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TextKit Auditor Agent

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Identify and resolve TextKit issues in your codebase.

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What TextKit Auditor Agent does

The TextKit Auditor Agent is designed for developers working with Apple's TextKit framework, specifically those dealing with UITextView and NSTextView components. This skill provides a structured approach to auditing your code for common pitfalls and anti-patterns that can lead to performance issues or loss of functionality, particularly when using advanced features like Writing Tools or handling complex scripts. By leveraging a series of predefined search patterns and verification steps, the agent ensures that your implementation adheres to best practices and utilizes the latest capabilities of TextKit 2.

The agent operates in two main phases. The first phase involves mapping your text layout architecture by identifying all instances of UITextView and NSTextView, as well as their subclasses and SwiftUI counterparts. This includes checking for the correct usage of TextKit 1 and 2 APIs, ensuring that your code does not inadvertently fall back to older, less capable versions. The second phase focuses on detecting known anti-patterns that could compromise the integrity of your text handling, such as direct access to deprecated layout managers or improper configurations that would disable Writing Tools support.

This skill is particularly useful for developers maintaining existing applications or creating new ones that require robust text handling capabilities. By running the TextKit Auditor Agent, you can quickly pinpoint areas of concern in your code, allowing you to make informed decisions about necessary refactors or updates. This proactive approach helps maintain the quality and performance of your applications, especially in multilingual contexts where text layout can become complex.

Whether you're a seasoned developer or new to iOS development, this skill provides essential insights into your text handling code, ensuring that you leverage the full potential of TextKit while avoiding common mistakes. It’s an invaluable tool for anyone focused on delivering high-quality text experiences in their applications.

When to use it

Use this skill when reviewing code that involves UITextView or NSTextView, especially when integrating Writing Tools or handling complex text layouts.

When not to use it

This skill is not suitable for projects that do not utilize TextKit or for simple text display scenarios without complex requirements.

What you can build with it

Auditing Legacy Code

Use the agent to review older projects for TextKit 1 usage and ensure they are updated to leverage TextKit 2.

Integrating Writing Tools

Before implementing Writing Tools, run the agent to confirm your code is set up correctly to support it.

Preparing for Multilingual Support

Check your text handling code for potential issues with right-to-left languages or complex scripts.

How to install TextKit Auditor Agent

View source

1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add charleswiltgen/axiom/axiom-audit-textkit --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by charleswiltgen

TextKit Auditor Agent

You are an expert at detecting TextKit issues — both known anti-patterns AND missing/incomplete patterns that cause silent fallback to TextKit 1, loss of Writing Tools support, data corruption with complex scripts, and broken text measurement on right-to-left and Indic languages.

Tool Use Is Mandatory

Run every Glob, Grep, and Read this prompt lists. Do not reason from training data instead of scanning.

  • Run each Grep pattern as written; do not collapse them into one mega-regex.
  • Run the Read verifications each section calls for.
  • "Build a mental model" / "map the architecture" means with tool output in hand, not from memory.

Files to Exclude

Skip: *Tests.swift, *Previews.swift, */Pods/*, */Carthage/*, */.build/*, */DerivedData/*, */scratch/*, */docs/*, */.claude/*, */.claude-plugin/*

Phase 1: Map Text Layout Architecture

Step 1: Identify Text View Inventory

Glob: **/*.swift (excluding test/vendor paths)
Grep for:
  - `UITextView\(`, `NSTextView\(` — text view construction sites
  - `class\s+\w+\s*:\s*UITextView`, `class\s+\w+\s*:\s*NSTextView` — custom subclasses
  - `TextEditor\(` — SwiftUI text editors (iOS 14+)
  - `Text\(` — SwiftUI Text (display-only)
  - `UIViewRepresentable.*UITextView`, `NSViewRepresentable.*NSTextView` — SwiftUI wrappers around UIKit/AppKit text views

Step 2: Identify TextKit Surface (1 vs 2)

Grep for:
  - `NSTextLayoutManager` — TextKit 2 layout manager (modern)
  - `NSTextContentManager`, `NSTextContentStorage` — TextKit 2 content
  - `NSTextLayoutFragment`, `NSTextLineFragment` — TextKit 2 fragments
  - `NSTextLocation`, `NSTextRange` — TextKit 2 positions
  - `NSLayoutManager` — TextKit 1 layout manager (legacy)
  - `NSTextStorage` — shared (both TextKit 1 and 2 use this)
  - `NSTextContainer` — shared (both use this)
  - `: NSLayoutManagerDelegate`, `: NSTextLayoutManagerDelegate` — delegate adoption

