CocoaPods Management Skill

Manage and analyze CocoaPods dependencies, pod specs, and iOS/macOS project configuration.

MANDATORY: Discovery-First Pattern

Always check current Podfile and pod configuration before modifying dependencies.

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Podfile ==="
cat Podfile 2>/dev/null | head -25

echo ""
echo "=== Pod Version ==="
pod --version 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Podspec ==="
cat *.podspec 2>/dev/null | head -20
ls *.podspec.json 2>/dev/null

echo ""
echo "=== Installed Pods ==="
cat Podfile.lock 2>/dev/null | grep '^  - ' | head -15

Phase 2: Analysis

#!/bin/bash

echo "=== Pod Dependencies ==="
cat Podfile.lock 2>/dev/null | grep -E '^\s{2}- ' | wc -l | xargs -I{} echo "Total pods: {}"

echo ""
echo "=== Outdated Pods ==="
pod outdated 2>/dev/null | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Spec Repos ==="
pod repo list 2>/dev/null | head -10

echo ""
echo "=== Pod Sources ==="
grep 'source ' Podfile 2>/dev/null

Output Rules

• TOKEN EFFICIENCY: Target <=50 lines per output
• List pods with version constraints
• Summarize dependency tree depth
• Report outdated pods with available versions

Common Operations

Pod Lookup

#!/bin/bash
POD="${1:?Pod name required}"
echo "=== Pod Info: $POD ==="
pod spec cat "$POD" --verbose 2>/dev/null | head -20

Validate Podspec

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Lint Podspec ==="
pod spec lint *.podspec 2>&1 | tail -15

echo ""
echo "=== Lib Lint ==="
pod lib lint 2>&1 | tail -10

Safety Rules

• Run pod lib lint before publishing pod specs
• Commit Podfile.lock for reproducible builds
• Never force-push trunk without verifying podspec validity
• Review dependency tree changes after pod update for unexpected upgrades

Output Format

Present results as a structured report:

Managing Cocoapods Report
═════════════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]

Resource       Status    Key Metric    Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name]         [ok/warn] [value]       [findings]

Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]

Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative