Apple-Hig-Designer MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Name: Apple-Hig-Designer MCP Server
Author: axiaoge2

Why use it

Key features

HIG principles and system-component inventory encoded as prompts
Platform-aware (iOS / iPadOS / macOS / watchOS) design recommendations
Uses Apple semantic colors and typography tokens by default
Provides SwiftUI snippets for the patterns it recommends
Critiques designs with specific HIG citations, not vague taste

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

apple-hig-designer-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-hig-designer-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
        "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-hig-designer-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
        "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-hig-designer-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
        "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apple-hig-designer-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
        "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "apple-hig-designer-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
        "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "apple-hig-designer-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer",
          "~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add apple-hig-designer-skill -- git clone https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer ~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use Apple-Hig-Designer

How to sketch an iOS screen that follows HIG

👤 iOS developers and designers on cross-functional teams ⏱ ~25 min intermediate

When to use: You need a first-pass layout for a new screen and don't want to re-learn HIG from scratch.

Prerequisites

Skill cloned — git clone https://github.com/axiaoge2/Apple-Hig-Designer ~/.claude/skills/Apple-Hig-Designer

Flow

Describe the screen

Sketch a Settings > Notifications screen for iPhone — standard iOS 18 patterns.✓ Copied

→ Grouped List, right-detail rows, correct section headers — HIG citations inline
Produce the SwiftUI

Generate the SwiftUI code using Form/List and system colors.✓ Copied

→ Idiomatic SwiftUI with .listStyle(.insetGrouped), Toggle, NavigationLink
Check dark mode

Adapt for dark mode — confirm you're using .primary / .secondary, not hardcoded hex.✓ Copied

→ Semantic-color confirmation

Outcome: A screen that feels native on the first preview and won't get rejected in review.

Pitfalls

Custom styling that fights the system — Ask Claude 'what's the standard HIG way?' before any custom styling

Combine with: ios-simulator-skill

Audit an existing screen against HIG

👤 Design reviewers and tech leads ⏱ ~20 min beginner

When to use: Before shipping, you want a second opinion on HIG compliance.

Flow

Share a screenshot or code

Here's a screenshot of our Profile screen. Flag HIG deviations.✓ Copied

→ Specific callouts with HIG references
Prioritize

Rank the findings by impact — what would a reviewer actually care about?✓ Copied

→ Ranked list, not flat dump
Suggest fixes

For the top 3, show me concrete SwiftUI changes.✓ Copied

→ Code diffs

Outcome: A focused fix list that matters, not nits.

Pitfalls

Audit is too nitpicky — 1px spacing issues — Ask for impact-weighted findings only

Combine with: filesystem

Decide between iOS, iPadOS, and macOS patterns for a shared app

👤 Teams building a multi-platform SwiftUI app ⏱ ~30 min advanced

When to use: Same feature needs different treatment on phone vs iPad vs Mac.

Flow

State the feature

We have a Library feature. What's the right navigation shape per platform?✓ Copied

→ Tab bar / Sidebar / NavigationSplitView mapped to platforms with reasoning
Pick primitives

Which SwiftUI primitives should we use per platform to avoid hacks?✓ Copied

→ Platform-specific primitive choices

Outcome: A design split that matches HIG per platform and is cheap to implement.

Pitfalls

iPad as 'big iPhone' — misses pointer and multi-column patterns — Ask Claude to enumerate iPadOS-specific affordances before copying iPhone UX

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

apple-hig-designer-skill + ios-simulator-skill

Render the generated SwiftUI and inspect it in the simulator

Render this SwiftUI in the iPhone 16 simulator and confirm it matches the HIG brief.✓ Copied

apple-hig-designer-skill + filesystem

Apply the suggested patches across the app's codebase

Apply the audit fixes to Views/Profile/.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call
hig-layout-design	screen intent + platform	New screens or features
hig-audit	screenshot or SwiftUI code	Pre-ship review
swiftui-snippet	pattern name	Implementation step

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: none
Tokens per call: 3–8k tokens per screen
Monetary: free
Tip: Scope to one screen at a time; HIG is long — don't bait Claude into citing the whole thing

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: none

Data egress: none

HIG evolves with each iOS — re-verify for new OS releases

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Suggestions feel dated

Tell Claude the iOS version you're targeting; HIG differs across releases.

SwiftUI uses deprecated modifiers

Specify the minimum iOS version explicitly.

Alternatives

Apple-Hig-Designer vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
the-unofficial-swift-programming-language-skill	You need language-level help, not HIG design	Language, not UX
cupertino	You want an MCP connected to live Apple docs	Live MCP vs cached skill

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills