Documentation Language: Swift

Framework

gir2swift-plugin

A SwiftPM build tool plugin that runs gir2swift automatically during swift build.

Overview

gir2swift-plugin integrates gir2swift into the Swift Package Manager build system as a build tool plugin. When a target declares the plugin, SwiftPM calls the plugin’s createBuildCommands method before compiling Swift sources. The plugin:

  1. Locates the gir2swift-manifest.yaml for the target (target-local file takes precedence over the package-level file).

  2. Reads the primary GIR name from the manifest.

  3. Scans the standard GIR installation paths to find a directory that contains the primary GIR file and all prerequisite GIR files discovered from the target’s dependency graph.

  4. Declares all relevant input files (GIR files, manifest, and target-local configuration files) so SwiftPM can track changes and re-run the command when any input changes.

  5. Predicts the set of output files (one Swift file per alphabetical bucket plus the fixed-suffix files).

  6. Returns a single build command that invokes gir2swift.

Adding the plugin to your package 

// swift-tools-version: 5.10

import PackageDescription

let package = Package(
    name: "MyPackage",
    dependencies: [
        .package(url: "https://github.com/rhx/gir2swift.git", branch: "main"),
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "MyLibraryTarget",
            plugins: [
                .plugin(name: "gir2swift-plugin", package: "gir2swift"),
            ]
        ),
    ]
)

Your target directory (or the package root) must contain a gir2swift-manifest.yaml, for example:

version: 1
gir-name: GLib-2.0
pkg-config: glib-2.0
output-directory: Sources/GLib
alpha-names: true

GIR search paths

The plugin checks the following directories in order and uses the first one that contains every required GIR file:

  1. /opt/homebrew/share/gir-1.0 (Homebrew on Apple Silicon)

  2. /usr/local/share/gir-1.0 (Homebrew on Intel or manual installs)

  3. /usr/share/gir-1.0 (Linux system packages)

Error handling

Discovery failures throw descriptive errors: