Integrate the Optimization iOS SDK in a SwiftUI app

Overview

Use this guide to add Contentful personalization to a SwiftUI app using the Optimization iOS SDK. By the end of the quick start, the SDK is initialized inside your SwiftUI app and emits one screen event that its consent gate accepts — the event Contentful uses to keep that visitor’s personalization consistent.

New to personalization? Here is a breakdown of how it works:

• In Contentful you author variants of an entry and attach them to an experience — a rule that decides which visitors see which variant.
• As the app runs, Contentful’s Experience API looks at who the visitor is and picks the variant for each experience. Swapping a fetched entry for its picked variant is called resolving the entry.
• The Experience API also returns a profile: the anonymous, per-visitor identity and state used to keep personalization consistent across requests or app launches.
• Your app hands a Contentful entry to the SDK at the point where that entry becomes output. The SDK gives back the selected variant, or the original entry when no variant applies—the baseline fallback.
• You render the returned entry with the same application components you already use.

The iOS SDK persists the profile to UserDefaults across app launches when persistence consent allows it.

That is enough to start. The guide introduces policy and optional capabilities at the point you need them.

You will get there in two milestones:

• Milestone 1 — the SDK initialized, reporting one screen event, and resolving entries (the quick start below plus the Core entry sections). The quick start proves initialization and one accepted screen event. The Contentful entry fetching and locale shape and Entry resolution and fallback rendering sections then add entries resolving through OptimizedEntry once your app passes it fetched Contentful entries. This is shippable on its own once its consent posture matches your policy: the quick start starts with consent already accepted, and the Consent and privacy-policy handoff section replaces that shortcut with an app-owned decision.
• Milestone 2 — the opt-in layers (later). Consent handoff, interaction tracking, identity, Custom Flags, live updates, the preview panel, strict event policy, and offline delivery, each introduced by the section that needs it.

This guide uses the ContentfulOptimization Swift Package. You mount one OptimizationRoot around the SwiftUI tree that uses SDK views; it creates and initializes the SDK client, restores state from UserDefaults, and provides it to the components and modifiers below it. Your app still owns its Contentful entry fetching, consent policy, identity policy, navigation, and final rendering. If your app is UIKit-based, use the UIKit iOS integration guide instead.

There is one SDK behind both guides, so a mixed app can mix surfaces: a UIKit app that hosts some screens in SwiftUI through UIHostingController can use the SwiftUI views on those hosted screens, because they read one OptimizationClient from the SwiftUI environment. Provide the hosted root with the client the app already created (.environmentObject(client)) rather than mounting a second OptimizationRoot per hosted screen, and follow the UIKit guide for the rest of the app.

Quick start

Most SwiftUI + Contentful apps share one shape: an App whose WindowGroup wraps a root view, with screens fetched or built inside that tree. This quick start assumes that shape and proves the smallest result: the SDK initializes and emits one screen event that its consent gate accepts — an “accepted” event is one the SDK’s local consent and allow-list checks let through to send, which is what you can observe on the device; it is not a confirmation that Contentful received it. Entry rendering needs an app-specific Contentful fetch, so it moves to Entry resolution and fallback rendering in Core; here you wrap your app root in OptimizationRoot and mark one screen with .trackScreen(name:).

This quick start assumes your application policy permits Optimization to start with accepted consent and renders no end-user consent UI, so it sets defaults: StorageDefaults(consent: true) — the shorthand that accepts both consent axes at once. Treat that line as a temporary shortcut for the first run: a configured StorageDefaults value is a startup default the SDK applies on every launch, taking precedence over whatever consent is stored on the device, so shipping it would keep re-accepting consent for a visitor who declined. If personalization must wait for a consent decision, keep this structure and replace that line before you ship as described in Consent and privacy-policy handoff, which explains the two axes, the split form that sets them separately, and why an app that collects a choice leaves defaults unset.

1. Add the ContentfulOptimization Swift Package. In Xcode, choose File → Add Package Dependencies and enter the package URL https://github.com/contentful/optimization.swift. If your app is defined by a Package.swift manifest, add the dependency and product there instead and set a real version for from:.

   Adapt this to your use case:

   1
   dependencies: [
   2
       .package(url: "https://github.com/contentful/optimization.swift.swift", from: "<version>"),
   3
   ],
   4
   targets: [
   5
       .target(
   6
           name: "MyApp",
   7
           dependencies: [
   8
               .product(name: "ContentfulOptimization", package: "optimization.swift"),
   9
           ]
   10
       ),
   11
   ]

   There is no pod install step for a Swift Package. After adding the package, build and run the app on a simulator (Product → Run, or ⌘R) so the SDK’s bundled JavaScript runtime resource is linked into the build.

   That resource is the SDK’s optimization core — the same core the other Optimization SDKs run, shipped with the package as a JavaScript bundle. It executes inside a JavaScriptCore context the SDK client owns, and the Swift API you call is a thin native layer over it. The SDK’s logs call that Swift-to-JavaScript boundary the bridge; you never call it yourself, but step 3 has you read its log lines.

2. Wrap your app root in OptimizationRoot, pass your Optimization client ID — the value from your Optimization project settings, listed under Before you start — set logLevel: .debug so the SDK logs its activity, and add .trackScreen(name:) to one screen you already render.

