Install xclogparser with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• xclogparser

Project history

The project came from Spotify's Apple-platform build tooling work and later moved under the Mobile Native Foundation organization. Its README points to Erick Camacho's AltConf 2019 talk about the `.xcactivitylog` format, and Spotify's later XCMetrics writing explains that XCLogParser was created to extract human-readable data from Xcode build logs.

XCLogParser's scope expanded from dumping raw logs to producing structured reports for build times, warnings, errors, unit-test results, Swift compiler timings, linker statistics, and Clang time-trace data. The GitHub releases page shows ongoing maintenance through v0.2.48 in June 2026, including parser updates for newer Xcode activity-log sections.

Adoption history

The most visible downstream adoption is XCMetrics, Spotify's build-metrics system. Spotify and XCMetrics documentation state that XCMetrics is built on top of XCLogParser and has used it to collect large-scale build metrics across Spotify iOS applications, turning the parser from a standalone CLI into an engine for continuous developer-productivity measurement.

How it is used

Typical use is either `xclogparser dump` for raw JSON or `xclogparser parse` with a reporter such as `json`, `flatJson`, `summaryJson`, `chromeTracer`, `issues`, or `html`. The README documents locating logs by project, workspace, xcodeproj, explicit file, or DerivedData path.

The README also documents Xcode integration through a post-scheme build action, plus a caveat that since Xcode 11, command-line `xcodebuild` only generates `.xcactivitylog` build logs when `-resultBundlePath` is supplied. That detail is central to using the tool reliably in CI.

Why package nerds care

XCLogParser is significant because `.xcactivitylog` files are not pleasant text logs: they are gzipped binary SLF data in DerivedData. The tool gives package, CI, and build-performance nerds a stable way to mine Xcode's hidden build graph and timing data without depending on the Xcode UI.

Timeline

• 2019: README points users to an AltConf 2019 talk about the Xcode activity-log format.
• 2020: Spotify introduces XCMetrics as a system built on top of XCLogParser for continuous build metrics.
• 2026-06-09: GitHub releases list v0.2.48 with parser updates for newer Xcode activity logs.

Related projects

• XCMetrics is the major related project and uses XCLogParser as its log-parsing foundation.
• xcbeautify and similar xcodebuild log tools address console output readability, while XCLogParser focuses on `.xcactivitylog` and structured build telemetry.

Sources

• https://engineering.atspotify.com/introducing-xcmetrics-our-all-in-one-tool-for-tracking-xcode-build-metrics
• https://github.com/MobileNativeFoundation/XCLogParser#readme
• https://github.com/MobileNativeFoundation/XCLogParser/blob/master/docs/Xcactivitylog%20Format.md
• https://github.com/MobileNativeFoundation/XCLogParser/releases
• https://xcmetrics.io/docs/