How to vibe codeBear

Prerequisites

• macOS & XcodeFree

  Required to compile and run native Swift and SwiftUI macOS applications.

• Apple Developer Account$99/yr

  Required if you want to test CloudKit synchronization and distribute the app locally or via TestFlight.

• Claude Code$20/mo

  Agentic coding tool for multi-file Swift project scaffolding, debugging, and iteration.

AI coding tools

• Claude Code

  Best-in-class agent for setting up complex native project architectures, writing Swift models, and debugging UI constraints.

• Cursor

  Ideal for fine-tuning SwiftUI views, adjusting theme color palettes, and inspecting code diffs visually.

Build guide

1. 01Scaffold Native macOS App & Database Layer

   Initialize a new SwiftUI macOS application using Swift Package Manager and GRDB.swift for SQLite persistence. Establish the database schema for notes, tags, and relations.

   Create a new SwiftUI macOS application project structure using Swift Package Manager. Integrate GRDB.swift as a dependency. Build a SQLite database manager that creates a `notes` table (id, title, body, is_encrypted, is_archived, is_trashed, created_at, modified_at) and a `tags` table with a many-to-many relationship. Ensure all database operations run asynchronously using Swift actors. Provide clean repository protocols for CRUD operations on notes and tags.

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2. 02Build Three-Column Navigation Sidebar & Note List

   Implement a macOS-style three-column navigation layout containing a sidebar for system views and nested tags, a filtered note list view, and the main editor pane.

   Build a responsive three-column macOS interface using `NavigationSplitView`. The sidebar must display system views (Notes, Untagged, Today, Archive, Trash) and a dynamically computed tree of nested tags parsed from note content (e.g., `#work/projects/alpha#`). The middle column displays the filtered list of notes sorted by modification date, supporting search queries and tag selection. The detail column displays the placeholder editor view.

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3. 03Develop Inline Markdown Editor & AST Parser

   Create a high-performance text editing view capable of parsing Markdown inline, highlighting headers, bold text, lists, and code blocks without a web view.

   Implement a custom SwiftUI text editor wrapper around `NSTextView` or SwiftUI TextEditor that performs lightweight real-time Markdown parsing. Highlight headers (`#`), bold text (`**`), lists (`-`), and code blocks dynamically. Implement support for wiki-style internal links (`[[Note Title]]`) and automatic backlink detection by scanning all notes for references to the current note's title.

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4. 04Implement Tag Parsing & Auto-Complete Engine

   Build a regex-based tag extractor that automatically indexes single and multi-word tags (#tag# or #multi word tag#) and provides auto-completion during typing.

   Write a Swift utility service that extracts single-word tags (`#work`) and multi-word tags wrapped in double hashes (`#blog post ideas#`) from note bodies. Maintain an up-to-date cache of all active tags in the SQLite database. Implement an auto-completion overlay popover that appears when the user types `#` inside the editor, suggesting existing tags matching the current query.

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5. 05Add Note Encryption & App Locking

   Implement note-level encryption using CryptoKit and biometric authentication (Touch ID) to lock individual notes and the application.

   Integrate Apple's CryptoKit and LocalAuthentication frameworks into the macOS app. Implement a service to encrypt and decrypt individual note bodies using AES-GCM with a user-provided passphrase or device passcode. Add a lock screen overlay when the application is backgrounded or when attempting to view encrypted notes, requiring Touch ID or password verification.

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6. 06Incorporate CloudKit Synchronization

   Configure CloudKit container synchronization to sync SQLite records and attachments across multiple Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account.

   Configure a CloudKit container integration using Swift's `CKContainer` and `CKRecord`. Implement a sync engine that observes local SQLite changes and pushes record modifications to iCloud, while listening to remote push notifications to pull updates and resolve sync conflicts cleanly using a last-write-wins strategy based on modification timestamps.

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7. 07Export Engine & Theme Customization

   Build an export pipeline for Markdown, PDF, HTML, and DOCX, alongside a dynamic theme switcher supporting dark and light color palettes.

   Build an export manager that converts notes into Markdown, HTML, RTF, and PDF formats using CoreText and PDFKit renderers. Create a theme engine supporting custom color palettes and font styling configurations (e.g., Solarized, Dracula, Dark Graphite) that dynamically update UI colors across the sidebar, note list, and editor.

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Cost vs paying for Bear