Implement App Intents for Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, widgets, Control Center, and Apple Intelligence on iOS. Covers AppIntent actions, AppEntity and EntityQuery models, AppShortcutsProvider phrases, IndexedEntity Spotlight indexing, WidgetConfigurationIntent, SnippetIntent, and assistant schemas. U

App Intents (iOS 26+) Implement, review, and extend App Intents to expose app functionality to Siri, Shortcuts, Spotlight, widgets, Control Center, and Apple Intelligence. Contents [Triage Workflow]( triage workflow) [AppIntent Protocol]( appintent protocol) [ @Parameter ]( parameter) [AppEntity]( appentity) [EntityQuery (4 Variants)]( entityquery 4 variants) [AppEnum]( appenum) [AppShortcutsProvider]( appshortcutsprovider) [System Surface Integration]( system surface integration) [iOS 26 Additions]( ios 26 additions) [Common Mistakes]( common mistakes) [Review Checklist]( review checklist) [References]( references) Triage Workflow Step 1: Choose the action, boundary, and surface Start from 1 3 valuable actions people want outside the app, not from its screen hierarchy. Record one design row per action: user goal; inline result or app destination; shared domain operation; parameters and entity query; confirmation/authentication; target surface and protocol. Use one explicit runtime route for app handoff instead of scattering navigation side effects through intents. Then choose the system feature and protocol that fit that action: Surface Protocol Since Siri / Shortcuts AppIntent iOS 16 Configurable widget WidgetConfigurationIntent iOS 17 Control Center ControlConfigurationIntent iOS 18 Spotlight search IndexedEntity iOS 18 Apple Intelligence @AppIntent(schema:) iOS 18 Interactive snippets SnippetIntent iOS 26 Visual Intelligence IntentValueQuery iOS 26 Step 2: Define the data model Prefer AppEntity shadow models for app data exposed to the system. Create AppEnum types for fixed parameter choices. Choose the right EntityQuery variant for resolution. Mark searchable entities with IndexedEntity and indexingKey metadata. Step 3: Implement the intent Conform to AppIntent (or a specialized sub protocol). Declare @Parameter properties for all user facing inputs. Implement perform() async throws some IntentResult . Add parameterSummary for Shortcuts UI. Register phrases via AppShortcutsProvider . Step 4: Verify Build and run in the target system surface to confirm discovery, parameter resolution, cancellation, confirmation, authentication, result rendering, and app handoff. If a step fails, reset the fixture, fix the smallest intent/entity/query boundary, and rerun the same action from the same surface before adding another action. Test Siri phrases with the intent preview in Xcode. Confirm IndexedEntity instances are indexed in a named Spotlight index. Check widget configuration for WidgetConfigurationIntent intents. AppIntent Protocol The system instantiates the struct via init() , sets parameters, then calls perform() . Declare a title and parameterSummary for Shortcuts UI. Optional members: description ( IntentDescription ), openAppWhenRun ( Bool ), isDiscoverable ( Bool ), authenticationPolicy ( IntentAuthenticationPolicy ). @Parameter Declare each user facing input with @Parameter . Non optional parameters are required; the system requests values when needed. Defaults pre fill a useful value. Optional parameters are not requested automatically, so ask for them in perform() when the intent cannot continue without a value. Supported value types Primitives: Bool , Int , Double , String , Duration , Date , Decimal , Measurement , and URL . Collections: Array and Set of supported element types. Framework: IntentPerson , IntentFile . Custom: any AppEntity or AppEnum . Common initializer patterns See [references/appintents advanced.md](references/appintents advanced.md) for all initializer variants. AppEntity Prefer shadow models that mirror app data and expose only system facing fields. Direct model conformance is allowed when the model is lightweight, stable, and appropriate for App Intents lifecycles. Required: id , defaultQuery (static), displayRepresentation , typeDisplayRepresentation (static). Mark properties with @Property(title:) to expose for filtering/sorting. Properties without @Property remain internal. EntityQuery (4 Variants) 1. EntityQuery (base resolve by ID) 2. EntityStringQuery (free text search) 3. EnumerableEntityQuery (finite set) 4. UniqueAppEntityQuery (singleton, iOS 18+) Use for single instance entities like app settings. See [references/appintents advanced.md](references/appintents advanced.md) for EntityPropertyQuery with filter/sort support. When one parameter determines another parameter's valid entity choices, use @IntentParameterDependency in the query or options provider. The advanced reference covers the nil upstream case and intentional defaults. AppEnum Define fixed sets of selectable values. RawValue must conform to LosslessStringConvertible ; prefer String raw values for readable, stable identifiers. AppShortcutsProvider Register pre built shortcuts that appear in Siri and the Shortcuts app without user configuration. Phrase rules Every phrase MUST include \(.applicationName) . Phrases can reference parameters: \(\.