---
title: "Build intelligent Siri experiences with App Schemas"
description: "Use App Entities, App Schemas, IndexedEntity, Transferable, and testing tools to make Siri understand app content, actions, and context."
shoutout: "Unofficial, made with love by Superwall - the best way to monetize your apps."
category: "AI & Machine Learning"
---

# Build intelligent Siri experiences with App Schemas


[Watch on Apple Developer](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2026/240/)

Use App Entities, App Schemas, IndexedEntity, Transferable, and testing tools to make Siri understand app content, actions, and context.

## TL;DR

- Siri's Apple Intelligence integration is built on App Intents: model app content as App Entities, conform them to App Schemas, and expose actions as schema-backed intents.
- Adopt IndexedEntity for semantic entity resolution and content Q&A through Spotlight indexing; use EntityStringQuery when data cannot be indexed ahead of time.
- For cross-app and contextual workflows, connect visible UI to entities with NSUserActivity or view annotations, then use Transferable, IntentValueRepresentation, and IntentValueQuery for content transfer.
- Build complete schema-domain integrations, follow Xcode's related-schema diagnostics and Fix-Its, and validate progressively with AppIntentsTesting, Shortcuts, Spotlight, and Siri.

## Siri integration starts with App Intents and App Entities

Siri's newer Apple Intelligence-powered capabilities use App Intents as the structured description of what an app can do and what content it manages. The session uses a sample messaging app, UnicornChat, to show the pieces required for Siri to find content, perform actions, understand onscreen context, and participate in cross-app workflows.

An AppEntity is not a replacement data model. It is a system-facing representation of existing app content: what the thing is, how it is identified, and which properties are meaningful. For Siri to reason about the category of content, entities should conform to an App Schema, such as messages, contacts, or documents.

- Model meaningful app nouns as App Entities, such as contacts, conversations, messages, documents, events, photos, or albums.
- Conform entities to App Schemas so Siri understands the type of thing, not just app-specific identifiers.
- Use schema-backed entities as the shared foundation for Siri actions, search, onscreen context, and transfer between apps.

## Entity resolution, semantic search, and IndexedEntity

Entity resolution maps what a person says to real app entities. Exact names are not enough for natural language: users often describe content by meaning, relationship, or context. IndexedEntity lets entities participate in the system semantic index so Siri can match based on meaning, understand relationships, and answer questions over app content.

When app data cannot be indexed ahead of time - for example, because it is too large, server-backed, or changes too frequently - EntityStringQuery provides a fallback. Siri passes the spoken string to the app, and the app returns matching entities. This gives control over search behavior but does not provide the same semantic understanding as IndexedEntity.

- Prefer IndexedEntity when content can be indexed into Spotlight and should support semantic matching or content Q&A.
- Mark searchable properties with indexingKey, such as a message body's text content.
- Use EntityStringQuery for dynamic or non-indexable datasets where the app must perform lookup itself.

### Contribute message content with IndexedEntity

A schematized message entity adopts IndexedEntity and marks its body as searchable content for Spotlight and Siri.

```swift
@AppEntity(schema: .messages.message)
struct MessageEntity: IndexedEntity {
    // The text content of the message
    @Property(indexingKey: \.textContent)
    var body: AttributedString?
}
```

### Resolve entities from arbitrary text with EntityStringQuery

Use a string query when Siri should hand the app an input string and let app-specific lookup logic return matching entities.

```swift
struct ContactQuery: EntityStringQuery {
    func entities(matching string: String) async throws -> [ContactEntity] {
        let predicate = #Predicate<Person> { person in
            person.name.localizedStandardContains(string)
        }
        let descriptor = FetchDescriptor<Person>(predicate: predicate)
        let matches = try modelContext.fetch(descriptor)
        return matches.map(\.entity)
    }
}
```

## Make actions executable by Siri with App Schema domains

General App Intents can appear across system surfaces such as Shortcuts, Spotlight, and Widgets. To make an action directly executable by Siri through natural language, conform the intent to an App Schema. Schemas define the action structure Siri expects, including parameters and behavior that map to natural language commands.

Schemas are grouped into App Schema domains, such as Messages. Adopting a domain means implementing a set of predefined contracts that match a category of tasks. In UnicornChat, adopting the Messages domain's sendMessage schema maps Siri's recipient and message-content parameters onto the app's existing send flow, then returns the sent message as an entity.

