I'm experiencing the following error with my SwiftData container when running a build: Code=134504 "Cannot use staged migration with an unknown model version." Code Structure - Summary I am using a versionedSchema to store multiple models in SwiftData. I started experiencing this issue when adding two new models in the newest Schema version. Starting from the current public version, V4.4.6, there are two migrations. Migration Summary The first migration is to V4.4.7. This is a lightweight migration removing one attribute from one of the models. This was tested and worked successfully. The second migration is to V5.0.0. This is a custom migration adding two new models, and instantiating instances of the two new models based on data from instances of the existing models. In the initial testing of this version, no issues were observed. Issue and Steps to Reproduce Reproduction of issue: Starting from a fresh build of the publicly released V4.4.6, I run a new build that contains both Schema Versions (V4.4.7 and V5.0.0), and their associated migration stages. This builds successfully, and the container successfully migrates to V5.0.0. Checking the default.store file, all values appear to migrate and instantiate correctly. The second step in reproduction of the issue is to simply stop running the build, and then rebuild, without any code changes. This fails to initialize the model container every time afterwards. Going back to the simulator after successive builds are stopped in Xcode, the app launches and accesses/modifies the model container as normal. Supplementary Issue: I have been putting up with the same, persistent issue in the Xcode Preview Canvas of "Failed to Initialize Model Container" This is a 5 in 6 build issue, where builds will work at random. In the case of previews, I have cleared all data associated with all previews multiple times. The only difference being that the simulator is a 100% failure rate after the initial, successful initialization. I assume this is due to the different build structure of previews. Lastly, of note, the Xcode previews fail at the same line in instantiating the model container as the simulator does. From my research into this issue, people say that the Xcode preview is instantiating from elsewhere. I do have a separate model container set up specifically for canvas previews, but the error does not occur in that container, but rather the app's main container. Possible Contributing Factors & Tested Facts iOS: While I have experienced issues with SwiftData and the complier in iOS 26, I can rule that out as the issue here. This has been tested on simulators running iOS 18.6, 26.0.1, and 26.1, all encountering failures to initialize model container. While in iOS 18, subsequent builds after the successful migration did work, I did eventually encounter the same error and crash. In iOS 26.0.1 and 26.1, these errors come immediately on the second build. Container Initialization for V4.4.6 do { container = try ModelContainer( for: Job.self, JobTask.self, Day.self, Charge.self, Material.self, Person.self, TaskCategory.self, Service.self, migrationPlan: JobifyMigrationPlan.self ) } catch { fatalError("Failed to Initialize Model Container") } Versioned Schema Instance for V4.4.6 (V4.4.7 differs only by versionIdentifier) static var versionIdentifier = Schema.Version(4, 4, 6) static var models: [any PersistentModel.Type] { [Job.self, JobTask.self, Day.self, Charge.self, Material.self, Person.self, TaskCategory.self, Service.self] } Container Initialization for V5.0.0 do { let schema = Schema([Jobify.self, JobTask.self, Day.self, Charge.self, MaterialItem.self, Person.self, TaskCategory.self, Service.self, ServiceJob.self, RecurerRule.self]) container = try ModelContainer( for: schema, migrationPlan: JobifyMigrationPlan.self ) } catch { fatalError("Failed to Initialize Model Container") } Versioned Schema Instance for V5.0.0 static var versionIdentifier = Schema.Version(5, 0, 0) static var models: [any PersistentModel.Type] { [ JobifySchemaV500.Job.self, JobifySchemaV500.JobTask.self, JobifySchemaV500.Day.self, JobifySchemaV500.Charge.self, JobifySchemaV500.Material.self, JobifySchemaV500.Person.self, JobifySchemaV500.TaskCategory.self, JobifySchemaV500.Service.self, JobifySchemaV500.ServiceJob.self, JobifySchemaV500.RecurerRule.self ] } Addressing Differences in Object Names Type-aliasing: All my model types are type-aliased for simplification in view components. All types are aliased as 'JobifySchemeV446.<#Name#>' in V.4.4.6, and 'JobifySchemaV500.<#Name#>' in V5.0.0 Issues with iOS 26: My type-aliases dating back to iOS 17 overlapped with lower level objects in Swift, including 'Job' and 'Material'. These started to be an issue with initializing the model container when running in iOS 26. The type aliases have been renamed since, however the V4.4.6 build with the old names runs and builds perfectly fine in iOS 26 If there is any other code that may be relevant in determining where this error is occurring, I would be happy to add it. My current best theory is simply that I have mistakenly omitted code relevant to the SwiftData Migration.

I have transitioned to CKSyncEngine for syncing data to iCloud, and it is working quite well. I have a question regarding best practices for modifying and saving a CKRecord which already exists in the private or shared database. In my current app, most CKRecords will never be modified after saving to the database, so I do not persist a received record locally after updating my local data model. In the rare event that the local data for that record is modified, I manually fetch the associated server record from the database, modify it, and then use CKSyncEngine to save the modified record. As an alternative method, I can create a new CKRecord locally with the corresponding recordID and the modified data, and then use CKSyncEngine to attempt to save that record to the database. Doing so generates an error in the delegate method handleSentRecordZoneChanges, where I receive the local record I tried to save back inevent.failedRecordSaves with a .serverRecordChanged error, along with the corresponding server CKRecord. I can then update that server record with the local data and re-save using CKSyncEngine. I have not yet seen any issues when doing it this way. The advantage of the latter method is that CKSyncEngine handles the entire database operation, eliminating the manual fetch step. My question is: is this an acceptable practice, or could this result in other unforeseen issues?

