Contributing
Thank you for contributing to Meshtastic Apple! Please read this guide before opening a PR.
Prerequisites
- Xcode (latest stable)
- iOS/macOS simulators installed
- SwiftLint (
brew install swiftlint)
Run ./scripts/setup-hooks.sh once after cloning to install the pre-commit SwiftLint hook.
Documentation
The app ships a built-in Help & Documentation browser, a Jekyll site on GitHub Pages, and documentation is also published to the main meshtastic.org site.
| Resource | Location |
|---|---|
| Meshtastic.org | meshtastic.org/docs/category/apple-apps |
| GitHub Pages | meshtastic.github.io/Meshtastic-Apple |
| In-app | Settings → Help & Documentation |
| Deep link | meshtastic:///settings/helpDocs |
Source markdown lives under docs/user/ and docs/developer/. To rebuild the bundled HTML after editing any markdown:
bash scripts/build-docs.sh --output Meshtastic/Resources/docs --beta
Commit the regenerated files under Meshtastic/Resources/docs/ with your PR.
Branch Naming
Branch from main (trunk-based development). Use descriptive names:
feat/bluetooth-reconnect-improvements
fix/crash-on-ble-disconnect
docs/update-mqtt-guide
chore/update-protobufs
Commit Messages
Use imperative mood subject lines:
Fix crash when BLE device disconnects
Add TAK CoT position relay support
Update protobufs to v2.7
Explain what changed and why in the body. Keep subject lines under 72 characters.
PR Checklist
- All existing tests pass (
⌘Uin Xcode) - New tests written for new features and bug fixes
- SwiftLint reports no new errors or warnings
- UI changes include screenshots or a screen recording in the PR description
- Deep link additions are documented in
docs/developer/deep-links.md - SwiftData schema changes include a
VersionedSchemaandMigrationStage - Protobuf changes are regenerated with
./scripts/gen_protos.shand built
Code Style
- Swift only. No Objective-C.
- SwiftUI for all UI. UIKit only where unavoidable.
- SF Symbols for all icons — no embedded image assets for icons.
- OSLog for all logging — no
print(). SwiftLint enforces this. - Indent with tabs.
- Opening braces on the same line.
// MARK: -to separate logical sections.guardfor early exit; avoid deeply nestedif.
SwiftLint Limits
| Check | Warning | Error |
|---|---|---|
| Line length | 400 | — |
| File length | 3500 | — |
| Type body length | 400 | — |
| Function body length | 200 | — |
| Cyclomatic complexity | 60 | — |
| Type name length | 60 | 70 |
Platform Guards
- Guard iOS-only APIs:
#if !targetEnvironment(macCatalyst) - Guard canImport:
#if canImport(UIKit) - Guard version availability:
if #available(iOS 26, *) { ... }
Updating Protobufs
git submodule update --remote protobufs/./scripts/gen_protos.sh- Build and verify tests pass.
- Commit generated changes together with the submodule pointer update.
Release Process
See RELEASING.md in the repository root for the full release checklist and App Store submission process.