Sweetpad Nova

Nova extension that brings the power of Sweetpad to Panic's macOS code editor. Based on the official VSCode extension.

Getting Started

This extension serves as a wrapper for Sweetpad, and requires the CLI to be installed. You can install it via homebrew with brew install sweetpad-dev/tap/sweetpad.

Initializing the Build Server Protocol (BSP)

If your project does not yet contain a buildServer.json file, you can generate one from Nova:

• Open the Extensions menu and choose Initialize BSP.

Note: It is recommended to add buildServer.json to your .gitignore file so it is not committed.

Features

Sweetpad Nova includes:

• 📱 A sidebar for selecting available targets, devices, and simulators.
• 🔨 Build and run actions.
• 🐞 Debug adapter support using sweetpad dap and Xcode's lldb-dap.
• 🎨 Format on save (requires swift-format)

Sidebar

The Sweetpad sidebar provides two main sections:

Schemes

Lists the schemes discovered by Sweetpad for the current project. Select a scheme to set it as the active build target. The currently selected scheme is highlighted.

Destinations

Lists available run destinations, including:

• iOS Simulators
• Connected devices
• macOS (when applicable)

Right-click a simulator to boot it, or shut it down if it is already running.

Tasks

Sweetpad Nova integrates with Nova's task system, giving you standard build tasks:

• Build — compile the active scheme and destination.
• Run — build and launch on the selected destination.
• Test — run the project's test suite.
• Clean — remove build artifacts.

These tasks respect the active scheme, configuration, and destination selected in the sidebar. Errors and warnings from xcodebuild are parsed and surfaced in Nova's issue list.

Debugging

SweetPad Nova contributes a debug adapter powered by sweetpad dap, which drives Xcode's lldb-dap to build, install, launch, and debug your app.

To start debugging:

1. Open Project Settings → Tasks and add a SweetPad Debug task.
2. Choose whether to launch a new debug session or attach to an already-running app.
3. Optionally override the scheme, build configuration, or destination. Leave them blank to use the values selected in the SweetPad sidebar.
4. Run the task to build, launch, and attach the debugger.

Breakpoints are enabled for Swift files. The debugger supports simulators, macOS, and iOS 17+ devices (via devicectl).

Requirements: sweetpad dap requires the SweetPad CLI and Xcode 16 or later (xcrun lldb-dap). Run sweetpad dap doctor to verify your environment.

Configuration

Sweetpad Nova can be customized through Nova's extension preferences.

Global Settings

• sweetpad executable: Path to the sweetpad CLI. Leave empty to use /opt/homebrew/bin/sweetpad, /usr/local/bin/sweetpad, or the tool found on PATH.
• Format Swift files on save: Enable automatic formatting when Swift files are saved. Defaults to false.
• swift-format executable: Path to swift-format. Leave empty to use xcrun swift-format, then a Homebrew installation.

Workspace Settings

• Project override: Relative path to the .xcworkspace, .xcodeproj, or Swift package directory to use. Leave empty to let Sweetpad auto-detect.

Version 1.1

• Tool check now detects Swift projects and offers to initialize BSP when buildServer.json is missing.

Version 1.0

Initial release