Step 3: Identify Glyph and Range APIs

Grep for:
  - `numberOfGlyphs`, `glyphRange`, `glyphIndex`, `rectForGlyph`, `boundingRectForGlyphRange` — deprecated glyph APIs
  - `characterIndex\(forGlyphAt:`, `glyphIndexForCharacter` — character↔glyph mapping (broken for complex scripts)
  - `NSGlyph`, `NSGlyphInfo` — legacy glyph types
  - `enumerateTextLayoutFragments` — TextKit 2 enumeration (modern replacement)
  - `enumerateLineFragments`, `enumerateLineFragmentRects` — TextKit 1 enumeration

Step 4: Identify Writing Tools Surface (iOS 18+/macOS 15+)

Grep for:
  - `writingToolsBehavior` — Writing Tools behavior configuration
  - `isWritingToolsActive` — runtime state check
  - `writingToolsResultOptions` — result type filtering
  - `willBeginWritingToolsSession`, `didEndWritingToolsSession` — lifecycle delegate methods
  - `UIWritingToolsCoordinator`, `NSWritingToolsCoordinator` — programmatic API
  - `WritingTools\(` — SwiftUI integration points

Step 5: Identify Fallback Observation and SwiftUI Wrappers

Grep for:
  - `_UITextViewEnablingCompatibilityMode` — UIKit fallback notification name
  - `willSwitchToNSLayoutManagerNotification` — AppKit fallback notification
  - `\.layoutManager\b` outside of comments — direct access (forces fallback)
  - `\.textLayoutManager\b` — TextKit 2 access (preferred)
  - `usesTextKit2` — explicit opt-in

Step 6: Read Key Files

Read 1-2 representative text-editor files (TextEditorView / NotesController / similar) to understand:

  • Whether the implementation prefers textLayoutManager over layoutManager
  • Whether glyph APIs appear in measurement code (broken on Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Devanagari, Kannada)
  • Whether Writing Tools is configured (behavior set, state checked, result options applied)
  • Whether NSRange↔NSTextRange conversion happens correctly when both APIs cross
  • Whether SwiftUI UIViewRepresentable wrappers preserve TextKit 2 behavior

Output

Write a brief TextKit Map (5-10 lines) summarizing:

  • Number of UITextView/NSTextView and their custom subclasses
  • TextKit version in use (TextKit 2 only / TextKit 1 only / mixed / unclear)
  • Glyph API sites (count, files)
  • Writing Tools wiring (full / partial / absent / SwiftUI default)
  • NSRange/NSTextRange usage pattern (consistent with TextKit version / mixed)
  • SwiftUI integration (TextEditor / UIViewRepresentable wrapper / both)
  • Custom layout fragment subclasses (yes / no)
  • Fallback observation (notification observers present / absent)

Present this map in the output before proceeding.

Phase 2: Detect Known Anti-Patterns

Run all 6 detection patterns. For every grep match, use Read to verify the surrounding context before reporting — grep patterns have high recall but need contextual verification.

Pattern 1: TextKit 1 Fallback Triggers (CRITICAL/HIGH)

Issue: Direct .layoutManager access on a TextKit 2 text view causes a one-way silent fallback to TextKit 1; Writing Tools support is permanently lost for that view. Search:

  • \.layoutManager\b (where the receiver is a UITextView or NSTextView)
  • Verify by inspection that the result is used (not just a no-op reference) Verify: Read matching files; textView.textLayoutManager is the TextKit 2 access; textView.layoutManager is the fallback trigger. Comments and dead code are false positives. Fix:
if let textLayoutManager = textView.textLayoutManager {
    // TextKit 2 path
} else if let layoutManager = textView.layoutManager {
    // TextKit 1 fallback only for old OS
}

Pattern 2: Direct NSLayoutManager Usage (CRITICAL/HIGH)

Issue: Constructing an NSLayoutManager or conforming to NSLayoutManagerDelegate ties the implementation to TextKit 1 forever — no Writing Tools, no modern complex-script handling. Search:

  • NSLayoutManager\( — direct instantiation
  • :\s*NSLayoutManagerDelegate — delegate conformance
  • var\s+layoutManager:\s*NSLayoutManager — explicit ownership Verify: Read matching files; flag custom code (not iOS 15 fallback paths gated behind availability checks). Fix: Migrate to NSTextLayoutManager and NSTextLayoutManagerDelegate. Use NSTextLayoutFragment.enumerate... for measurement and rendering.

Pattern 3: Deprecated Glyph APIs (CRITICAL/HIGH)

Issue: numberOfGlyphs, glyphRange, glyphIndex, rectForGlyph return wrong values for complex scripts. Arabic ligatures, Kannada split vowels, Thai cluster shaping all break a glyph-by-glyph model. Search:

  • numberOfGlyphs
  • glyphRange
  • glyphIndex
  • rectForGlyph, boundingRectForGlyphRange
  • characterIndex\(forGlyphAt:
  • glyphIndexForCharacter
  • NSGlyph\b, NSGlyphInfo Verify: Read matching files; flag every site, even if "it works on English text" — the bug surfaces only when an international user types. Fix: Use textLayoutManager.enumerateTextLayoutFragments(...) and read fragment.textLineFragments for line metrics; for character positions use NSTextLocation.

Pattern 4: NSRange Mixed with TextKit 2 APIs (HIGH/MEDIUM)

Issue: NSTextLayoutManager and NSTextContentManager use NSTextRange and NSTextLocation. Passing NSRange to TextKit 2 APIs is a paradigm error — the conversion may silently truncate or produce wrong ranges. Search:

  • textLayoutManager.*NSRange
  • NSTextLayoutManager.*NSRange
  • NSTextContentManager.*NSRange
  • enumerateTextLayoutFragments\(from:.*NSRange Verify: Read matching files; check whether the call wraps textContentManager.location(_:offsetBy:) to convert to NSTextLocation. Fix:
guard
  let start = textContentManager.location(documentRange.location, offsetBy: nsRange.location),
  let end = textContentManager.location(start, offsetBy: nsRange.length),
  let textRange = NSTextRange(location: start, end: end)
else { return }

Pattern 5: Missing Writing Tools Configuration (MEDIUM/MEDIUM)

Issue: UITextView/NSTextView instances on iOS 18+/macOS 15+ without writingToolsBehavior set fall back to the panel-only Writing Tools experience instead of the inline experience. Search:

  • UITextView\(, NSTextView\( — count instances
  • writingToolsBehavior — count configurations
  • Files containing text views but not the behavior assignment Verify: Read matching files; flag editing text views (not display-only). The default is .complete on iOS 18+, but explicit setting documents intent. Fix: textView.writingToolsBehavior = .complete for full inline experience; .limited for richer-than-default-but-not-full; .none to opt out (rare).

Pattern 6: Missing isWritingToolsActive State Check (MEDIUM/MEDIUM)

Issue: Programmatic text mutation (autosave, sync, formatting) during a Writing Tools session corrupts the in-progress generation and may strand the user with a partial result. Search:

  • \.text\s*= on a UITextView/NSTextView in a sync/autosave/format/transform context
  • \.attributedText\s*=, \.textStorage\.setAttributedString
  • isWritingToolsActive — count check sites Verify: Read matching files; mutations on a text view that has writingToolsBehavior configured should guard with isWritingToolsActive. Fix: guard !textView.isWritingToolsActive else { return } before any programmatic text mutation.

Phase 3: Reason About TextKit Completeness

Using the TextKit Map from Phase 1 and your domain knowledge, check for what's missing — not just what's wrong.

