How to Beautify Swift Package Resolution in VSCode

Swift extensions in VSCode-based IDEs (VSCode, Cursor, Windsurf) resolve packages with noisy, hard-to-scan logs. For Xcode projects (.xcodeproj/.xcworkspace), you can use xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies and pipe to xcbeautify for readable output. You can also automate this process. Here is how:

Step 1: Install xcbeautify

brew install xcbeautify

Step 2: Add a VSCode Task

Create .vscode/tasks.json at the project root:

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "Resolve Package Dependencies",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "set -o pipefail && xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | xcbeautify",
      "problemMatcher": [],
      "presentation": {
        "clear": true,
        "showReuseMessage": false,
        "reveal": "always",
        "panel": "shared",
        "close": true
      }
    }
  ]
}

Step 3: Run the Task

Press Cmd+Shift+P → Tasks: Run Task → Resolve Package Dependencies.

Command Breakdown

• Basic resolution

xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies

• With formatted output

xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | xcbeautify

• CI-friendly exit codes (propagate failures across the pipe)

set -o pipefail && xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | xcbeautify

Optional: Specify Scheme

Add a scheme if your workspace requires it:

xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies -scheme "MyApp" | xcbeautify

Usually xcodebuild infers the right target; add -scheme only if it cannot.

If the Task Never Finishes

• Ensure the task completes when the command exits by adding an empty matcher:

"problemMatcher": []

• If xcodebuild itself stalls, bypass the SPM repo cache:

"command": "set -o pipefail && xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies -disablePackageRepositoryCache | xcbeautify"

Alternatives to xcbeautify

xcbeautify is fast and handles the modern build system well, but you can use any formatter that parses xcodebuild output:

xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | xcpretty   # legacy
# or
xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | your-custom-formatter

Why This Works

xcodebuild does the real work (downloading and resolving packages). xcbeautify only formats the logs for readability. For pure Swift packages (no Xcode project/workspace), swift package resolve is fine; for Xcode projects, prefer xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies.

Optional: Auto-close Terminal on Success

The VSCode setting "presentation.close": true closes the task panel only on success and keeps it open on failure so you can read errors. This is the default behavior of close when set to true.

• Success (exit code 0): panel closes automatically
• Failure (non‑zero exit code): panel stays open for debugging

Combining that with set -o pipefail ensures the terminal closes only when the whole pipeline succeeds (including xcbeautify).

Quick Reference

# Install formatter
brew install xcbeautify

# Resolve with readable output
set -o pipefail && xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies | xcbeautify

# Add -scheme only if inference fails
xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies -scheme "MyApp" | xcbeautify

# Workaround for hangs
xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies -disablePackageRepositoryCache | xcbeautify