Metrickit

by dpearson26998d90fd121a26No license1.1K starsListed Oct 8, 2026Updated Oct 8, 2026Repository updated 2 months ago

Use when collecting or analyzing production iOS or iPadOS performance telemetry with MetricKit, including iOS 27 MetricManager async metric or diagnostic reports, hang or crash triage, custom signposts, extended launch measurement, durable export, or iOS 26 MXMetricManager compatibility.

Instructions onlySoftware Development
AI-generated overview

Guides collecting and analyzing production iOS/iPadOS performance telemetry with MetricKit, including reports, diagnostics and durable export.

What it does
This skill provides implementation guidance for using Apple's MetricKit framework to gather production performance telemetry from iOS and iPadOS apps. It covers setting up a MetricManager, consuming async metric and diagnostic report sequences, triaging hangs, crashes and resource exceptions, using custom signposts, measuring extended launch work, and durably exporting reports for later upload. It also documents an iOS 26 compatibility path using MXMetricManager and points to a companion reference file for extended patterns.
When to use it
Use it when adding or reviewing production performance telemetry in an iOS or iPadOS app built with MetricKit. It fits work on metric or diagnostic report ingestion, hang and crash triage, custom signpost metrics, extended launch measurement, or durable report export. It is also relevant when maintaining an iOS 26 compatibility branch alongside the newer MetricManager APIs.
Requirements
Requires an iOS or iPadOS app project using Apple's MetricKit framework and a Swift toolchain; the iOS 27 APIs described are beta and need the shipping Xcode 27 SDK to compile. It ships no scripts, only instructions plus a reference document, and assumes an application-owned durable storage and upload mechanism for reports.

MetricKit

Use MetricKit for low-overhead production telemetry that complements local Instruments and Xcode Organizer analysis. On iOS and iPadOS 27, prefer the Swift-first MetricManager report sequences. Keep MXMetricManager only in an explicit iOS 26 compatibility branch.

Beta-sensitive: The iOS/iPadOS 27 surface below is based on Apple's current beta documentation. It has not been locally compiler-verified because Xcode 27 is unavailable in this environment. Re-check the linked Apple documentation and compile with the shipping Xcode 27 SDK before release.

Load MetricKit Extended and Compatibility Patterns [blocked] when implementing durable ingestion, detailed report analysis, or the iOS 26 compatibility path.

Contents

MetricManager Setup

At app launch, create and retain one long-lived MetricManager. Start exactly one consumer task for metricReports and one for diagnosticReports.

Both properties expose nonthrowing AsyncSequence values:

  • metricReports: some AsyncSequence<MetricReport, Never>
  • diagnosticReports: some AsyncSequence<DiagnosticReport, Never>

Apple documents that concurrent consumers of one sequence can receive nondeterministic subsets. Fan out only after the single consumer receives and durably stores a report; delayed subscription can miss reports.

swift
import MetricKit
@available(iOS 27.0, *)final class MetricsService {    private let manager = MetricManager()    private var metricTask: Task<Void, Never>?    private var diagnosticTask: Task<Void, Never>?
    func start(        persistMetric: @escaping @Sendable (MetricReport) async -> Void,        persistDiagnostic: @escaping @Sendable (DiagnosticReport) async -> Void    ) {        guard metricTask == nil, diagnosticTask == nil else { return }        let manager = manager
        metricTask = Task {            for await report in manager.metricReports {                await persistMetric(report)            }        }
        diagnosticTask = Task {            for await report in manager.diagnosticReports {                await persistDiagnostic(report)            }        }    }
    deinit {        metricTask?.cancel()        diagnosticTask?.cancel()    }}

The persistence closures are application-specific. Implement them with the durable-first workflow below rather than dropping, logging only, or directly uploading each report. If state-scoped metrics are needed, construct the manager with the documented init(enabledStateReportingDomains:) initializer and the required domains.

Receiving Metric Reports

MetricReport is Codable and Sendable. It describes an interval through:

  • timeRange: DateInterval
  • optional environment metadata
  • intervalEntries for full-day and shorter interval measurements
  • stateEntries for measurements associated with application states

Metric reports normally arrive on a daily cadence. Persist the complete report before extracting individual results.

