How to vibe codeAirmail

Prerequisites

• 

  Mac

  Required for macOS and iOS native application development

• XcodeFree

  Official IDE for building native Swift and SwiftUI apps

• Apple Developer Account$99/yr

  Required for provisioning profiles, push notifications, and hardware testing

AI coding tools

• Claude Code

  Best-in-class multi-file reasoning agent for handling complex Swift codebase architectures and debugging build errors

• Cursor

  Excellent AI code editor for inspecting SwiftUI layout diffs and tweaking UI components

Build guide

1. 01Project Scaffolding & SwiftUI Navigation Split View

   Initialize a multiplatform SwiftUI application target supporting macOS and iOS, establishing a master-detail layout mimicking standard email client navigation.

   Create a new multiplatform SwiftUI app structure targeting macOS and iOS. Implement a three-column NavigationSplitView consisting of a sidebar for accounts and folders, a message list view with virtualized rows displaying sender, subject, preview snippet, and timestamp, and a detail reading pane. Ensure the layout adapts correctly between compact iPhone screens and expansive Mac displays. Use mock data structures for email threads with properties such as id, sender, subject, body, date, isRead, and isStarred. Add basic view modifiers for dark mode support and custom accent colors matching user preferences.

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2. 02Local SQLite Database Layer with GRDB

   Integrate GRDB.swift to establish a local, encrypted SQLite database for offline email caching and thread storage.

   Integrate GRDB.swift into the project via Swift Package Manager. Design a robust local database schema representing email accounts, folders, messages, and attachments. Create a persistence manager class that handles database migrations, thread-safe background writing queues, and reactive publishers for UI updates. Implement CRUD operations for storing fetched messages locally, ensuring fast full-text search indexing over subject and body fields using SQLite FTS5 extension tables. Include unit tests verifying thread retrieval performance and schema migration integrity.

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3. 03IMAP & SMTP Protocol Integration

   Implement core email fetching and sending functionality by integrating an IMAP/SMTP client library or Swift wrapper.

   Incorporate an IMAP and SMTP handling library into the Swift project. Build an account configuration sheet supporting standard IMAP/SMTP server settings, port configurations, and OAuth2 authorization flows for Gmail and Microsoft Outlook. Implement background networking tasks to fetch folder lists, synchronize message headers using IMAP FETCH commands, and parse complex MIME multipart message bodies into clean HTML or plain text views. Handle connection timeouts, invalid SSL certificates gracefully, and credential securely storage inside the system Keychain.

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4. 04Smart Inbox Filtering & Rules Engine

   Build automated filters to separate newsletters, VIP messages, and custom user rules.

   Develop a Smart Inbox classification and rules engine that processes incoming local messages. Implement algorithmic heuristics and user-defined rules to automatically categorize emails into 'Important', 'Newsletters', and 'Others' tabs by analyzing headers, sender domains, and mailing list tags. Build an interface in settings allowing users to create custom automation rules (e.g., if sender matches X, apply label Y and archive). Ensure these rules execute locally immediately upon message synchronization and persist state changes to the SQLite database.

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5. 05Custom Actions & Swipe Gestures

   Implement configurable swipe actions and multi-step workflow custom actions.

   Implement customizable swipe actions for message rows supporting leading and trailing configurations (e.g., swipe right to archive, swipe left to snooze). Build a custom action workflow builder UI where users can chain multiple operations together—such as adding a tag, moving to a folder, sending an API payload to Todoist via URL scheme, and archiving the thread in a single click. Ensure these custom action scripts execute sequentially with error handling and rollback mechanisms if any intermediate step fails.

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6. 06Privacy Mode & Biometric App Locking

   Add remote image blocking, tracking pixel suppression, and Face ID / Touch ID security layers.

   Implement a Privacy Mode toggle that intercepts outgoing web view requests inside message bodies to block remote tracking pixels and prevent automatic loading of remote images unless explicitly requested by the user. Integrate LocalAuthentication framework to protect the entire application with Face ID or Touch ID upon launch or background resumption. Ensure app content is automatically blurred or hidden when switching to the system app switcher to prevent sensitive email preview leaks.

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7. 07StoreKit 2 Integration & Polish

   Set up in-app purchases using StoreKit 2 to handle feature gates for multi-account support and pro utilities.

   Implement StoreKit 2 subscription management to handle Airmail Pro feature gating. Create a paywall view presenting monthly and annual subscription options. Set up asynchronous transaction listeners to verify receipt validity, manage subscription status caching securely in UserDefaults or Keychain, and unlock multi-account management, smart inbox filters, and advanced agenda integrations dynamically when active entitlements are detected. Add smooth macOS/iOS transition animations and comprehensive keyboard shortcut navigation for iPad and Mac.

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Cost vs paying for Airmail