/image-loading

Image Loading Generator

Generate a production image loading pipeline with NSCache memory cache, LRU disk cache, request deduplication, image processing, and a drop-in CachedAsyncImage SwiftUI view.

When This Skill Activates

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks to "add image caching" or "cache images"
• Wants to "replace AsyncImage" or fix "AsyncImage has no cache"
• Mentions "image loading pipeline" or "lazy image loading"
• Asks about "image download" or "image prefetching"
• Wants "thumbnail generation" or "image resizing"

Pre-Generation Checks

1. Project Context Detection

• Check Swift version (requires Swift 5.9+)
• Check deployment target (iOS 16+ / macOS 13+)
• Check for @Observable support (iOS 17+ / macOS 14+)
• Identify source file locations

2. Conflict Detection

Search for existing image loading:

Glob: **/*ImageCache*.swift, **/*ImageLoader*.swift, **/*ImagePipeline*.swift
Grep: "AsyncImage" or "UIImage" or "NSImage" or "ImageCache"

If third-party library found (Kingfisher, SDWebImage, Nuke):

• Ask if user wants to replace or keep it
• If keeping, don't generate — advise on best practices instead

3. Platform Detection

Determine if generating for iOS (UIImage) or macOS (NSImage) or both (cross-platform typealias).

Configuration Questions

Ask user via AskUserQuestion:

1. Cache sizes?

   • Small (50 MB memory / 100 MB disk)
   • Medium (100 MB memory / 250 MB disk) — recommended
   • Large (200 MB memory / 500 MB disk)

2. Image processing?

   • Resize to fit (downscale large images to save memory)
   • Thumbnail generation (create small thumbnails for lists)
   • None (cache original images only)

3. Additional features? (multi-select)

   • Prefetching for collections (preload images for visible rows + buffer)
   • Placeholder and error images
   • Progress indicator during download

4. Platform?

   • iOS only
   • macOS only
   • Cross-platform (iOS + macOS)

Generation Process

Step 1: Read Templates

Read image-loading-patterns.md for architecture guidance. Read templates.md for production Swift code.

Step 2: Create Core Files

Generate these files:

1. ImageCache.swift — Protocol for cache interface
2. MemoryImageCache.swift — NSCache-based with configurable size
3. DiskImageCache.swift — FileManager LRU with expiration
4. ImageDownloader.swift — Actor-based with deduplication + cancellation
5. ImagePipeline.swift — Orchestrator (cache → download → process → store)

Step 3: Create UI Files

6. CachedAsyncImage.swift — Drop-in SwiftUI view replacement

Step 4: Create Optional Files

Based on configuration:

• ImageProcessor.swift — If resize or thumbnail selected
• ImagePrefetcher.swift — If prefetching selected

Step 5: Determine File Location

Check project structure:

• If Sources/ exists → Sources/ImageLoading/
• If App/ exists → App/ImageLoading/
• Otherwise → ImageLoading/

Output Format

After generation, provide:

Files Created

ImageLoading/
├── ImageCache.swift          # Protocol for cache interface
├── MemoryImageCache.swift    # NSCache-based memory cache
├── DiskImageCache.swift      # LRU disk cache with expiration
├── ImageDownloader.swift     # Actor-based downloader
├── ImagePipeline.swift       # Orchestrator
├── ImageProcessor.swift      # Resize, thumbnails (optional)
├── CachedAsyncImage.swift    # SwiftUI view
└── ImagePrefetcher.swift     # Collection prefetching (optional)

Integration Steps

Drop-in replacement for AsyncImage:

// Before (no caching)
AsyncImage(url: user.avatarURL) { image in
    image.resizable().aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill)
} placeholder: {
    ProgressView()
}

// After (with caching)
CachedAsyncImage(url: user.avatarURL) { image in
    image.resizable().aspectRatio(contentMode: .fill)
} placeholder: {
    ProgressView()
}

In a List:

List(users) { user in
    HStack {
        CachedAsyncImage(url: user.avatarURL) { image in
            image.resizable().frame(width: 44, height: 44).clipShape(Circle())
        } placeholder: {
            Circle().fill(Color.secondary.opacity(0.2)).frame(width: 44, height: 44)
        }
        Text(user.name)
    }
}

With prefetching:

struct UsersListView: View {
    let users: [User]
    @State private var prefetcher = ImagePrefetcher()

    var body: some View {
        List(users) { user in
            UserRow(user: user)
                .onAppear { prefetcher.startPrefetching(urls: nearbyURLs(for: user)) }
                .onDisappear { prefetcher.stopPrefetching(urls: [user.avatarURL]) }
        }
    }
}

With image processing:

CachedAsyncImage(
    url: photo.url,
    processing: .resize(targetSize: CGSize(width: 300, height: 300))
) { image in
    image.resizable()
} placeholder: {
    Color.secondary.opacity(0.2)
}

Testing

@Test
func cachedImageReturnedWithoutDownload() async throws {
    let cache = InMemoryImageCache()
    let downloader = MockImageDownloader()
    let pipeline = ImagePipeline(cache: cache, downloader: downloader)

    let testImage = PlatformImage.testImage
    await cache.store(testImage, for: testURL)

    let result = try await pipeline.image(for: testURL)
    #expect(result != nil)
    #expect(downloader.downloadCount == 0) // Cache hit
}

@Test
func deduplicatesConcurrentRequests() async throws {
    let downloader = MockImageDownloader(delay: .milliseconds(100))
    let pipeline = ImagePipeline(downloader: downloader)

    async let image1 = pipeline.image(for: testURL)
    async let image2 = pipeline.image(for: testURL)

    let results = try await [image1, image2]
    #expect(results.count == 2)
    #expect(downloader.downloadCount == 1) // Only one download
}

References

• image-loading-patterns.md — Why not AsyncImage, NSCache config, LRU disk cache, deduplication
• templates.md — All production Swift templates
• Related: generators/http-cache — General HTTP response caching
• Related: generators/pagination — Prefetch images in paginated lists