CFA Reference: Getting Started

Formal CFA AI Toolkit for iOS Documentation · Reference 9 of 26

There are two independent installations: the AI skills for your coding assistant, and the Xcode project templates. You can use either on its own.

Definitions

Install.command: The macOS launcher for the skills installer. It finds a normal Node installation or can use Codex's installed runtime.
scripts/install.mjs: The Node.js installer. Node.js 20 or newer is required.
Install Xcode Template.command: Copies the CFA App, Habit Tracker and Day Streak templates into Xcode. It does not require Node.js.
Starter App: A ready-to-open Xcode project; no installation required.

Rules

Download or clone the repository first.
For Codex, run Install.command or node scripts/install.mjs, then open a new Codex conversation and ask whether it can see the CFA AI Toolkit for iOS skills.
For Claude Code and other tools, copy all eight folders in skills without renaming them, or run node scripts/install.mjs --mode skills --skills-directory ~/.claude/skills.
For Xcode, run Install Xcode Template.command. If it does not print “CFA App is installed in Xcode”, the installation did not finish.
Quit and reopen Xcode, then choose File → New → Project → iOS → CFA App, Habit Tracker or Day Streak.
Running an installer again updates CFA-installed files and refuses to replace edited or unrelated files.

Decision rules

When you want to learn the structure first, create a project from the CFA App template.
When you want a working product to change, open a Starter App.
When your assistant does not pick up the skills, start the prompt with “Using CFA”.
When the Xcode installer does not print its success line, read the Terminal message before closing it.

Example

Terminal commands from the repository README

# Codex
node scripts/install.mjs

# Claude Code (or another tool that reads plain skill folders)
node scripts/install.mjs --mode skills --skills-directory ~/.claude/skills

# Xcode templates (no Node.js needed)
./Install\ Xcode\ Template.command

Confirmation message for a new Codex conversation, from the README

I have installed CFA AI Toolkit for iOS from
https://github.com/3DaysOfSwift/CFA-AI-Toolkit-for-iOS.
Do you have access to create and maintain iOS projects with CFA?

Common mistakes

Running the skills installer with an older Node.js. Check node --version first.
Renaming skill folders when copying them.
Expecting the Xcode template installer to change an existing project. It only adds new-project templates.
Forgetting to restart Xcode after installing templates.