For daily analysis, read the documented fullDayEntry and switch over its MetricResult values:

swift
let entry = report.intervalEntries.fullDayEntry
for result in entry.values {    switch result {    case .hangTime(let metric):        analyzeHangTime(metric)    case .peakMemory(let metric):        analyzePeakMemory(metric)    case .timeToFirstDraw(let metric):        analyzeLaunch(metric)    case .signpostInterval(let metric):        analyzeSignpost(metric)    @unknown default:        preserveUnknownMetric(result)    }}

Use @unknown default so a beta or future result does not make the ingestion pipeline brittle. Preserve the raw encoded report even when the current app does not understand a result.

Receiving Diagnostic Reports

DiagnosticReport is Codable and Sendable. It contains a timeRange, required environment metadata, and one DiagnosticResult.

Diagnostics are individual, event-based reports intended for prompt delivery when MetricKit produces them. Do not assume every crash, hang, or resource event generates a report; system sampling and eligibility still apply.

After durable storage, route the result explicitly:

swift
switch report.result {case .crash(let diagnostic):    analyzeCrash(diagnostic)case .hang(let diagnostic):    analyzeHang(diagnostic)case .cpuException(let diagnostic):    analyzeCPUException(diagnostic)case .diskWriteException(let diagnostic):    analyzeDiskWrites(diagnostic)case .appLaunch(let diagnostic):    analyzeLaunch(diagnostic)case .memoryException(let diagnostic):    analyzeMemory(diagnostic)@unknown default:    preserveUnknownDiagnostic(report)}

The iOS/iPadOS 27 diagnostic types are CrashDiagnostic, HangDiagnostic, CPUExceptionDiagnostic, DiskWriteExceptionDiagnostic, AppLaunchDiagnostic, and MemoryExceptionDiagnostic. The memory-exception case is new in iOS 27.

Useful fields include:

DiagnosticImportant fields
CrashDiagnosticcallStackTree, exception type/code/reason, signal, virtual-memory region, termination category/reason
HangDiagnosticcallStackTree, hangDuration
CPUExceptionDiagnosticcallStackTree, totalCPUTime, totalSampledTime
DiskWriteExceptionDiagnosticcallStackTree, totalBytesWritten
AppLaunchDiagnosticcallStackTree, launchDuration
MemoryExceptionDiagnosticcallStackTree

Key Metric Results

Choose a small telemetry vocabulary that matches the investigation rather than exporting every result. Prioritize the relevant categories: responsiveness and terminations; runtime, CPU, memory, network, and storage; or launch, display/GPU, and custom intervals.

Aggregate by app version and environment metadata, compare distributions rather than single values, and correlate regressions with releases. Avoid treating a daily aggregate as a precise trace of one user action.

Load the Key Metric Result Catalog [blocked] when mapping exact MetricResult cases into a parser or dashboard.

Call Stack Trees

The iOS 27 CallStackTree replaces MXCallStackTree. It is Codable and Sendable and exposes:

  • forEachFrame for frame traversal
  • callStackThreads for thread-oriented analysis
  • binaryInfo for image and binary metadata

Store the complete diagnostic report before flattening or symbolication. Preserve binary identifiers and offsets so server-side symbolication can use matching archives and dSYMs.

Custom Signpost Metrics

Create an OS log through the manager, then use mxSignpost for begin/end measurement:

swift
let log = manager.logHandle(category: "ImagePipeline")
mxSignpost(.begin, log: log, name: "Decode")await decodeImage()mxSignpost(.end, log: log, name: "Decode")

MetricKit exposes the aggregate as MetricResult.signpostInterval. Do not search for a signpostMetrics array on MetricReport.

Use mxSignpost when MetricKit resource measurement is required. Apple documents that intervals created with OSSignposter and a MetricKit log handle do not populate the resource-measurement fields that mxSignpost provides.

Keep high-volume local tracing separate from the small set of stable production intervals used for MetricKit aggregation.

