How does Atlas ensure Objective-C READMEs are up-to-date?

Atlas ensures Objective-C READMEs are current by reading directly from `.h` and `.m` source files, enumerating the public API with `lsp`, and verifying code samples with `bash`, rather than relying on outdated assumptions.

Can Atlas document Objective-C modules that use CocoaPods?

Yes, Atlas can document Objective-C modules that use `CocoaPods`. It reads your `Podfile` to understand dependencies and indexes the relevant `.h` and `.m` files within your project.

How does Atlas handle Objective-C bridging headers for Swift documentation?

While documenting the Objective-C module itself, Atlas can also annotate nullability on your `.h` headers, which is crucial for Swift to correctly interpret optionality across the bridging header.

What Objective-C tools does Atlas integrate with for documentation?

Atlas integrates with core Objective-C tools like `XCTest (xcodebuild test)` for verification, `CocoaPods` for dependency understanding, and `clang-format` for code formatting, ensuring a familiar environment.

How does Atlas verify code examples in Objective-C READMEs?

Atlas verifies Objective-C code examples in READMEs by running each sample with the `bash` tool. This execution confirms the code's functionality, preventing the inclusion of non-working or outdated snippets.

Is it safe to let Atlas modify my Objective-C project files?

Yes, it is safe. Atlas operates with permission-gated tool calls, drafts plans in a read-only agent, and presents a unified diff for every proposed file edit, including `README.md` changes, for your explicit approval before writing.

Can Atlas match my existing Objective-C project's README style?

Yes, Atlas can match your existing Objective-C project's README style. It uses the `grep` tool to find an existing `README.md` and analyzes its heading structure and tone to ensure consistency in new documentation.

Document a module with a README in Objective-C with Atlas in 2026

Atlas empowers Objective-C developers in 2026 to produce precise, up-to-date documentation for modules by leveraging its lsp tool to enumerate public APIs from .h files, reading .m implementations, and verifying code samples with bash before writing the README. This ensures documentation reflects the current state of the code, not outdated assumptions, integrating direct with your existing Objective-C toolchain including XCTest (xcodebuild test) and CocoaPods.

How Atlas Documents Objective-C Modules with READMEs

Atlas's approach to documenting Objective-C modules ensures READMEs reflect current code, not outdated plans from a year ago. By 2026, developers rely on Atlas to read .h and .m pairs, enumerate public APIs with the lsp tool, and verify every code sample with bash, guaranteeing accuracy and relevance.

Documenting an Objective-C module with a README using Atlas begins with a deep understanding of the source code itself. Atlas does not invent documentation from memory; instead, it meticulously reads your Objective-C .h and .m files. The lsp tool's documentSymbol operation is crucial here, as it enumerates the real exported surface of your module, ensuring no public API is missed or fabricated. For each identified export, Atlas uses its read tool to understand the implementation details from the .m file and the codebase_search tool to find how callers actually use it in practice. This process is vital for Objective-C codebases, where ARC, header and implementation pairs, and bridging into Swift are daily considerations. Finally, Atlas uses the write tool to emit the README, ensuring every claim is traceable back to a file it just read, providing documentation that is factual rather than merely plausible.

Enumerating Objective-C Public APIs for Documentation

To accurately document an Objective-C module, Atlas enumerates its public API using the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation, ensuring no export is missed or invented. This process precisely identifies all declarations within .h files, providing a complete surface for documentation in 2026, reflecting the module's true interface.

The first critical step in generating accurate Objective-C module documentation is to precisely identify its public API. Atlas achieves this by leveraging the lsp tool's documentSymbol operation. This operation scans your Objective-C .h header files, which define the public interface of your classes, categories, protocols, and functions. By parsing the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) declarations using tree-sitter, Atlas creates a comprehensive index of all exported symbols. This method guarantees that every public method, property, and function is accounted for, preventing omissions or the invention of non-existent APIs. For Objective-C developers, this means the generated README will accurately reflect the module's external surface, crucial for consumers of the API, especially when considering interactions across bridging headers into Swift.

Verifying Objective-C Code Samples in READMEs

Verifying Objective-C code samples in READMEs is a critical step Atlas performs, running every sample with bash to ensure accuracy and prevent liabilities. In 2026, a code sample that was never executed is a significant risk, so Atlas guarantees functional examples that developers can trust and immediately use.

A documentation liability arises when a code sample in a README is incorrect or outdated. Atlas mitigates this risk for Objective-C modules by rigorously verifying every code sample. After drafting the README, Atlas uses the bash tool to execute each code snippet. This isn't merely a syntax check; it's an actual execution within a shell environment, confirming that the code runs as expected and produces the described output. This capability is particularly valuable in Objective-C projects where subtle changes in ARC behavior or framework updates can render older examples non-functional. By ensuring every sample is executable, Atlas provides Objective-C developers with READMEs that contain reliable, working code, enhancing the utility and trustworthiness of the documentation.