   Adapt this to your use case:

   1
    import SwiftUI
   2
   +import ContentfulOptimization
   3
   4
    @main
   5
    struct MyApp: App {
   6
        var body: some Scene {
   7
            WindowGroup {
   8
   -            HomeScreen()
   9
   +            // Wrap the tree that uses SDK views; one client stays alive for its lifetime.
   10
   +            OptimizationRoot(
   11
   +                config: OptimizationConfig(
   12
   +                    clientId: "<your-client-id>",
   13
   +                    // Startup consent default, reapplied every launch; the Consent section replaces it.
   14
   +                    defaults: StorageDefaults(consent: true),
   15
   +                    // .debug surfaces the accepted screen event in the Xcode console.
   16
   +                    logLevel: .debug
   17
   +                )
   18
   +            ) {
   19
   +                HomeScreen()
   20
   +            }
   21
            }
   22
        }
   23
    }
   24
   25
    struct HomeScreen: View {
   26
        var body: some View {
   27
            HomeContent()
   28
   +            // Emits one screen event on appear; the SDK dedupes repeats of the same screen.
   29
   +            .trackScreen(name: "Home")
   30
        }
   31
    }

   The MyApp and HomeScreen scaffolding above is illustrative context to match against your own app, not a file to paste over yours. Wrap your existing app root in OptimizationRoot and add .trackScreen(name:) to a screen you already render — keep the rest of your views as they are.

3. Verify the first run. Launch the app on a simulator. Because logLevel: .debug is set, the SDK logs its activity to the Xcode console under the com.contentful.optimization subsystem. The .trackScreen(name:) modifier sends the screen event through trackCurrentScreen, so filter the console for optimization and look for the pair of bridge lines it logs — [bridge] Calling trackCurrentScreen async followed by [bridge] trackCurrentScreen succeeded, whose result payload contains "accepted":true. That succeeded line with accepted true is the proof the event passed the consent gate. The Custom events and analytics diagnostics section adds a programmatic eventStream observer for asserting on events in code rather than reading logs.

Before you start

The sections below walk the integration in order. First, gather the few things you can only get from outside this guide:

• A native SwiftUI app you can build in Xcode, with its own Contentful entry fetching already working. The iOS SDK does not fetch Contentful entries for your application UI — you fetch them in the app layer and pass each fetched single-locale Contentful.Entry to OptimizedEntry or resolveOptimizedEntry(...). The SDK targets iOS 15+. It ships as a Swift Package with no pod install step, so you add it in Xcode (or Package.swift) and run a normal build on a simulator.

• Contentful delivery credentials — space ID, delivery token, and environment — read from your app’s runtime configuration and used by your own Contentful fetching layer.

• A configured contentful.swift client that already fetches at least one entry with a concrete locale. That is the client this guide’s fetch examples extend; the SDK ships an adapter for the Contentful.Entry values it returns, so those entries go straight into the SDK’s typed entry APIs.

• At least one entry with a variant attached to an experience, authored in Contentful. Without an authored variant, the integration can still run correctly while returning the baseline, so you cannot yet distinguish working personalization from a content-authoring gap. For the first personalized-content test, target all visitors so the test request or visitor matches automatically.

• Your Optimization project values — client ID and environment, from your Optimization project ssettings. In the Contentful web app the path depends on which navigation your organization uses: in classic navigation, go to Apps → Installed apps → Contentful Personalization → SDK keys; in new navigation (the Contentful app with ExO navigation enabled), go to Platform/Apps → Installed apps → Contentful Personalization → SDK keys. The client ID and environment are listed there.

  The Experience API (which picks variants) and the Insights API (which receives event and interaction delivery) each have a base URL that defaults correctly; you set them only for mocks or non-default hosts (see Install and initialize the SwiftUI root).

Everything else — consent, entry resolution, screen tracking, interaction tracking, identity, live updates, preview, offline delivery — is introduced by the section that needs it.

Core integration

Install and initialize the SwiftUI root

Integration category: Required for first integration

You wrapped your app root in OptimizationRoot in the quick start, so this section adds only what the quick start left out: the environment and locale values, api endpoint overrides, and how a view below the root reaches the client. The quick start’s defaults and logLevel lines stay as they were — the Consent and privacy-policy handoff section is what replaces defaults, and you lower logLevel when you stop needing the console output.

OptimizationRoot is the normal SwiftUI entry point: it owns one OptimizationClient as a @StateObject, calls the client’s initialize(config:) in a .task, injects the client into the SwiftUI environment as an @EnvironmentObject, provides tracking defaults to descendant OptimizedEntry views, and renders a ProgressView() until the client reports isInitialized. Descendant views that call SDK methods directly read the client with @EnvironmentObject.

initialize(config:) is synchronous and throws — it loads the SDK’s bundled JavaScript runtime and runs bridge initialization inline on the main actor, so it briefly blocks the main actor at startup rather than awaiting. OptimizationClient is a @MainActor type; call its methods from SwiftUI view tasks, event handlers, or other main-actor contexts.

1. Add ContentfulOptimization as a Swift Package dependency and build the app on a simulator.
2. Create one OptimizationConfig with the Optimization client ID. environment defaults to main, so pass it only when your Contentful environment differs.
3. Pass locale when Experience API responses and event context must use the same app locale as your Contentful entry fetches.
4. Pass api endpoint overrides only for staging, mocks, or non-default hosts; both base URLs default correctly otherwise, so most apps omit api.
5. Read the initialized client from @EnvironmentObject inside descendant views that call SDK methods directly.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
import ContentfulOptimization
2
import SwiftUI
3
4
@main
5
struct MyApp: App {
6
    var body: some Scene {
7
        WindowGroup {
8
            // One SDK-owned client stays alive for the SwiftUI tree that uses Optimization.
9
            OptimizationRoot(
10
                config: OptimizationConfig(
11
                    clientId: "<your-client-id>",
12
                    // environment defaults to "main"; set it only when your Contentful environment differs.
13
                    locale: "en-US",
14
                    // Still the quick start's startup consent; the Consent section replaces it.
15
                    defaults: StorageDefaults(consent: true),
16
                    // Keep .debug while integrating, then lower it for release builds.
17
                    logLevel: .debug
18
                )
19
            ) {
20
                RootView()
21
            }
22
        }
23
    }
24
}
25
26
struct SDKLocaleLabel: View {
27
    // Descendant views read the client OptimizationRoot created and initialized.
28
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
29
30
    var body: some View {
31
        // locale is @Published, so this view updates when the app calls setLocale.
32
        Text(client.locale ?? "no SDK locale set")
33
    }
34
}

logLevel defaults to .error; .debug and .log also enable remote JavaScript inspection in debug builds. OptimizationClient methods that emit events are async and called from tasks or event handlers — Custom events and analytics diagnostics shows that shape. For lifecycle details, see iOS SDK runtime and interaction mechanics. For package status and installation options, see the Optimization iOS SDK README.

Consent and privacy-policy handoff

Integration category: Common but policy-dependent

Consent policy stays application-owned. Consent has two independent axes: event consent (may the SDK personalize and emit events) and persistence consent (may the SDK store profile continuity in UserDefaults). The boolean call client.consent(_:) sets both at once; the split call client.consent(events:persistence:) sets them independently. StorageDefaults(consent: true) accepts both axes at startup — use it only when application policy permits Optimization by default and you render no consent UI.

StorageDefaults values are startup defaults, not one-time seeds. A configured value takes precedence over the value stored in UserDefaults on every launch, so a configured consent: true keeps re-accepting consent for a visitor who declined on an earlier launch: the stored choice never wins against it. That is the reason for the rule below — an app that collects its own consent decision leaves StorageDefaults.consent (and persistenceConsent) unset, and calls client.consent(...) from resolved app policy instead, so the SDK reflects only what the app passes.

1. Set StorageDefaults(consent: true) only when policy permits default-on Optimization and no consent UI is shown.
2. Otherwise leave consent unset and call client.consent(true) after the visitor accepts, client.consent(false) after they reject.
3. Use the split form when events are allowed but durable profile continuity must stay session-only.
4. Read client.state.consent and client.state.persistenceConsent when consent UI must reflect SDK state. client.state.consent is tri-state — true, false, or nil when the visitor has not decided yet — so gate the banner on client.state.consent == nil to show it only until a choice is made.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct ConsentBanner: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
4
    var body: some View {
5
        HStack {
6
            Button("Accept") {
7
                // Boolean consent accepts both event emission and durable profile continuity.
8
                client.consent(true)
9
            }
10
            Button("Reject") {
11
                // Blocks non-allowed events and clears persisted profile continuity.
12
                client.consent(false)
13
            }
14
        }
15
    }
16
}
17
18
struct ConsentGate<Content: View>: View {
19
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
20
    @ViewBuilder var content: () -> Content
21
22
    var body: some View {
23
        // consent is nil until the visitor decides; show the banner only while undecided.
24
        if client.state.consent == nil {
25
            ConsentBanner()
26
        } else {
27
            content()
28
        }
29
    }
30
}

Copy this:

1
// Allows events but keeps profile continuity session-only.
2
client.consent(events: true, persistence: false)

Before event consent is accepted, allowedEventTypes is the whole admission rule, and the native default allows identify and screen. Every type absent from that list is blocked: entry-view events (delivered as component), tap events (component_click), custom track events, and page events — the page-view event the SDK shares with the web SDKs, which SwiftUI apps replace with screen. Accepting event consent admits every type at once; adding a type to allowedEventTypes admits that one type with no consent decision at all. client.consent(false) clears event and persistence consent, purges queued events, and clears durable profile continuity, while in-memory state stays usable until reset or teardown. To block every SDK event before consent — including identify and screen — set allowedEventTypes: []; see Strict event policy and endpoint controls. For the cross-SDK consent model, see Consent management in the Optimization SDK Suite.

Contentful entry fetching and locale shape

Integration category: Required for first integration

The iOS SDK does not fetch managed Contentful entries for your application UI. Fetching remains in your app regardless of how the route identifies an entry. If the app already has a Contentful entry ID, keep its existing single-entry ID request. If a route carries a public slug, the app can query by content type and slug instead. Either way you pass the fetched Contentful.Entry to OptimizedEntry or client.resolveOptimizedEntry(...) — never the ID or the slug, which the native SDK does not read. The only thing the SDK fetches for itself is the preview panel’s own audience and experience definitions.

Two properties of that fetch decide whether personalization can work at all, and both fail quietly:

• Exactly one concrete locale. The resolver reads direct field values, so an all-locale response (the delivery API’s locale=* mode) falls back to baseline even though the request succeeded and the entry looks complete.
• Enough include depth. nt_experiences is the SDK-owned link field the resolver reads on an optimized entry; it links that entry’s nt_experience entries, and each experience links its nt_variants (and nt_audience). These are fixed Optimization content-model identifiers you do not choose. Fetch deep enough to pull all of them back in one payload — the reference implementation uses a depth of 10. nt_config is a JSON field on the experience, not a link, so it needs no extra depth. If a link is missing from the payload, resolution falls back to baseline.

The SDK Experience/event locale is distinct from the Contentful delivery locale: your app chooses the delivery locale for its own fetch, and OptimizationConfig(locale:) sets the locale the Experience API and events use. Keep them aligned when rendered content and Experience responses must match.

