Installation

Raster is distributed through Swift Package Manager. A package dependency gives Swift and Objective-C clients the framework module. If an Xcode target compiles its own .metal files, those shaders also need Xcode's header search paths forwarded so they can include Raster's headers.

Requirements

Raster supports iOS, macOS, tvOS, and Mac Catalyst. The floors for a given 2.x release live in Raster's own Package.swift. Your application can require newer OS versions than that.

Raster 2.x uses semantic versions. Production apps usually pin a compatible range rather than following a branch.

Xcode

Open File → Add Package Dependencies, enter the repository URL, and select the Raster product for the targets that use it:

https://github.com/aldealabs/raster.git

Swift Package Manager

// swift-tools-version: 5.9
import PackageDescription
 
let package = Package(
    name: "ImagePipeline",
    platforms: [
        .macOS(.v13),
        .iOS(.v16),
    ],
    dependencies: [
        .package(
            url: "https://github.com/aldealabs/raster.git",
            from: "2.0.0"
        ),
    ],
    targets: [
        .target(
            name: "ImagePipeline",
            dependencies: [
                .product(name: "Raster", package: "raster"),
            ]
        ),
    ]
)

Imports

import Raster

If an Xcode target compiles its own Metal source, give the Metal compiler the headers SwiftPM already resolved:

MTL_HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS = "$(HEADER_SEARCH_PATHS)"

That setting forwards paths Xcode already has. It does not hard-code a checkout or DerivedData folder.

Metal headers

A Swift import Raster can succeed while a Metal #include <Raster/MTIShaderLib.h> still fails, because those files go through different compilers. If your application owns custom shaders, a small shader target or integration test that includes MTIShaderLib.h and creates an MTIContext is the reliable check. Raster's own fixtures cover Swift, Objective-C, Metal source, and the example application separately for the same reason.