Integrating Atlas with Objective-C Toolchains

Integrating Atlas into an Objective-C project is straightforward, requiring only an .xcodeproj or .xcworkspace to begin. Atlas direct reads .h and .m files, understands CocoaPods dependencies from your Podfile, and can even run xcodebuild test for XCTest cases, enhancing your workflow in 2026.

Atlas is designed to integrate naturally into an Objective-C developer's existing toolchain. To get started, simply run `atlas` in a project directory containing an .xcodeproj or .xcworkspace file. Atlas will then read your .h and .m pairs, including category files, and parse the pods listed in your Podfile to understand your project's dependencies, especially those managed by CocoaPods. Beyond documentation, Atlas can assist with other Objective-C specific tasks, such as annotating nullability on a header to ensure Swift sees the right optionality across the bridging header. It can also add XCTest cases and run `xcodebuild test` behind a permission prompt, or have `clang-format` run over changed .h and .m files, demonstrating its deep understanding and interaction with the Objective-C ecosystem.

Safety and Review for Objective-C Documentation with Atlas

Atlas prioritizes safety and user control when documenting Objective-C modules, implementing permission-gated tool calls and presenting a unified diff for every file edit. Before any write operation, such as creating a README, Atlas asks for approval, ensuring developers retain full oversight in 2026.

User safety and control are paramount in Atlas's design, especially when making changes to an Objective-C codebase. Every Atlas tool call, including those for lsp, read, codebase_search, grep, write, and bash, is permission-gated against allow, ask, and deny rules. Atlas drafts a plan in a read-only plan agent and asks for user confirmation before switching to a build agent to execute any changes. When Atlas proposes to write or modify a README.md file, it computes a unified diff for the entire file edit and surfaces it for approval. This allows Objective-C developers to review precisely what changes will be made before they are committed. Furthermore, Atlas snapshots file changes as git patches, so edits can be diffed and rolled back, providing a robust safety net for all documentation updates.

Step by step

01Initialize Atlas in your Objective-C project by running `atlas` in a directory containing an `.xcodeproj` or `.xcworkspace` file.
02Allow Atlas to read your Objective-C `.h` and `.m` pairs, category files, and parse `CocoaPods` dependencies listed in your `Podfile` to build its code index.
03Instruct Atlas to enumerate the module's public API using the `lsp` tool's `documentSymbol` operation, ensuring all exports from your `.h` files are identified.
04Have Atlas read the implementation of each identified export from its `.m` file and use `codebase_search` to find how callers actually use it in practice across your Objective-C codebase.
05Ask Atlas to `grep` the repository for an existing `README.md` file to match its heading structure and tone, ensuring consistency with your project's documentation style.
06Direct Atlas to `write` the new or updated `README.md` with the gathered information, quoting real Objective-C signatures and file paths.
07Approve Atlas's proposed `write` operation after reviewing the unified diff, ensuring the generated documentation accurately reflects your Objective-C module.
08Verify every Objective-C code sample within the drafted `README.md` by having Atlas run it with `bash`, confirming its functionality and preventing documentation liabilities.

Frequently asked questions

How does Atlas ensure Objective-C READMEs are up-to-date?: Atlas ensures Objective-C READMEs are current by reading directly from `.h` and `.m` source files, enumerating the public API with `lsp`, and verifying code samples with `bash`, rather than relying on outdated assumptions.
Can Atlas document Objective-C modules that use CocoaPods?: Yes, Atlas can document Objective-C modules that use `CocoaPods`. It reads your `Podfile` to understand dependencies and indexes the relevant `.h` and `.m` files within your project.
How does Atlas handle Objective-C bridging headers for Swift documentation?: While documenting the Objective-C module itself, Atlas can also annotate nullability on your `.h` headers, which is crucial for Swift to correctly interpret optionality across the bridging header.
What Objective-C tools does Atlas integrate with for documentation?: Atlas integrates with core Objective-C tools like `XCTest (xcodebuild test)` for verification, `CocoaPods` for dependency understanding, and `clang-format` for code formatting, ensuring a familiar environment.
How does Atlas verify code examples in Objective-C READMEs?: Atlas verifies Objective-C code examples in READMEs by running each sample with the `bash` tool. This execution confirms the code's functionality, preventing the inclusion of non-working or outdated snippets.
Is it safe to let Atlas modify my Objective-C project files?: Yes, it is safe. Atlas operates with permission-gated tool calls, drafts plans in a read-only agent, and presents a unified diff for every proposed file edit, including `README.md` changes, for your explicit approval before writing.
Can Atlas match my existing Objective-C project's README style?: Yes, Atlas can match your existing Objective-C project's README style. It uses the `grep` tool to find an existing `README.md` and analyzes its heading structure and tone to ensure consistency in new documentation.

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