1. Choose the application Contentful locale in your app’s navigation, i18n, or account layer.
2. Pass the same locale to OptimizationConfig(locale:) when Experience responses and event context must align with rendered content.
3. Fetch by entry ID, or by content type and slug when the route supplies one, and pass the one fetched entry to native resolution.
4. When the app locale changes, call client.setLocale(...), refetch entries with the new locale, and re-render. setLocale(...) updates only the SDK Experience/event locale; it does not refetch Contentful or refresh profile state, and it throws before initialization or on an invalid locale.
5. After the locale change, emit a fresh Experience event — the screen, identify, or page call your app already owns for the current state — when rendered output depends on SDK-derived profile data, selectedOptimizations (the visitor’s current set of variant selections), flags, or merge tags that must reflect the new locale. Without a new event, those stay on the previous locale’s response.

Both fetch properties are set on the contentful.swift query your app already builds. The contentfulClient parameter below is the client from Before you start; its fetchArray reports through a completion handler, so an async call site bridges it with a continuation.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
import Contentful
2
import ContentfulOptimization
3
4
// App-owned locale; replace this with the value from your locale policy.
5
let appLocale = "en-US"
6
7
let config = OptimizationConfig(
8
    clientId: "<your-client-id>",
9
    // Aligns Experience API responses and event context with the rendered Contentful locale.
10
    locale: appLocale
11
)
12
13
func fetchEntry(
14
    id: String,
15
    locale: String,
16
    using contentfulClient: Contentful.Client
17
) async throws -> Contentful.Entry? {
18
    let query = Query.where(sys: .id, .equals(id))
19
        // Deep enough for nt_experiences -> nt_experience -> nt_variants in one payload.
20
        .include(10)
21
        // One concrete locale; an all-locale payload resolves to baseline.
22
        .localizeResults(withLocaleCode: locale)
23
24
    let response: HomogeneousArrayResponse<Contentful.Entry> =
25
        try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in
26
            contentfulClient.fetchArray(of: Contentful.Entry.self, matching: query) { result in
27
                continuation.resume(with: result)
28
            }
29
        }
30
    return response.items.first
31
}

When the route carries a slug instead of an ID, the same two properties apply, plus a limit of two so a duplicate slug is detectable rather than silently resolved to whichever entry came back first. Return the entry only when the response contains exactly one item; surface zero items through the app’s not-found path and more than one as an authoring or configuration error. The content type and slug-field IDs belong to your app and content model — the native SDK never reads them or performs this request.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
// routeSlug is your app's; "page" and "slug" are your content type and slug-field IDs.
2
let query = Query.where(contentTypeId: "page")
3
    .where(field: "slug", .equals(routeSlug))
4
    .include(10)
5
    // Two, not one: a second item means the slug is ambiguous.
6
    .limit(to: 2)
7
    .localizeResults(withLocaleCode: appLocale)

Pass the entry either query returns to the OptimizedEntry or direct-resolution path in Entry resolution and fallback rendering.

Before you start assumes you already have a contentful.swift client. If you do not, construct one from your space ID, environment, and Delivery API token — the queries above run through it:

Adapt this to your use case:

1
import Contentful
2
3
let contentfulClient = Client(
4
    spaceId: "<your-space-id>",
5
    environmentId: "<your-environment-id>",
6
    accessToken: "<your-delivery-api-token>"
7
)

For the full data shape and locale boundary, see Entry optimization and variant resolution and Locale handling in the Optimization SDK Suite.

Entry resolution and fallback rendering

Integration category: Required for first integration

OptimizedEntry renders a Contentful entry through the resolver. It detects an optimized entry by the presence of the nt_experiences field; a non-optimized entry passes through unchanged, and an optimized entry resolves against the visitor’s selected variants. When you pass a Contentful.Entry, the render closure receives the SDK-owned CTEntry wrapper.

Read that wrapper in two steps, because the entry you get back is not necessarily shaped like the one you passed in: a selected variant is its own linked entry and can use any Contentful content type.

1. CTEntry.contentTypeId tells you which Contentful content type you actually received, so your app can choose the renderer for it.
2. Inside that renderer, call hasField(...) before getField(...). contentTypeId identifies the content type; it does not validate that the entry carries the fields that content type usually has.

The content type IDs and renderers below belong to your app.

An empty variant is a variant authored to render nothing rather than to replace content. When one is selected, OptimizedEntry omits your app’s content and does not call your content closure. The SDK still retains the resolved selection and tracking metadata. Because no visible content supplies geometry in that state, there may be nothing measurable or tappable, so a view or tap event is not guaranteed. A later non-empty result calls the closure with the current entry. An absent or invalid empty-variant field renders normally.

Resolution is synchronous and fail-soft. client.resolveOptimizedEntry(baseline:selectedOptimizations:) returns the SDK-owned ResolvedOptimizedEntry, which contains the resolved CTEntry, the applied selectedOptimization — the single selection that produced this entry’s variant, as opposed to the client’s selectedOptimizations, which is the visitor’s whole current set — an optional optimizationContextId, and isEmptyVariant. Only a boolean true marks an empty variant. If resolution fails, it contains the baseline entry with selectedOptimization and optimizationContextId set to nil instead of breaking the UI. Pass nil for selectedOptimizations to use current client state, or pass an explicit snapshot.

1. Pass the fetched Contentful.Entry to OptimizedEntry, branch on CTEntry.contentTypeId, and read fields only inside the matching branch.
2. Provide your own loading treatment while the app-owned fetch is pending — OptimizedEntry needs an entry to render, so gate it on your fetched state.
3. Use client.resolveOptimizedEntry(...) directly only when a component must separate resolution from rendering, and route its CTEntry through the same renderer.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
import Contentful
2
import ContentfulOptimization
3
import SwiftUI
4
5
struct PersonalizedSection: View {
6
    // nil until your app-owned CDA fetch settles.
7
    let entry: Contentful.Entry?
8
9
    var body: some View {
10
        if let entry {
11
            OptimizedEntry(entry: entry) { resolvedEntry in
12
                ResolvedEntryContent(entry: resolvedEntry)
13
            }
14
        } else {
15
            // Your own loading treatment; OptimizedEntry needs a fetched entry to render.
16
            ProgressView()
17
        }
18
    }
19
}
20
21
private struct ResolvedEntryContent: View {
22
    let entry: CTEntry
23
24
    @ViewBuilder
25
    var body: some View {
26
        switch entry.contentTypeId {
27
        case "hero" where entry.hasField("headline"):
28
            HeroCard(headline: entry.getField("headline") ?? "")
29
        case "cta" where entry.hasField("label"):
30
            CTAButton(label: entry.getField("label") ?? "")
31
        case "page" where entry.hasField("title"):
32
            PageSection(title: entry.getField("title") ?? "")
33
        default:
34
            UnsupportedEntryView()
35
        }
36
    }
37
}

The direct resolver keeps the same native call shape and uses current client state when selectedOptimizations is omitted.

Follow this pattern:

1
struct DirectResolutionView: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
    let entry: Contentful.Entry
4
5
    var body: some View {
6
        let result = client.resolveOptimizedEntry(baseline: entry)
7
        if !result.isEmptyVariant {
8
            ResolvedEntryContent(entry: result.entry)
9
        }
10
    }
11
}

Both examples pass the fetched Contentful.Entry straight to the typed API rather than hand-mapping it to a dictionary first: the SDK-owned adapter builds the {sys, fields, metadata} shape the resolver expects, and what comes back is a CTEntry you read with getField instead of a raw dictionary you cast.

For the fallback rules, see Entry optimization and variant resolution.

Screen events and SwiftUI navigation

Integration category: Required for first integration

You added .trackScreen(name:) in the quick start. The modifier calls client.trackCurrentScreen(name:) when the view appears, when a consent change allows a previously blocked screen to emit, and when the screen name changes. trackCurrentScreen dedupes in the bridge by route key (defaulting to the name), so a repeat of the same current screen is skipped and a blocked attempt is retried once consent allows. Plain client.screen(name:) emits with no dedupe.

Attach .trackScreen(name:) once to a screen’s stable root. For a dynamic screen name or an app-defined route key — for example a detail screen whose name depends on loaded data — call client.trackCurrentScreen(name:properties:routeKey:) from a task after the data is available instead. Track a given route through one path only: do not attach .trackScreen and also call trackCurrentScreen/screen for the same route, or you will emit duplicate or conflicting events.

1. Attach .trackScreen(name:) to the stable root of each screen that maps to an analytics screen.
2. Use stable names for navigation destinations so downstream reporting can group events.
3. For dynamic names or an explicit route key, call client.trackCurrentScreen(name:properties:routeKey:) from a .task once the data is available.
4. Use one screen-tracking path per route.

Follow this pattern:

1
struct HomeScreen: View {
2
    var body: some View {
3
        HomeContent()
4
            // Attach once to the stable screen root to avoid duplicate screen events.
5
            .trackScreen(name: "Home")
6
    }
7
}

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct DetailsScreen: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
    let postId: String
4
5
    var body: some View {
6
        DetailsContent()
7
            .task(id: postId) {
8
                _ = try? await client.trackCurrentScreen(
9
                    name: "BlogPostDetail",
10
                    properties: ["postId": postId],
11
                    // Keeps dedupe and retries tied to one logical route across name changes.
12
                    routeKey: "blog-post-\(postId)"
13
                )
14
            }
15
    }
16
}

Entry interaction tracking

Integration category: Common but policy-dependent

OptimizedEntry tracks two interactions for the entry it wraps: entry views and entry taps. Both default to enabled. OptimizationRoot sets the tree-wide defaults through its trackViews and trackTaps parameters, and each OptimizedEntry can override them per entry.

Three sets of names describe those same two interactions, and only the first set is yours to choose: trackViews/trackTaps are the configuration switches you pass; trackView/trackClick are fixed SDK-owned consent keys the SDK checks internally, as hasConsent(method: "trackView") for views and hasConsent(method: "trackClick") for taps; and component/component_click are the event types an entry view and an entry tap are delivered as — the names you use in allowedEventTypes and see in event payloads. Both interactions stay blocked until event consent (or an allow-list entry) permits them.

View tracking is viewport-based. Wrap scrollable content in OptimizationScrollView so view timing uses the real scroll position; without an enclosing scroll view, tracking assumes scrollY is 0 and uses the screen height as the viewport, which suits only non-scrolling or already-visible layouts. The default view threshold is 80% visibility (minVisibleRatio 0.8) for a cumulative 2000 ms (dwellTimeMs) — visible time accumulates, so the threshold does not require one unbroken visible window. After the first view event, duration updates emit every 5000 ms (viewDurationUpdateIntervalMs) while the entry stays visible.

A tap observer on the OptimizedEntry wrapper emits the component_click event, then calls the optional onTap closure. That closure receives the baseline entry you passed in, not the resolved variant — only the render closure receives the resolved entry — so do not read variant-dependent fields from it. Because onTap runs through that same tap observer, trackTaps: false on that OptimizedEntry disables both the tap event and onTap.

