Skip to content

Swift

Use this pre-built prompt to get started faster

Create a Swift Server-Side CLI Application with Appwrite

Do exactly these steps in order. Confirm each step succeeds before continuing. If any command fails, show the error and fix it automatically.

Note: This is for the Swift Server SDK, meant for server and backend applications. This is NOT for client-side iOS, macOS, watchOS, or tvOS apps.

Step 1: Create project in Appwrite Console

  • Head to the Appwrite Console.
  • If this is the user's first time using Appwrite, guide them to create an account and create their first project.
  • Under Integrate with your server, add an API Key with the following scopes:
CategoryRequired scopesPurpose
Databasedatabases.writeAllows API key to create, update, and delete databases.
tables.writeAllows API key to create, update, and delete tables.
columns.writeAllows API key to create, update, and delete columns.
rows.readAllows API key to read rows.
rows.writeAllows API key to create, update, and delete rows.
  • Other scopes are optional.

Step 2: Create Swift project

  • Create a Swift CLI application by opening XCode > Create a new XCode project > macOS > Command Line Tool.
  • Follow the wizard and open the new project.

Step 3: Install Appwrite SDK

  • Install the Swift Appwrite SDK by going to File > Add Packages... and search for the repo url https://github.com/appwrite/sdk-for-swift and select sdk-for-swift.
  • Specify version as 10.0.0 with rule Up to Next Major Version.

Step 4: Import Appwrite and initialize client

Ask the user for the following values; never assume them:

  • Appwrite Cloud Region (e.g., fra, nyc)
  • Project ID (from Console > Settings)
  • API Key (from Console > View API Keys)

Open the file main.swift and initialize the Appwrite Client. Replace placeholders with user-provided values:

Swift
import Foundation
import Appwrite
import AppwriteModels

let client = Client()
    .setEndpoint("https://<REGION>.cloud.appwrite.io/v1")
    .setProject("<PROJECT_ID>")
    .setKey("<YOUR_API_KEY>")

Step 5: Initialize database

Create a function to configure a todo database and table:

Swift
let tablesDB = TablesDB(client)

func prepareDatabase() async -> (Database?, Table?) {
    let todoDatabase = try? await tablesDB.create(
        databaseId: ID.unique(),
        name: "TodosDB"
    )
    let todoTable = try? await tablesDB.createTable(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id,
        tableId: ID.unique(),
        name: "Todos"
    )
    try? await tablesDB.createVarcharColumn(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id,
        tableId: todoTable!.id,
        key: "title",
        size: 255,
        required: true
    )
    try? await tablesDB.createTextColumn(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id as! String,
        tableId: todoTable!.id as! String,
        key: "description",
        required: false,
        default: "This is a test description."
    )
    try? await tablesDB.createBooleanColumn(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id as! String,
        tableId: todoTable!.id as! String,
        key: "isComplete",
        required: true
    )

    return (todoDatabase, todoTable)
}

Step 6: Add rows

Create a function to add mock data into the table:

Swift
func seedDatabase(todoDatabase: Database?, todoTable: Table?) async {
    let testTodo1: [String: Any] = [
        "title": "Buy apples",
        "description": "At least 2KGs",
        "isComplete": true
    ]

    let testTodo2: [String: Any] = [
        "title": "Wash the apples",
        "isComplete": true
    ]

    let testTodo3: [String: Any] = [
        "title": "Cut the apples",
        "description": "Don't forget to pack them in a box",
        "isComplete": false
    ]

    try? await tablesDB.createRow(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id,
        tableId: todoTable!.id,
        rowId: ID.unique(),
        data: testTodo1
    )
    try? await tablesDB.createRow(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id,
        tableId: todoTable!.id,
        rowId: ID.unique(),
        data: testTodo2
    )
    try? await tablesDB.createRow(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id,
        tableId: todoTable!.id,
        rowId: ID.unique(),
        data: testTodo3
    )
}

Step 7: Retrieve rows

Create a function to retrieve and display the todo data:

Swift
func getTodos(todoDatabase: Database?, todoTable: Table?) async {
    let todos = try? await tablesDB.listRows(
        databaseId: todoDatabase!.id as! String,
        tableId: todoTable!.id as! String
    )
    for row in todos?.rows ?? [] {
        if let todo = row.data as? [String: Any] {
            print("Title: \(todo["title"] ?? "")\n"
                + "Description: \(todo["description"] ?? "")\n"
                + "Is Todo Complete: \(todo["isComplete"] ?? "")\n\n"
            )
        }
    }
}

let (todoDatabase, todoTable) = await prepareDatabase()
await seedDatabase(todoDatabase: todoDatabase, todoTable: todoTable)
await getTodos(todoDatabase: todoDatabase, todoTable: todoTable)

Step 8: Run and test

  • Run the project with XCode and see the results in the console.
  • Verify that the todo items are printed correctly with their title, description, and completion status.
  • Surface any Appwrite errors (invalid project, endpoint, API key) and fix by guiding updates to the client configuration.

Deliverables

  • A running Swift CLI application connected to Appwrite
  • A TodosDB database with a Todos table containing three columns (title, description, isComplete)
  • Three seeded todo rows in the database
  • Console output displaying the retrieved todo items
  • Files created/updated: main.swift (with all Appwrite client initialization, database setup, seeding, and retrieval logic)
Was this page helpful?
Copyright © 2026 Appwrite