As Embedded Swift adoption grows, we want to improve how we plan and coordinate development work in the open. To that end, we’re introducing a lightweight tracking process using GitHub Projects and Milestones, focused specifically on Embedded Swift.
Why?
Currently, most of the planning for Embedded Swift lives informally with a few engineers (@kubamracek, @Erik_Eckstein, myself, and others). This makes it difficult for community members to know what’s being worked on, what’s planned, or whether a missing feature is already on our radar. It also limits the ability for others to engage meaningfully with the direction of Embedded Swift.
What We’re Proposing
We’ll be using a public Embedded Swift - GitHub Project under the swiftlang GitHub organization to:
- Track Embedded Swift–related issues across repositories (
swift,swiftpm,swift-foundation,swift-testing, etc.) - Maintain a backlog of known gaps or planned work
- Mark issues that are targeted for upcoming milestones (e.g. Swift Next)
- Use assignments solely to reflect current coordination—not obligation
This tracking process is intended as a lightweight tool to improve transparency and coordination. We want to provide a clearer picture of what’s in scope, and open up better paths for feedback and participation.
What This Is Not
- It is not a commitment or promise that an issue will be resolved by any specific release or product.
- It is not an indication that Apple has approved a feature.
- Assigning an issue to an engineer is simply a coordination tool within the open-source project, not a directive.
Looking Ahead
This structure also lays the groundwork for a future Embedded Swift working group. While that group doesn’t exist yet, we’re designing this process to support it. In the meantime, the board will be curated by Kuba, Erik, and me, with Kuba having final say on issue triage.
We’re excited to make this part of Swift’s development more visible and collaborative. If you’re using Embedded Swift we’d love to hear from you. Your input helps shape what we prioritize and where we focus effort.
Let us know if you have any questions or suggestions as we roll this out!
— Rauhul