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Add conceptual documentation for SwiftPM plugins #9542

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3a842da
Document ArtifactBundleIndex for binary dependencies
Viditgupta-official Dec 23, 2025
890be25
Add conceptual documentation for SwiftPM plugins.
Viditgupta-official Dec 25, 2025
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13 changes: 13 additions & 0 deletions Sources/PackageManagerDocs/Documentation.docc/AddingDependencies.md
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Expand Up @@ -107,6 +107,19 @@ To add a dependency on a precompiled binary target, specify a `.binaryTarget` in
[binarytarget(name:url:checksum:)](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/packagedescription/target/binarytarget(name:url:checksum:)) for a downloadable target,
or [binarytarget(name:path:)](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/packagedescription/target/binarytarget(name:path:)) for a local binary.
After adding the binary target, you can add it to the list of dependencies for any other target.
### ArtifactBundleIndex

Swift Package Manager supports binary targets distributed as artifact bundles.
An artifact bundle may include an `ArtifactBundleIndex` file, which describes
the artifacts contained in the bundle and the platforms or variants they support.

The `ArtifactBundleIndex` is required when an artifact bundle contains multiple
artifacts or supports multiple platforms. SwiftPM uses this index to determine
which artifact to select during dependency resolution.

For full details on the structure and semantics of artifact bundles and
`ArtifactBundleIndex`, see the Swift Evolution proposal
[SE-0305: SwiftPM Binary Target Improvements](https://github.com/swiftlang/swift-evolution/blob/main/proposals/0305-swiftpm-binary-target-improvements.md).

For more information on identifying and verifying a binary target, see [Identifying binary dependencies](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/identifying-binary-dependencies).
For more information on creating a binary target, see [Creating a multiplatform binary framework bundle](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/creating-a-multi-platform-binary-framework-bundle).
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24 changes: 24 additions & 0 deletions Sources/PackageManagerDocs/Documentation.docc/Package/Plugins.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
# Plugins

Swift Package Manager supports plugins that can extend package functionality.

## Overview

There are two kinds of plugins in SwiftPM:

- **Command plugins**, which are invoked explicitly by users.
- **Build tool plugins**, which are applied to targets during the build.

## Build Tool Plugins

Build tool plugins are executed by the build system and may generate files
that are used as inputs to compilation.

## Plugin Outputs and Visibility

Plugins may generate files that are tracked by the build system for incremental
builds. Generated files are associated with the target the plugin is applied to.

Plugins do not form a pipeline, and outputs produced by one plugin are not
guaranteed to be visible to other plugins.