1. Leave view and tap tracking enabled for entries that need exposure and interaction analytics.
2. Set trackViews: false or trackTaps: false on OptimizationRoot to change the default for the whole tree, or on an individual OptimizedEntry for one surface. A root trackTaps: false is a default, not a lock: an entry that passes trackTaps: true, or a non-nil onTap, still emits component_click.
3. Wrap scrollable entry lists in OptimizationScrollView for accurate viewport timing.
4. Tune dwellTimeMs, minVisibleRatio, and viewDurationUpdateIntervalMs per entry only when analytics requirements differ from the defaults.
5. Use a Button or app gesture inside the render closure for navigation, and onTap only when the SDK tap event should also drive it.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
OptimizationRoot(config: config, trackTaps: false) {
2
    // Tap tracking off by default below here; an entry with trackTaps: true or a
3
    // non-nil onTap still tracks taps.
4
    RootView()
5
}

The snippets in this section show SDK call shapes only, so place each expression inside your own View body or Scene — a bare OptimizationRoot(...) or OptimizedEntry(...) expression cannot sit at file scope. config, posts, cta, navigate(to:), analytics, and the card views are your app’s.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
OptimizationScrollView {
2
    LazyVStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 12) {
3
        ForEach(Array(posts.enumerated()), id: \.offset) { _, post in
4
            // Per-entry thresholds override the tree defaults from OptimizationRoot.
5
            OptimizedEntry(entry: post, dwellTimeMs: 1000, minVisibleRatio: 0.5) { resolvedEntry in
6
                BlogPostCard(entry: resolvedEntry)
7
            }
8
        }
9
    }
10
}

Adapt this to your use case:

1
// SDK tap event plus app navigation. onTap fires after component_click, but it
2
// receives the baseline entry — so navigate with the resolved entry from the
3
// render closure instead, which carries the variant's fields. A non-nil onTap
4
// also enables tap tracking for this entry under a root trackTaps: false.
5
OptimizedEntry(entry: cta, onTap: { _ in
6
    analytics.log("cta-tapped") // A side effect that needs no variant fields.
7
}) { resolvedEntry in
8
    CTAHeader(entry: resolvedEntry)
9
        .onTapGesture { navigate(to: resolvedEntry) }
10
}
11
12
// App-only navigation that must not depend on tap tracking:
13
OptimizedEntry(entry: cta, trackTaps: false) { resolvedEntry in
14
    Button {
15
        navigate(to: resolvedEntry)
16
    } label: {
17
        CTAHeader(entry: resolvedEntry)
18
    }
19
}

For timing thresholds, scroll context, and delivery behavior, see iOS SDK runtime and interaction mechanics.

Identity, profile state, and reset

Integration category: Common but policy-dependent

Identify a user when your product has an application-owned identity to associate with the profile. client.identify(userId:traits:) links that identity to the current profile. The SDK publishes its state reactively: client.selectedOptimizations and client.locale are top-level @Published properties, and client.state publishes a snapshot carrying the profile, consent, and changes — the inline field and flag values the Experience API returned for this visitor. SwiftUI views observe any of them directly. Keep traits limited to values approved for Optimization profile use.

When persistence consent allows it, the SDK stores profile continuity — profile, changes, selected optimizations, and the anonymous id — in UserDefaults across app launches, reading it once at startup and running from in-memory state thereafter. client.reset() clears that continuity (profile, changes, selected optimizations, anonymous id, and the current-screen dedupe) but preserves the stored consent decision, so the next SDK activity still follows the visitor’s existing consent. reset() no-ops before initialization.

1. Call identify(userId:traits:) from the authenticated flow or account state change that owns identity.
2. Read client.state.profile when SwiftUI must react to profile state; read client.selectedOptimizations only for app-owned resolution or diagnostics (OptimizedEntry observes it for you).
3. Call client.reset() on sign-out or a privacy reset that must clear profile continuity.
4. Re-emit a screen event after reset when the active journey needs fresh anonymous state.
5. Use client.consent(events:persistence:) when profile-continuity persistence must differ from event consent.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct AccountControls: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
4
    var body: some View {
5
        VStack {
6
            Button("Identify") {
7
                Task {
8
                    // Identify once your app-owned authentication state is available.
9
                    _ = try? await client.identify(userId: "user-123", traits: ["plan": "pro"])
10
                }
11
            }
12
13
            Button("Reset") {
14
                // Clears SDK-managed profile continuity; the stored consent decision survives.
15
                client.reset()
16
            }
17
        }
18
    }
19
}

Optional integrations

Custom events and analytics diagnostics

Integration category: Optional

Use client.track(event:properties:) for application-owned business events, and the SDK event streams for debug surfaces, local validation, or forwarding to your analytics pipeline.

client.eventStream is a passthrough Combine publisher fed by every emitted event; it does not replay prior events to late subscribers, so subscribe before the events you want to observe (for example in the root screen’s .task, before child views can emit) or accept that earlier events are missed. This is the programmatic observer the quick start pointed to: subscribe to eventStream to assert on the accepted screen event in code instead of reading the Xcode console. client.blockedEventStream (and the onEventBlocked config callback) surfaces events blocked by consent or the allow-list. Keep any downstream destination consent checks in your app before forwarding.