- Use App Intents to expose app actions to the system.
- Use App Schemas to make those actions understandable and executable by Siri.
- Adopt complete schema domains that match the app's core workflows instead of inventing custom Siri-only intent shapes.
- Return entities from actions when the resulting app content should remain available to the system.

## Support onscreen awareness and cross-app content transfer

Many Siri requests depend on what the user is looking at, such as "forward this message" or "call this contact." Onscreen awareness connects visible UI to App Entities so Siri can resolve references like "this," "that," or "the last one." Use NSUserActivity when a screen has one primary item, and view annotations when multiple meaningful items are visible, such as rows in a list.

Cross-app workflows also require content transfer. Transferable and IntentValueRepresentation describe how an entity can be exported into a system value that another app can consume. When content enters an app, IntentValueQuery can resolve incoming values to existing entities, while an importing representation can create new entities.

- Annotate views with entity identifiers for lists or other screens showing multiple meaningful items.
- Adopt Transferable on entities that should move into actions from other apps.
- Use IntentValueQuery to match incoming transferred values to existing app content.
- Use IntentValueRepresentation(importing:) when incoming transferred values should create new app content.

### Annotate visible rows with App Entity identifiers

Each visible message row is connected to its MessageEntity so Siri can resolve contextual references to onscreen content.

```text
List {
    ForEach(messages) { message in
        MessageRow(message: message)
            .appEntityIdentifier(
                EntityIdentifier(
                    for: MessageEntity.self,
                    identifier: message.id
                )
            )
    }
}
```

### Export and import content with Transferable

A contact entity can be exported as an IntentPerson and imported back into the app by creating a new contact entity when needed.

```swift
extension ContactEntity: Transferable {
    static var transferRepresentation: some TransferRepresentation {
        IntentValueRepresentation(
            exporting: \.person,
            importing: { intentPerson in
                let contact = Contact(importing: intentPerson)
                ContactManager.shared.contacts.append(contact)
                return contact.entity
            }
        )
    }
}
```

### Resolve incoming intent values to existing entities

IntentValueQuery maps incoming IntentPerson values from another app to existing ContactEntity values in the current app.

```swift
struct ContactEntityQuery: IntentValueQuery {
    func values(for input: [IntentPerson]) async throws -> [ContactEntity] {
        let names = input.map(\.displayName)
        let descriptor = FetchDescriptor<Contact>()
        let contacts = try model.mainContext.fetch(descriptor)
        let matches = contacts.filter { contact in
            names.contains { name in
                contact.name.localizedStandardContains(name)
            }
        }
        return matches.map(\.entity)
    }
}
```

## Best practices and testing workflow

High-quality Siri integrations usually require related schemas to work together. Xcode can diagnose incomplete schema-domain adoption at build time. In the UnicornChat example, adopting sendMessage produces a build error until the related draftMessage schema is also adopted; Xcode offers a Fix-It that generates the intent definition, required parameters, and stub implementation.

Testing should move from isolated business logic to full end-to-end natural language behavior. Start with AppIntentsTesting for intent logic, then inspect intent shape in Shortcuts, validate indexing and linking in Spotlight, and finally test complete Siri flows involving natural language, entity resolution, onscreen context, and cross-app behavior.

- Treat related-schema diagnostics as design guidance, not just compiler errors.
- Use Xcode Fix-Its to scaffold missing schema adoptions, then fill in app-specific entity mapping, dependencies, input processing, and UI behavior.
- Run UI-mutating intent work on the main actor when the action changes app UI state.
- Test early and repeatedly: AppIntentsTesting → Shortcuts → Spotlight → Siri.

## Resources

- [Integrating your messaging app with Apple Intelligence](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/integrating-your-messaging-app-with-apple-intelligence)
- [Donating your app's data and actions to the system](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/donating-your-apps-data-and-actions-to-the-system)
- [Making app entities available in Spotlight](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/making-app-entities-available-in-spotlight)
- [Making actions and content discoverable by Apple Intelligence](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/making-actions-and-content-discoverable-by-apple-intelligence)
- [Providing contextual cues to Apple Intelligence and Siri](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/providing-contextual-cues-to-apple-intelligence-and-siri)
- [Apple Intelligence and Siri AI](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/apple-intelligence-and-siri-ai)
- [Messages](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/app-schema-domain-messages)
- [App schema domains](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/AppIntents/app-schema-domains)

## Related Sessions

- [Code-along: Make your app available to Siri](https://wwdc.ai/2026/344)
- [Explore advanced App Intents features for Siri and Apple Intelligence](https://wwdc.ai/2026/343)

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