iOS UI Router

You MUST use this skill for ANY iOS UI work including SwiftUI, UIKit, layout, navigation, animations, and design.

When to Use

Use this router when working with:

• SwiftUI views, state, bindings
• UIKit views and constraints
• Layout issues (Auto Layout, SwiftUI layout)
• Navigation (NavigationStack, deep linking)
• Animations and transitions
• Liquid Glass design (iOS 26+)
• Apple Human Interface Guidelines
• UI architecture and patterns
• Accessibility UI issues

Conflict Resolution

ios-ui vs ios-performance: When UI is slow (e.g., "SwiftUI List slow"):

1. Try ios-ui FIRST — Domain-specific fixes (LazyVStack, view identity, @State optimization) often solve UI performance in 5 minutes
2. Only use ios-performance if domain fixes don't help — Profiling takes longer and may confirm what domain knowledge already knows

Rationale: Jumping to Instruments wastes time when the fix is a known SwiftUI pattern. Profile AFTER trying domain fixes, not before.

Routing Logic

SwiftUI Issues

View not updating → /skill axiom-swiftui-debugging Navigation issues → /skill axiom-swiftui-nav Performance/lag → /skill axiom-swiftui-performance Layout problems → /skill axiom-swiftui-layout Stacks/grids/outlines → /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref Animation issues → /skill axiom-swiftui-animation-ref Gesture conflicts → /skill axiom-swiftui-gestures Drag/drop, copy/paste, sharing → /skill axiom-transferable-ref Architecture/testability → /skill axiom-swiftui-architecture App-level composition → /skill axiom-app-composition Search implementation → /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref iOS 26 features → /skill axiom-swiftui-26-ref UIKit bridging (Representable, HostingController) → /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

UIKit Issues

Auto Layout conflicts → /skill axiom-auto-layout-debugging Animation timing issues → /skill axiom-uikit-animation-debugging SwiftUI embedding (HostingController, HostingConfiguration) → /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

Design & Guidelines

Liquid Glass adoption → /skill axiom-liquid-glass SF Symbols (effects, rendering, custom) → /skill axiom-sf-symbols Design decisions → /skill axiom-hig Typography → /skill axiom-typography-ref TextKit/rich text → /skill axiom-textkit-ref

tvOS

Focus Engine, remote input, TVUIKit, text input → /skill axiom-tvos

Accessibility

VoiceOver, Dynamic Type → /skill axiom-accessibility-diag

Testing

UI test flakiness → /skill axiom-ui-testing

Automated Scanning

Architecture audit → Launch swiftui-architecture-auditor agent (separation of concerns, logic in views, testability) Performance scan → Launch swiftui-performance-analyzer agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-performance (expensive view body ops, unnecessary updates) Navigation audit → Launch swiftui-nav-auditor agent or /axiom:audit swiftui-nav (deep link gaps, state restoration, wrong containers) UX flow audit → Launch ux-flow-auditor agent or /axiom:audit ux-flow (dead ends, dismiss traps, buried CTAs, missing empty/loading/error states) Liquid Glass scan → Launch liquid-glass-auditor agent or /axiom:audit liquid-glass (adoption opportunities, toolbar improvements) TextKit scan → Launch textkit-auditor agent or /axiom:audit textkit (TextKit 1 fallbacks, deprecated glyph APIs, Writing Tools)

Decision Tree

digraph ios_ui {
    start [label="UI issue" shape=ellipse];
    is_tvos [label="tvOS?" shape=diamond];
    is_swiftui [label="SwiftUI?" shape=diamond];
    is_uikit [label="UIKit?" shape=diamond];
    is_design [label="Design/guidelines?" shape=diamond];

    start -> is_tvos;
    is_tvos -> "axiom-tvos" [label="focus, remote, TVUIKit, text input, storage"];
    is_tvos -> is_swiftui [label="no"];
    is_swiftui -> swiftui_type [label="yes"];
    is_swiftui -> is_uikit [label="no"];
    is_uikit -> uikit_type [label="yes"];
    is_uikit -> is_design [label="no"];
    is_design -> design_type [label="yes"];
    is_design -> "accessibility-diag" [label="accessibility"];

    swiftui_type [label="What's wrong?" shape=diamond];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-debugging" [label="view not updating"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-nav" [label="navigation"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-performance" [label="slow/lag"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-layout" [label="adaptive layout"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-containers-ref" [label="stacks/grids/outlines"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-architecture" [label="feature architecture"];
    swiftui_type -> "app-composition" [label="app-level (root, auth, scenes)"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-animation-ref" [label="animations"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-gestures" [label="gestures"];
    swiftui_type -> "transferable-ref" [label="drag/drop, sharing, copy/paste"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-search-ref" [label="search"];
    swiftui_type -> "swiftui-26-ref" [label="iOS 26 features"];
    swiftui_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="UIKit interop"];
    swiftui_type -> "ux-flow-audit" [label="UX dead ends, dismiss traps"];

    uikit_type [label="UIKit issue?" shape=diamond];
    uikit_type -> "auto-layout-debugging" [label="Auto Layout"];
    uikit_type -> "uikit-animation-debugging" [label="animations"];
    uikit_type -> "uikit-bridging" [label="SwiftUI embedding"];
    uikit_type -> "ux-flow-audit" [label="UX dead ends, dismiss traps"];

    design_type [label="Design topic?" shape=diamond];
    design_type -> "liquid-glass" [label="Liquid Glass"];
    design_type -> "sf-symbols" [label="SF Symbols"];
    design_type -> "hig" [label="HIG compliance"];
    design_type -> "typography-ref" [label="typography"];
    design_type -> "textkit-ref" [label="TextKit/rich text"];
}

Automated scanning agents:

• Want architecture audit (separation of concerns, testability)? → swiftui-architecture-auditor (Agent)
• Want SwiftUI performance scan (view body ops, unnecessary updates)? → swiftui-performance-analyzer (Agent)
• Want navigation audit (deep links, state restoration)? → swiftui-nav-auditor (Agent)
• Want UX flow audit (dead ends, dismiss traps, missing states)? → ux-flow-auditor (Agent)
• Want Liquid Glass adoption scan? → liquid-glass-auditor (Agent)
• Want TextKit scan (Writing Tools, deprecated APIs)? → textkit-auditor (Agent)

Anti-Rationalization

Thought	Reality
"Simple SwiftUI layout, no need for the layout skill"	SwiftUI layout has 12 gotchas. swiftui-layout covers all of them.
"I know how NavigationStack works"	Navigation has state restoration, deep linking, and identity traps. swiftui-nav prevents 2-hour debugging.
"It's just a view not updating, I'll debug it"	View update failures have 4 root causes. swiftui-debugging diagnoses in 5 min.
"I'll just add .animation() and fix later"	Animation issues compound. swiftui-animation-ref has the correct patterns.
"This UI is simple, no architecture needed"	Even small features benefit from separation. swiftui-architecture prevents refactoring debt.
"UX issues are just polish, we'll fix later"	Dead ends and dismiss traps cause 1-star reviews. ux-flow-audit catches them in minutes.
"I know how .searchable works"	Search has 6 gotchas (navigation container, isSearching level, suggestion completion). swiftui-search-ref covers all of them.
"I know SF Symbols, it's just Image(systemName:)"	4 rendering modes, 12+ effects, 3 Draw playback modes, custom symbol authoring. sf-symbols has decision trees for all of them.
"Drag and drop is just .draggable and .dropDestination"	UTType declarations, representation ordering, file lifecycle, cross-app transfer gotchas. transferable-ref covers all of them.
"I'll just wrap this UIView real quick"	UIViewRepresentable has lifecycle, coordinator, sizing, and memory gotchas. uikit-bridging prevents 1-2 hour debugging sessions.
"tvOS is just iOS on a TV"	tvOS has no persistent storage, no WebView, a dual focus system, and two remote generations. axiom-tvos covers all the traps.

Example Invocations

User: "My SwiftUI view isn't updating when I change the model" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-debugging

User: "How do I implement Liquid Glass in my toolbar?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-liquid-glass

User: "NavigationStack is popping unexpectedly" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-nav

User: "Should I use MVVM for this SwiftUI app?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-architecture

User: "How do I switch between login and main screens?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-app-composition

User: "Where should auth state live in my app?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-app-composition

User: "How do I create a grid layout with LazyVGrid?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref

User: "What's the difference between VStack and LazyVStack?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref

User: "How do I display hierarchical data with OutlineGroup?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-containers-ref

User: "How do I add search to my SwiftUI list?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref

User: "My search suggestions aren't working" → Invoke: /skill axiom-swiftui-search-ref

User: "How do I animate an SF Symbol when tapped?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols

User: "My SF Symbol Draw animation isn't working on my custom symbol" → Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols

User: "Which rendering mode should I use for my toolbar icons?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-sf-symbols

User: "How do I make my model draggable in SwiftUI?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-transferable-ref

User: "How do I add ShareLink with a custom preview?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-transferable-ref

User: "How do I wrap a UIKit view in SwiftUI?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

User: "How do I embed SwiftUI in my UIKit app?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

User: "My UIViewRepresentable isn't updating correctly" → Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

User: "How do I use UIHostingConfiguration for collection view cells?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-uikit-bridging

User: "I'm building a tvOS app and focus navigation isn't working" → Invoke: /skill axiom-tvos

User: "How do I handle text input on tvOS?" → Invoke: /skill axiom-tvos

User: "Check my app for UX dead ends and dismiss traps" → Invoke: ux-flow-auditor agent

User: "Check my SwiftUI architecture for separation of concerns" → Invoke: swiftui-architecture-auditor agent

User: "Scan my SwiftUI views for performance issues" → Invoke: swiftui-performance-analyzer agent

User: "Audit my navigation for deep link gaps" → Invoke: swiftui-nav-auditor agent

User: "Check my app for Liquid Glass adoption opportunities" → Invoke: liquid-glass-auditor agent

User: "Why isn't Writing Tools appearing in my text view?" → Invoke: textkit-auditor agent