1. Call client.track(event:properties:) from the SwiftUI handler that owns the business action.
2. Subscribe to client.eventStream before the actions you need to observe; it does not buffer.
3. Subscribe to client.blockedEventStream or set onEventBlocked when a debug UI or logger must explain consent-blocked events.
4. Apply destination consent in your app before forwarding events.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct PurchaseButton: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
4
    var body: some View {
5
        Button("Purchase") {
6
            Task {
7
                // Event methods are async; custom track events stay blocked until
8
                // event consent is accepted.
9
                _ = try? await client.track(event: "Purchase Completed", properties: ["sku": "sku-1"])
10
            }
11
        }
12
    }
13
}

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct AnalyticsDiagnostics: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
    @State private var lastEventType = "none"
4
5
    var body: some View {
6
        Text(lastEventType)
7
            .task {
8
                // Subscribe before the actions you need to verify; this stream does not buffer.
9
                for await event in client.eventStream.values {
10
                    lastEventType = event["type"] as? String ?? "unknown"
11
                }
12
            }
13
    }
14
}

For cross-SDK forwarding patterns, see Forwarding Optimization SDK context to analytics and tag management tools.

Custom Flags and MergeTag rendering

Integration category: Optional

Custom Flags are named values the Experience API returns for the current visitor alongside variant selections — a switch, label, or number your app reads and applies itself instead of rendering a replacement entry. A merge tag is the inline counterpart inside Rich Text: an embedded nt_mergetag entry that resolves to a value from the visitor’s profile. Both read profile-backed values, separately from entry variant selection.

Flag names are not app-invented. client.getFlag(_:) looks the name up in the flag values the Experience API returned for this visitor, so the key has to match the one in your Optimization data; "priorityBadge" below stands in for that name.

client.getFlag(_:) is a one-time, non-reactive read; client.flagPublisher(_:) returns a Combine publisher that updates as the flag value changes. Subscribing to a flag registers a flag observation that emits a component flag-view event through the event stream when consent and profile allow, so flag delivery is an analytics exposure — apply the same governance you use for other SDK events.

client.getMergeTagValue(mergeTagEntry:) resolves an inline nt_mergetag entry — the SDK-owned merge-tag content-model identifier — against the current profile and returns the resolved string, or nil when it cannot resolve. Your app owns extracting the embedded nt_mergetag entry from Rich Text before calling it, and owns where the value renders.

1. Use client.getFlag(_:) for a one-time flag read after the SDK is initialized.
2. Use client.flagPublisher(_:) when SwiftUI state must follow flag changes.
3. Resolve Rich Text nt_mergetag entries with client.getMergeTagValue(mergeTagEntry:) after your fetcher has inlined the target entry.
4. Provide app-owned fallback rendering when a flag or merge-tag value is missing.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
struct FlaggedBadge: View {
2
    @EnvironmentObject private var client: OptimizationClient
3
    @State private var enabled = false
4
5
    var body: some View {
6
        Group {
7
            if enabled {
8
                Text("Priority")
9
            }
10
        }
11
        .task {
12
            enabled = client.getFlag("priorityBadge") == .bool(true)
13
            // Keep observing while this SwiftUI state must follow SDK change/profile updates.
14
            for await value in client.flagPublisher("priorityBadge").values {
15
                enabled = value == .bool(true)
16
            }
17
        }
18
    }
19
}

Live updates

Integration category: Optional

By default, OptimizedEntry locks to the first variant it resolves, so content does not change while a visitor is reading it. Enable live updates when a screen must react to profile changes or preview overrides without a reload.

1. Set liveUpdates: true on OptimizationRoot when most optimized entries in the tree must update as SDK state changes.
2. Set liveUpdates: true on an individual OptimizedEntry for a localized live section.
3. Set liveUpdates: false on an individual OptimizedEntry to keep it locked even under a live global default.
4. Expect the preview panel to force live updates while it is open so overrides apply immediately.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
// Root default: entries update as SDK profile state or preview overrides change.
2
OptimizationRoot(config: config, liveUpdates: true) {
3
    RootView()
4
}
5
6
OptimizedEntry(entry: dashboardEntry, liveUpdates: true) { resolvedEntry in
7
    Dashboard(entry: resolvedEntry)
8
}
9
10
// Keeps this entry locked after first resolution, except while the preview panel is open.
11
OptimizedEntry(entry: legalCopyEntry, liveUpdates: false) { resolvedEntry in
12
    LegalCopy(entry: resolvedEntry)
13
}

As in the tracking section, these are call shapes to place inside your own View body or Scene, and config, dashboardEntry, legalCopyEntry, and the two content views are your app’s.

The resolution order is: an open preview panel forces live updates, then a per-entry liveUpdates value, then the OptimizationRoot liveUpdates default, then the locked default. When the preview panel closes, a locked OptimizedEntry snapshots the current selections so applied overrides persist. For the precedence rules, see iOS SDK runtime and interaction mechanics.

Preview panel

Integration category: Optional

Use the preview panel only in debug or internal builds. PreviewPanelConfig is the preferred SwiftUI path because OptimizationRoot mounts PreviewPanelOverlay for you. The panel fetches nt_audience and nt_experience definitions — the SDK-owned audience and experience content types — through an app-supplied PreviewContentfulClient, then lets users override audiences and variants locally.

1. Gate the panel behind a debug, internal, or feature-flag condition.
2. Pass PreviewPanelConfig(enabled: false) in builds where the panel must not render.
3. Pass a PreviewContentfulClient so the panel shows audience and experience names instead of raw identifiers.
4. Use ContentfulHTTPPreviewClient for a direct CDA-backed panel, or implement PreviewContentfulClient around your existing Contentful client.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
#if DEBUG
2
let previewPanel = PreviewPanelConfig(
3
    // Supplies names for preview audiences and experiences instead of raw IDs.
4
    contentfulClient: ContentfulHTTPPreviewClient(
5
        spaceId: "<space-id>",
6
        accessToken: "<delivery-api-token>",
7
        environment: "main"
8
    )
9
)
10
#else
11
let previewPanel = PreviewPanelConfig(enabled: false)
12
#endif
13
14
OptimizationRoot(config: config, previewPanel: previewPanel) {
15
    RootView()
16
}

Build previewPanel where your app builds its configuration, and keep the OptimizationRoot expression inside your Scene as in the quick start.