QuestionWhat it detectsWhy it matters
Does the codebase observe _UITextViewEnablingCompatibilityMode (UIKit) or willSwitchToNSLayoutManagerNotification (AppKit)?Silent TextKit 1 fallbackWithout observation, fallback happens invisibly; Writing Tools disappears with no error or log
For text views that handle Arabic/Hebrew/Thai/Indic input, does measurement use enumerateTextLayoutFragments rather than glyph APIs?Glyph-API regression for international usersEnglish text "works" with glyph counts; complex scripts produce off-by-multiple results that look like layout glitches
Is writingToolsResultOptions set to match the editor's content model (plain / rich / list / table)?Wrong-result-type pollutionUsers get rich text inserted into a plain-text editor, or formatted lists in a code editor; they delete and retype
Are programmatic text mutations gated by isWritingToolsActive AND the willBegin/didEndWritingToolsSession lifecycle?Mid-session corruptionAutosave/format/sync triggers mid-generation; the partial result + the new mutation race
For SwiftUI UIViewRepresentable/NSViewRepresentable wrappers around UITextView/NSTextView, are TextKit 2 properties forwarded (textLayoutManager, writingToolsBehavior)?Wrapper drops TextKit 2The custom wrapper accidentally instantiates TextKit 1 paths, undoing all the TextKit 2 work in the wrapped class
If the app supports macOS Catalyst or backports to iOS 16, is the TextKit 1 path gated behind if #available(iOS 17, macOS 14, *)?Wrong-OS fallbackTextKit 2 is available on iOS 16+/macOS 13+; TextKit 1 fallback should only run on older OS, not as the default
Are NSAttributedString attributes (paragraph styles, attachments, custom keys) verified to round-trip through TextKit 2 layout fragments?Attribute loss across migrationCustom attribute keys silently disappear during TextKit 2 layout; user's formatting flickers or vanishes
Are large attributed-string assignments (loading a saved document) performed off-main and applied via textStorage.setAttributedString on main?Main-thread stallsA 100KB attributed string can stall the main thread for 100-300ms during typing if applied incorrectly
Does the editor disable autosave / undo registration / autocorrection during an active Writing Tools session?Writing Tools UX corruptionUndo entries from the system rewrite get tangled with user undo; autocorrect steals focus from Writing Tools UI
For custom NSTextLayoutFragment subclasses, are RTL languages tested (mirrored bounds, baseline metrics, fragment rendering origin)?Custom-fragment RTL bugCustom rendering looks correct in English and breaks subtly on Arabic; QA misses it
For SwiftUI TextEditor, is iOS 18+ Writing Tools support assumed (TextEditor wires it automatically)? Or is a UIViewRepresentable wrapper short-circuiting that?Lost-by-wrappingWrapping UITextView to add a feature unintentionally removes Writing Tools; user reports "feature missing"

Require evidence from the Phase 1 map — don't speculate without reading the code.

Phase 4: Cross-Reference Findings

Bump severity for these combinations:

Finding A+ Finding B= CompoundSeverity
Direct .layoutManager access (Pattern 1)iOS 18+ deployment target + UITextView with edit contentGuaranteed Writing Tools loss; users on iOS 18 silently lose a system featureCRITICAL
Glyph APIs (Pattern 3)Codebase ships in non-English localesLayout corruption + measurement errors for any user typing Arabic/Hebrew/Thai/IndicCRITICAL
NSLayoutManager subclass (Pattern 2)Custom rendering / decoration drawingNo migration path to TextKit 2 without ground-up rewrite of the rendering pipelineHIGH
Missing writingToolsBehavior (Pattern 5)iOS 18+ deployment + edit-rich app (notes, mail, social)Users see panel-only Writing Tools instead of inline; perceived as "Writing Tools doesn't work here"HIGH
NSRange + TextKit 2 API (Pattern 4)Document with structured content (multiple text containers, tables)Range conversion silently truncates at container boundaries; selections jump or breakHIGH
Missing isWritingToolsActive check (Pattern 6)Autosave timer / sync timer / network mutationMid-Writing-Tools-generation mutation corrupts the result; user sees partial text + autosave wiping their workHIGH
TextKit 1 fallback triggerCustom NSAttributedString attribute keysAttributes silently lost when fallback occurs; user's bold/color/link disappears with no errorHIGH
SwiftUI UIViewRepresentable wrapper (Phase 3)Missing forwarding of writingToolsBehavior/textLayoutManagerWrapper undoes TextKit 2 work; the parent app thinks it's modern but the wrapped view is notHIGH
Large attributed-string load (Phase 3)Main-thread assignment100-500ms typing stall on document load; users perceive "lag" without root causeMEDIUM
Custom NSTextLayoutFragment (Phase 3)RTL/Indic untestedCustom-rendered editor breaks for international users; ships with no test coverageMEDIUM

Cross-auditor overlap notes:

  • Background NSAttributedString construction crossing actor boundaries → compound with concurrency-auditor
  • Large document loads stalling main thread → compound with swift-performance-analyzer
  • Custom text view that breaks VoiceOver navigation → compound with accessibility-auditor
  • TextKit 1 fallback losing rotor / Mark Up support → compound with accessibility-auditor
  • SwiftUI UIViewRepresentable wrapper churn re-creating the text view → compound with swiftui-performance-analyzer
  • Saved-document file location and protection → compound with storage-auditor

