Generate Project

Generate the .xcodeproj that an XcodeGen manifest (project.yml) declares, next to the manifest. XcodeGen is built into FlowDeck, so no separate install is needed. An unchanged manifest is a no-op, so running it again is cheap.

# Generate from ./project.yml
flowdeck project generate

# Generate a project in another directory
flowdeck project generate --path ~/Code/MyApp

# Regenerate even when the manifest has not changed
flowdeck project generate --no-cache

# Machine-readable result
flowdeck project generate --json

Project file format

A project.yml project keeps the format its .xcodeproj already has, and is generated as the classic project.pbxproj when there is no project yet. FlowDeck never converts a generated project to Xcode’s JSON format (project.xcproj) on its own, so plain xcodegen generate, CocoaPods, and your own scripts keep working. Pass --project-format xcproj to convert the generated project with the selected Xcode (27.2 or later). After that, keep regenerating with flowdeck project generate: plain xcodegen generate writes a project.pbxproj beside the existing project.xcproj, and Xcode refuses to open a project that holds both.

Options

Option	Short	Description
`--path <path>`	`-p`	Directory containing `project.yml` (default: current directory)
`--no-cache`		Regenerate even when the manifest has not changed
`--project-format <format>`		`pbxproj` or `xcproj`. Default: the existing project’s format, otherwise `pbxproj`
`--json`	`-j`	Output as JSON
`--examples`	`-e`	Show usage examples

JSON Output

{
  "success": true,
  "regenerated": true,
  "projectPath": "/Users/me/Projects/MyApp/MyApp.xcodeproj",
  "projectFormat": "pbxproj"
}

regenerated is false when the manifest had not changed. projectFormat is absent when generation failed, and projectFormatNote explains why a project asked to be xcproj was kept classic.

Overview

FlowDeck for AI

Interactive Mode (TUI)

Core Features

Command Reference

Advanced

Support

Project file format

Options

JSON Output