PreviewPanelOverlay reads the client from the SwiftUI environment, so it must sit under an OptimizationRoot. It remains available when the app needs to place the panel’s overlay itself, but PreviewPanelConfig keeps the setup attached to the root SDK provider.

Advanced integrations

Strict event policy and endpoint controls

Integration category: Advanced or production-only

Use advanced configuration when production policy requires stricter pre-consent behavior, explicit event allow-lists, non-default endpoints, or queue observability.

1. Pass allowedEventTypes: [] when no SDK event can emit before consent.
2. Pass a narrow allowedEventTypes list when policy permits only specific pre-consent events. Its elements are event type names: identify, screen, page, track, component (an entry view), and component_click (an entry tap). Leaving allowedEventTypes unset behaves like ["identify", "screen"], the native default.
3. Configure OptimizationApiConfig only for approved non-default Experience API or Insights API endpoints.
4. Configure onEventBlocked or subscribe to blockedEventStream when release validation needs proof that denied events are blocked.
5. Configure QueuePolicy only when production operations need non-default queue limits, retry timing, or queue callback telemetry.

Adapt this to your use case:

1
let config = OptimizationConfig(
2
    clientId: "<your-client-id>",
3
    api: OptimizationApiConfig(
4
        experienceBaseUrl: "<experience-api-base-url>",
5
        insightsBaseUrl: "<insights-api-base-url>"
6
    ),
7
    // Blocks every SDK event until explicit consent is accepted; a narrow list such as
8
    // ["identify", "screen"] would admit only those two before consent.
9
    allowedEventTypes: [],
10
    queuePolicy: QueuePolicy(
11
        flush: QueueFlushPolicy(flushIntervalMs: 1000, maxConsecutiveFailures: 3),
12
        offlineMaxEvents: 100
13
    ),
14
    onEventBlocked: { blocked in
15
        // Verification hook: confirm denied events do not leave the SDK.
16
        // debugLogger is your app's own logger.
17
        debugLogger.info("Blocked \(blocked.method): \(blocked.reason)")
18
    }
19
)

Offline delivery and lifecycle flushing

Integration category: Advanced or production-only

After initialization the SDK monitors network reachability and app lifecycle. A NetworkMonitor (NWPathMonitor) calls setOnline(_:) on connectivity changes and flush() on reconnect, and an AppStateHandler calls flush() when the app resigns active for a best-effort background drain. That app-state handler is compiled in wherever UIKit can be imported, which is the case in an iOS app build, so a SwiftUI-lifecycle app gets the resign-active flush too — you do not need to add your own. Queues are in-memory only — there is no durable outbox — and the offline Experience buffer is capped at 100 events by default (tunable via QueuePolicy.offlineMaxEvents); nothing survives process death.

1. Keep one OptimizationClient alive for the app or scene lifetime so the in-memory queue can survive transient network changes.
2. Use client.setOnline(false) and client.setOnline(true) only for tests or deliberate app-owned network simulation.
3. Call client.flush() from app-owned shutdown or critical-flow checkpoints when policy requires a best-effort delivery attempt before leaving the flow.
4. Use the QueuePolicy callbacks when operations teams need telemetry for offline drops, flush failures, circuit-open events, or recovery.

Follow this pattern:

1
Task {
2
    // Best-effort delivery attempt before leaving a critical flow.
3
    try? await client.flush()
4
}

For deeper runtime behavior, see iOS SDK runtime and interaction mechanics.

Production checks

Before release, verify these checks against the target app build:

• Credentials and runtime configuration — the app uses the intended Optimization client ID and environment, the SDK Experience/event locale, and any approved Experience API or Insights API endpoint overrides; mock or localhost base URLs are absent from production configuration.
• Consent behavior — default-on consent is used only when policy permits it; user-choice flows call consent(true | false); split event/persistence consent matches your persistence policy; and rejected consent blocks non-allowed event types.
• Event delivery — screen, entry view, entry tap, Custom Flag, and custom business events are accepted or blocked according to consent state, and offline replay plus background flush behave as expected on your supported platforms.
• Content fallback — the Contentful client fetches single-locale entries with enough include depth for optimized entries, and baseline rendering still works when no variant matches or data is incomplete.
• Duplicate-tracking prevention — one OptimizationRoot owns the SwiftUI tree, each route uses one screen-tracking path, .trackScreen(name:) is attached once per logical screen, and the app does not wrap the same rendered entry more than once for one impression.
• Privacy and governance — forwarded analytics payloads apply destination consent and do not replay events the SDK blocked, profile traits are approved, the preview panel is absent from public builds or gated to approved internal users, and persisted profile continuity matches consent records.
• Local validation path — validate against the iOS reference implementation or the app’s own targeted XCUITest flow before relying on production telemetry.

Troubleshooting

Use these checks for common SwiftUI integration failures:

Reference implementations to compare against

• iOS reference implementation — the maintained SwiftUI and UIKit shells that exercise shared native iOS bridge behavior, single-locale Contentful fetching, entry resolution, interaction tracking, screen tracking, Custom Flags, offline delivery, and preview-panel overrides against the same mock API.