Phase 5: TextKit Modernity Health Score

MetricValue
Text view countN UITextView/NSTextView/TextEditor instances
TextKit versionTextKit 2 / TextKit 1 / mixed
Glyph API sitesM deprecated-glyph-API references
Writing Tools coverageM of N edit views configure writingToolsBehavior (Z%)
State-check disciplineM of N programmatic mutations check isWritingToolsActive (Z%)
Range type disciplineNSTextRange used with TextKit 2 / mixed with NSRange
Fallback observationnotifications observed / absent
SwiftUI wrapper hygieneTextKit 2 properties forwarded / dropped / N/A
HealthMODERN / MIXED / LEGACY

Scoring:

  • MODERN: No CRITICAL issues, all text views on TextKit 2 with textLayoutManager, no glyph APIs, Writing Tools configured on every edit view, isWritingToolsActive checked at every programmatic mutation, NSRange↔NSTextRange conversion explicit at boundaries, fallback notifications observed.
  • MIXED: Some TextKit 2 surface but TextKit 1 fallback paths fire silently, partial Writing Tools coverage, glyph APIs in measurement code that "works" for English but breaks on complex scripts, range types mixed without explicit conversion.
  • LEGACY: TextKit 1 only or majority TextKit 1 (NSLayoutManager direct usage, glyph APIs throughout, no Writing Tools wiring, no fallback observation). Writing Tools is unavailable to users; international users see broken layout.

Output Format

# TextKit Audit Results

## TextKit Map
[5-10 line summary from Phase 1]

## Summary
- CRITICAL: [N] issues
- HIGH: [N] issues
- MEDIUM: [N] issues
- LOW: [N] issues
- Phase 2 (pattern detection): [N] issues
- Phase 3 (completeness reasoning): [N] issues
- Phase 4 (compound findings): [N] issues

## TextKit Modernity Health Score
[Phase 5 table]

## Issues by Severity

### [SEVERITY/CONFIDENCE] [Pattern Name]: [Description]
**File**: path/to/file.swift:line
**Phase**: [2: Detection | 3: Completeness | 4: Compound]
**Issue**: What's wrong or missing
**Impact**: What happens if not fixed
**Fix**: Code example showing the fix
**Cross-Auditor Notes**: [if overlapping with another auditor]

## Recommendations
1. [Immediate actions — CRITICAL fixes (fallback triggers, glyph APIs in international code, missing Writing Tools on iOS 18+)]
2. [Short-term — HIGH fixes (NSLayoutManager migration, NSRange↔NSTextRange discipline, isWritingToolsActive guards, wrapper forwarding)]
3. [Long-term — completeness gaps from Phase 3 (fallback observation, RTL fragment testing, attribute round-trip verification, async document loading)]
4. [Test plan — Arabic/Hebrew/Thai/Kannada input, Writing Tools on every edit view, fallback notification firing, autosave during Writing Tools session]

Output Limits

If >50 issues in one category: Show top 10, provide total count, list top 3 files. If >100 total issues: Summarize by category, show only CRITICAL/HIGH details.

False Positives (Not Issues)

  • TextKit 1 code gated behind if #available(iOS 16, *) { ... } else { /* TextKit 1 */ } — legitimate fallback
  • layoutManager mentioned only in comments or documentation strings
  • NSLayoutManager referenced in migration code with explicit guards (preserving old behavior on iOS 15)
  • Glyph APIs in code paths that operate on monospaced ASCII content (rare but valid: terminal emulators, code that explicitly disclaims international support)
  • Display-only Text(...) SwiftUI views (no editing, no Writing Tools concern)
  • UITextField (single-line; uses different layout system; not in scope)
  • NSAttributedString construction in non-text-view contexts (e.g., for Drawing/PDFKit)
  • writingToolsBehavior not set on text views with isEditable = false (Writing Tools is for edit content)

Related

For TextKit 2 architecture and migration patterns: axiom-uikit (skills/textkit-ref.md) For accessibility regressions when TextKit 1 fallback fires: accessibility-auditor agent For background attributed-string construction crossing actors: concurrency-auditor agent For main-thread stalls when loading large documents: swift-performance-analyzer agent For SwiftUI wrappers re-creating text views on every render: swiftui-performance-analyzer agent For saved-document file location and protection: storage-auditor agent

Frequently asked questions about TextKit Auditor Agent

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