How can I exclude files/folders from repo with Swift Package Manager?

Question

My library FlexColorPicker recently adopted SPM support. It works but I don't like that when FlexColorPicker package is added via Xcode, some unneeded files are downloaded. For example, FlexColorPicker.podspec and the entire GifsAndScreenshots folder.

Is there a way to prevent downloading these unnecessary files?

To add a package using Xcode: File → Swift Packages → Add Package Dependency... → choose target → enter https://github.com/RastislavMirek/FlexColorPicker → confirm

Answer 1

You can do this with the exclude parameter on a target in your Package.swift file. It accepts an array of paths (relative to the target root).

From the docs:

/// Create a library or executable target.
///
/// A target can either contain Swift or C-family source files. You cannot
/// mix Swift and C-family source files within a target. A target is
/// considered to be an executable target if there is a `main.swift`,
/// `main.m`, `main.c` or `main.cpp` file in the target's directory. All
/// other targets are considered to be library targets.
///
/// - Parameters:
///   - name: The name of the target.
///   - dependencies: The dependencies of the target. These can either be other targets in the package or products from package dependencies.
///   - path: The custom path for the target. By default, targets will be looked up in the <package-root>/Sources/<target-name> directory.
///       Do not escape the package root, i.e. values like "../Foo" or "/Foo" are invalid.
///   - exclude: A list of paths to exclude from being considered source files. This path is relative to the target's directory.
///   - sources: An explicit list of source files.
///   - publicHeadersPath: The directory containing public headers of a C-family family library target.
///   - cSettings: The C settings for this target.
///   - cxxSettings: The C++ settings for this target.
///   - swiftSettings: The Swift settings for this target.
///   - linkerSettings: The linker settings for this target.
...

Using it in a Package.swift file looks something like this:

...
  targets: [
    // Targets are the basic building blocks of a package. A target can define a module or a test suite.
    // Targets can depend on other targets in this package, and on products in packages which this package depends on.
    .target(
      name: "MyApp",
      dependencies: [],
      exclude: ["example.swift"]
    ),
...

Also, developer.apple.com has some docs for the target -> exclude parameter

Answer 2

This is not currently possible. SwiftPM does a clone of the git repo so it will get any of those files as well.

I know that git can clone specific paths from a repo but I'm not sure of the limitations. To support for such a feature with SwiftPM there would need to be a Swift Evolution proposal.