Ambient lets you define all of your Xcode project environment settings all in one easy to read Ruby file, and re-apply it to your Xcode project to ensure settings are correct.

An xcconfig file can be used in order to help abstract your settings away from the main project file. The disadvantage of xcconfig files though is that they can still be overridden by settings defined in the project. Ambient doesn't have this issue as it simply overwrites the values in the project file.

Simply run:

gem install ambient-xcode

Or if you use Bundler, add the following to your Gemfile:

gem "ambient-xcode"

Create an Ambientfile defining your project in the same directory as your *.xcodeproj file.

Here's a sample of the Ambientfile structure:

base_ios_settings! "MyProject"

target "MyProject" do
  capability :healthkit
  capability :apple_pay

  scheme "Debug" do
    option "PRODUCT_NAME", "Debug"
    option "BUNDLE_DISPLAY_NAME_SUFFIX", "uk.danielgreen.MyProject"
  end
end

plist("MyProject/Info.plist") do
  entry "LSApplicationQueriesSchemes", [ "dbapi-2", "dbapi-8-emm"]
end

Run ambient from the command line to write your settings into your project:

usage:
$ ambient COMMAND

Commands:
+ [no arguments]	Applies the settings from the Ambientfile
+ init			Creates an Ambientfile in the current directory
+ new NAME		Creates a new iOS Xcode project with given name
+ [anything else]	Applies the settings from the file name supplied

You can also have more than one Ambientfile for the same project. Just name it something else and run ambient [filename] (e.g. ambient Ambientfile-enterprise). Use use_settings_from to inherit settings:

use_settings_from 'Ambientfile'

target "Monies" do
  development_team "341MONEY25"
  capability :apple_pay
end

• The example Ambientfile or example Ambientfile-objc matches the exact settings of a new iOS project.
• Use the use_defaults_for_everything_not_specified_in_this_file! setting to ensure your project file is clean. Warning though: this setting will clear all your targets' settings, so be sure to define absolutely every setting in the Ambientfile if you want to use this.
• When defining settings directly within a target, the setting is set to each scheme.
• The name of the constants used for option is located in the Quick Help section in Xcode

• Automatic editing of .entitlements
• Helper method to change build phases to default
• Version number + build number
• Provisioning profiles from searching by name rather than storing a uuid (so it actually works across teams)
• Ability to not have to commit *.xcodeproj into version control (maybe too far?)