$soup) . Call updateAppShortcutParameters() when dynamic option values change. Use negativePhrases to prevent false Siri activations. System Surface Integration Read [references/system surfaces.md](references/system surfaces.md) when implementing Siri donation/prediction, interactive widgets, Control Center configuration/action separation, or Spotlight IndexedEntity indexing. iOS 26 Additions SnippetIntent Display interactive snippets in system UI: The system may call perform() multiple times, including after snippet button or toggle actions; keep SnippetIntent.perform() side effect free and do mutations in the calling action intent or a separate button/toggle action. A snippet only intent is not discoverable in Shortcuts or Spotlight unless isDiscoverable is true . IntentValueQuery (Visual Intelligence) Only one IntentValueQuery can take SemanticContentDescriptor ; use @UnionValue when one query must return multiple app entity types. Treat labels as high level English descriptors, not exhaustive synonyms or app taxonomy; combine them with pixelBuffer when available. Return small, ranked, cancellation friendly results, and provide an OpenIntent , URL representation, or in app search handoff for details and more results. Do not implement camera capture, Vision VN requests, barcode classification, or Spotlight indexing inside the App Intents query; call an existing bounded app search or image match service instead, with explicit result caps and timeouts when work may exceed a system UI budget. Common Mistakes 1. Exposing too much app model state through AppEntity. Prefer dedicated shadow models with stable persistent IDs and only system facing properties. 2. Missing \(.applicationName) in phrases. Every AppShortcut phrase MUST include the application name token. Siri uses it for disambiguation. 3. Treating optional @Parameter as required. Optional parameters are not requested automatically; call requestValue / needsValueError when the intent cannot proceed without one. 4. Using unstable AppEnum raw values. Int is valid, but String raw values are usually clearer for persistence and URL representations. 5. Forgetting suggestedEntities() . Without it, the Shortcuts picker shows no defaults. 6. Throwing for missing entities in entities(for:) . Omit missing entities instead. 7. Stale Spotlight index. Re index entities with a named CSSearchableIndex . 8. Missing typeDisplayRepresentation . Both AppEntity and AppEnum require it. 9. Using deprecated @Assistant schema macros. Use @AppIntent(schema:) , @AppEntity(schema:) , and @AppEnum(schema:) . 10. Blocking or side effecting perform(). Use await for I/O; keep SnippetIntent.perform() side effect free because the system may rerun it. 11. Mutating sensitive state from system surfaces without a guard. Use confirmation and/or authentication for actions such as door locks, lights, purchases, and deletes. Review Checklist [ ] Every AppIntent has a descriptive title (verb + noun, title case) [ ] Required @Parameter values are non optional; optional values are requested when needed [ ] AppEntity types expose stable IDs and only system facing properties [ ] AppEntity has displayRepresentation and typeDisplayRepresentation [ ] EntityQuery.entities(for:) omits missing IDs; suggestedEntities() implemented [ ] Dependent options use @IntentParameterDependency ; defaultResult() is present only when a genuinely useful default exists [ ] AppEnum prefers stable String raw values with caseDisplayRepresentations [ ] AppShortcutsProvider phrases include \(.applicationName) ; parameterSummary defined [ ] IndexedEntity properties use key path indexingKey values and entities are indexed [ ] Control Center intents conform to ControlConfigurationIntent ; widget intents to WidgetConfigurationIntent ; no default control parameters are optional [ ] Sensitive App Intents request confirmation and/or authentication before mutating state [ ] Visual Intelligence IntentValueQuery uses SemanticContentDescriptor , bounded results, opening paths, and iOS 26 availability [ ] No deprecated @AssistantIntent / @AssistantEntity / @AssistantEnum schema macros [ ] perform() uses async/await (no blocking); runs in expected isolation context; intent types are Sendable References Read [references/system surfaces.md](references/system surfaces.md) for Siri, widgets, Control Center, and Spotlight integration patterns. See [references/appintents advanced.md](references/appintents advanced.md) for @Parameter variants, EntityPropertyQuery, assistant schemas, focus filters, SiriKit migration, error handling, confirmation flows, authentication, URL representable types, and Spotlight indexing details.

app-intents