How can you communicate that a .xcframework is a dependency OF the swift package inside Swift package definition?

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Created Jun ’25

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I am sort of trying to do the opposite of what others are doing. I have a target called CopyFramework that creates a CopyFramework.framework within my main xcproj file.

I set up this target because a specific framework (we can call it Tools.xcframework) is distributed as a binary. That framework file lives within the code.

Tools.xcframework is structured like so

Tools.xcframework (Coding/testBuild/DynamicToolFrameworks/Tools.xcframework)
   info.plist
   ios-arm64/
      Tools.xcframework/
         Tools (executable file)
         Tools.bundle
         Headers/
         Info.plist
         Modules/
            Tools.swiftmodule/
               arm64-apple-ios.abi.json
               arm64-apple-ios.private.swiftinterface
               arm64-apple-ios.swiftdoc
               arm64-apple-ios.swiftinterface
            module.modulemap
            module.private.modulemap
         PrivateHeaders/
   ios-arm64_x86_64-simulator/

When the CopyFramework target is run xcode does a few steps which copy the correct version of this framework to derived data.

Process Tools.xcframework (iOS)
Coding/testBuild/DynamicToolFrameworks/Tools.xcframework 

/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/testBuild-sha/Build/Products/Debug-iphoneos/Tools.framework ios
    cd /Users/calebkierum/Coding/testBuild

builtin-process-xcframework --xcframework Coding/testBuild/DynamicToolFrameworks/Tools.xcframework --platform ios --target-path Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/testBuild-sha/Build/Products/Debug-iphoneos

Meaning essentially that the Tools.xcframework for the proper platform is taken from Tools.xcframework/ios-arm64 and copied to Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/testBuild-sha/Build/Products/Debug-iphoneos/Tools.xcframework

I am writing a Swift Package that needs to be able to reference the correct Tools.xcframework. I have set it up like so:

let package = Package(
    name: "CoreObjC",
    platforms: [.iOS(.v17), .macCatalyst(.v17)],
    products: [
        .library(name: "CoreObjC", targets: ["CoreObjC"]),
    ],
    dependencies: [
        // Does something to here ???
        //.package(path: "../testBuild")
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "CoreObjC",
            dependencies: [
                // Here I would like to be referencing the CopyFramework.framework target within my buildTest.xcproj file
                .product(name: "CopyFramework", package: /*??? its not in a swift package its a part of an xcproj file*/)
            ],
            path: "CoreObjC",
            publicHeadersPath: "Headers",
            linkerSettings: [
                .linkedFramework("Tools", .when(platforms: [.iOS])),
                .linkedLibrary("c++")
            ]
        ),
    ],
    cxxLanguageStandard: CXXLanguageStandard.gnucxx14
)

Now obviously this does not work. I do not know how to communicate to the Package.swift file that the binary dependency is a framework target within my xcproj file. If I do run the target CopyFramework followed by building CoreObjC it works though (so long as you comment out the bits trying to reference CopyFramework). Running the CopyFramework target processes the Tools.xcframework and copies the proper xcframework sub folder to Derived data and the Swift Package build system seems to be able to see it.

Is there a way I can get rid of this manual step? Make it so that when I build the CoreObjC target (swift package) that either CopyFramework is run or some other process is run to get the proper xcframework out of Coding/testBuild/DynamicToolFrameworks/Tools.xcframework and into DerivedData?

Is it even theoretically possible to have a Swift Package reference a target in a normal xcproj file?

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