├── ios/ │ └── Sources/ │ └── MyPlugin/ │ ├── MyPlugin.swift │ ├── MyPlugin.m # Objc bridge if needed │ └── include/ │ └── MyPlugin.h # Public headers ├── src/ │ ├── index.ts │ ├── definitions.ts │ └── web.ts └── package.json Package.swift Template // swift-tools-version: 5.9 import PackageDescription let package = Package ( name : "CapacitorMyPlugin" , platforms : [ . iOS ( . v14 ) ] , products : [ . library ( name : "CapacitorMyPlugin" , targets : [ "MyPluginPlugin" ] ) , ] , dependencies : [ . package ( url : "https://github.com/nicholasalx/capacitor-swift-pm" , from : "6.0.0" ) , ] , targets : [ . target ( name : "MyPluginPlugin" , dependencies : [ . product ( name : "Capacitor" , package : "capacitor-swift-pm" ) , . product ( name : "Cordova" , package : "capacitor-swift-pm" ) , ] , path : "ios/Sources/MyPlugin" ) , ] ) Plugin Swift Code import Foundation import Capacitor @objc ( MyPlugin ) public class MyPlugin : CAPPlugin , CAPBridgedPlugin { public let identifier = "MyPlugin" public let jsName = "MyPlugin" public let pluginMethods : [ CAPPluginMethod ] = [ CAPPluginMethod ( name : "echo" , returnType : CAPPluginReturnPromise ) , ] @objc func echo ( _ call : CAPPluginCall ) { let value = call . getString ( "value" ) ?? "" call . resolve ( [ "value" : value ] ) } } Migration Checklist List all current CocoaPods dependencies Identify SPM equivalents for each Run pod deintegrate Add SPM packages in Xcode Create minimal Podfile for Capacitor core Run pod install Clean derived data Build and test Commit Package.resolved to git Update CI/CD scripts if needed Resources Swift Package Manager Documentation: https://swift.org/package-manager Capacitor iOS Documentation: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/ios CocoaPods to SPM Migration: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/adding-package-dependencies-to-your-app