Xcode 26.3 Gets AI Agents for Smarter App Development

Apple has rolled out the Release Candidate of Xcode 26.3, bringing advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to its integrated development environment. A major highlight of this update is support for agentic coding, which allows AI agents to directly interact with Xcode and automate complex development tasks. Developers can now use AI agents such as OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Agent to assist throughout the entire app development cycle. These agents can search documentation, explore project files, modify settings, verify work using Xcode Previews, iterate on existing code, and even automatically fix bugs, significantly improving productivity.

According to Apple, the new feature is enabled through support for Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, an open standard that allows platforms to connect with AI agents. The update is currently available via Apple’s developer portal, with a public stable release expected soon on the Mac App Store. Developers can activate agentic coding by signing into their OpenAI or Anthropic accounts or by using API keys, and they also have the flexibility to choose specific AI models. Reports indicate Apple collaborated closely with both AI companies to optimise token usage and tool calling, ensuring efficient performance while keeping developer costs under control.