Durable Export and Upload

Treat report delivery as an at-least-once ingestion problem:

  1. Encode the complete MetricReport or DiagnosticReport with JSONEncoder.
  2. Atomically enqueue the bytes in an app-owned durable outbox.
  3. Record report type, schema version, app version, and a stable deduplication key.
  4. Acknowledge local processing only after the enqueue succeeds.
  5. Upload later with retry, backoff, batching, and retention limits.
  6. Mark the outbox item uploaded only after the server accepts it.
swift
let data = try JSONEncoder().encode(report)try await durableOutbox.enqueue(data, kind: .metric)

durableOutbox is an application-owned abstraction, not a MetricKit API. Do not perform a synchronous network upload inside the sequence consumer.

Durable local storage is the recovery mechanism for reports received through the modern sequences; do not make successful ingestion depend on an assumed modern backfill API.

Extended Launch Measurement

Use trackLaunchTask(id:onTrackingError:_:) on the manager for work that extends beyond time to first draw:

swift
await manager.trackLaunchTask(    id: "bootstrap-data",    onTrackingError: { error in        recordLaunchTrackingError(error)    }) {    await bootstrapApplication()}

The API is @MainActor and has synchronous and asynchronous overloads. The task closure's result and thrown error propagate to the caller; a MetricManager.LaunchTaskError is reported through onTrackingError without interrupting the tracked work. Results appear as MetricResult.extendedLaunch.

Use stable LaunchTaskID values and track only launch-critical work.

iOS 26 Compatibility

For an app that still deploys to iOS 26, use an availability boundary:

  • iOS/iPadOS 27: use MetricManager and consume both async report sequences.
  • iOS/iPadOS 26 and earlier supported releases: use MXMetricManager.shared, an MXMetricManagerSubscriber, and the legacy payload callbacks.

The legacy APIs remain the only documented branch with pastPayloads and pastDiagnosticPayloads. MXMetricManager is deprecated in iOS 27, so isolate it behind availability checks rather than mixing legacy payloads into the modern pipeline.

Load iOS 26 Compatibility [blocked] for the full subscriber, legacy signpost, past-payload, and extended-launch patterns.

Xcode Organizer

Use Xcode Organizer to inspect Apple-aggregated production metrics, hangs, crashes, and regressions before building a custom backend. Use direct MetricKit ingestion when the product needs custom correlation, retention, alerting, or integration with an existing observability system.

Do not expect development-device runs to reproduce the population, cadence, or aggregation of production reports.

Scope Boundaries

TaskUse instead
Reproduce a problem locally or record a detailed tracedebugging-instruments
Diagnose retained objects or memory graph pathsios-memgraph-analysis
Tune SwiftUI invalidation, identity, or scrolling codeswiftui-performance
Study structured EnergyKit impact dataenergykit
Design general logging and os_signpost strategyswift-logging

MetricKit identifies production symptoms and trends. Route the actual code fix to the skill that owns the affected subsystem.

Common Mistakes

MistakeCorrection
Uploading directly in the sequence loopEncode and enqueue locally first; upload asynchronously later.
Assuming every diagnostic event produces a reportTreat diagnostics as sampled, system-produced evidence.
Looking for pastPayloads on MetricManagerKeep legacy backfill only in the iOS 26 MXMetricManager branch.
Parsing only known enum casesPreserve the raw report and use @unknown default.
Using MXMetricManager.makeLogHandle in the iOS 27 branchUse manager.logHandle(category:).
Using paired extend/finish launch calls in the iOS 27 branchUse trackLaunchTask.
Treating MetricKit aggregates as local tracesReproduce with Instruments and signposts.

Review Checklist

  • The iOS 27 branch starts at launch with one retained MetricManager and one consumer per report sequence.
  • Every report is encoded and durably enqueued before analysis or upload.
  • Diagnostic and metric switches use @unknown default.
  • Unknown raw reports remain recoverable.
  • Symbolication metadata and matching dSYMs are retained.
  • Custom intervals use manager.logHandle(category:) and mxSignpost.
  • Extended launch work uses trackLaunchTask.
  • The iOS 26 MXMetricManager path is isolated behind availability checks.
  • Production aggregates lead to a local Instruments investigation when appropriate.
  • iOS 27 beta APIs have been rechecked and compiled with the shipping Xcode 27 SDK.

References

Source and attribution

Source:dpearson2699/swift-ios-skillsinskills/metrickitat commit8d90fd1

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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