If I set my build settings "default actor isolation" to MainActor, how do my @ModelActor actors and model classes need to look like ? For now, I am creating instances of my @ModelActor actors and passing my modelContext container and processing all data there. Everything stays in this context. No models are transferred back to MainActor. Now, after changing my project settings, I am getting a huge amount of warnings. Do I need to set all my model classes to non-isolated and the @ModelActor actor as well? Is there any new sample code to cover this topic ... did not find anything for now. Thanks in advance, Marc

Hi, I did cloudkit synchronization using swiftdata. However, synchronization does not occur automatically, and synchronization occurs intermittently only when the device is closed and opened. For confirmation, after changing the data in Device 1 (saving), when the data is fetched from Device 2, there is no change. I've heard that there's still an issue with swiftdata sync and Apple is currently troubleshooting it, is the phenomenon I'm experiencing in the current version normal?

Hi. I'm hoping someone might be able to help us with an issue that's been affecting our standalone watchOS app for some time now. We've encountered consistent crashes on Apple Watch devices when the app enters the background while the device is offline (i.e., no Bluetooth and no Wi-Fi connection). Through extensive testing, we've isolated the problem to the use of NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. When we switch to NSPersistentContainer, the crashes no longer occur. Interestingly, this issue only affects our watchOS app. The same CloudKit-based persistence setup works reliably on our iOS and macOS apps, even when offline. This leads us to believe the issue may be specific to how NSPersistentCloudKitContainer behaves on watchOS when the device is disconnected from the network. We're targeting watchOS 10 and above. We're unsure if this is a misconfiguration on our end or a potential system-level issue, and we would greatly appreciate any insight or guidance.

I'm running a project with these settings: Default Actor Isolation: MainActor Approachable Concurrency: Yes Strict Concurrency Checking: Complete (this issue does not appear on the other two modes) I receive a warning for this very simple use case. Can I actually fix anything about this or is this a case of Core Data not being entirely ready for this? In reference to this, there was a workaround listed in the release notes of iOS 26 beta 5 (https://forums.swift.org/t/defaultisolation-mainactor-and-core-data-background-tasks/80569/22). Does this still apply as the only fix for this? This is a simplified sample meant to run on a background context. The issue obviously goes away if this function would just run on the MainActor, then I can remove the perform block entirely. class DataHandler { func createItem() async { let context = ... await context.perform { let newGame = Item(context: context) /// Main actor-isolated property 'timestamp' can not be mutated from a Sendable closure newGame.timestamp = Date.now // ... } } } The complete use case would be more like this: nonisolated struct DataHandler { @concurrent func saveItem() async throws { let context = await PersistenceController.shared.container.newBackgroundContext() try await context.perform { let newGame = Item(context: context) newGame.timestamp = Date.now try context.save() } } }

Here’s the situation: • You’re downloading a huge list of data from iCloud. • You’re saving it one by one (sequentially) into SwiftData. • You don’t want the SwiftUI view to refresh until all the data is imported. • After all the import is finished, SwiftUI should show the new data. The Problem If you insert into the same ModelContext that SwiftUI’s @Environment(.modelContext) is watching, each insert may cause SwiftUI to start reloading immediately. That will make the UI feel slow, and glitchy, because SwiftUI will keep trying to re-render while you’re still importing. How to achieve this in Swift Data ?

Hello Apple Team, We’re building a CloudKit-enabled Core Data app and would like clarification on the behavior and performance characteristics of Binary Data attributes with “Allows External Storage” enabled when used with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer. Initially, we tried storing image files manually on disk and only saving the metadata (file URLs, dimensions, etc.) in Core Data. While this approach reduced the size of the Core Data store, it introduced instability after app updates and broke sync between devices. We would prefer to use the official Apple-recommended method and have Core Data manage image storage and CloudKit syncing natively. Specifically, we’d appreciate guidance on the following: When a Binary Data attribute is marked as “Allows External Storage”, large image files are stored as separate files on device rather than inline in the SQLite store. How effective is this mechanism in keeping the Core Data store size small on device? Are there any recommended size thresholds or known limits for how many externally stored blobs can safely be managed this way? How are these externally stored files handled during CloudKit sync? Does each externally stored Binary Data attribute get mirrored to CloudKit as a CKAsset? Does external storage reduce the sync payload size or network usage, or is the full binary data still uploaded/downloaded as part of the CKAsset? Are there any bandwidth implications for users syncing via their private CloudKit database, versus developer costs in the public CloudKit database? Is there any difference in CloudKit or Core Data behavior when a Binary Data attribute is managed this way versus manually storing image URLs and handling the file separately on disk? Our goal is to store user-generated images efficiently and safely sync them via CloudKit, without incurring excessive local database bloat or CloudKit network overhead. Any detailed guidance or internal performance considerations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Paul Barry Founder & Lead Developer — Boat Buddy / Vessel Buddy iOS App Archipelago Environmental Solutions Inc.

I have been working on an app for the past few months, and one issue that I have encountered a few times is an error where quick subsequent deletions cause issues with detached tasks that are triggered from some user actions. Inside a Task.detached, I am building an isolated model context, querying for LineItems, then iterating over those items. The crash happens when accessing a Transaction property through a relationship. var byTransactionId: [UUID: [LineItem]] { return Dictionary(grouping: self) { item in item.transaction?.id ?? UUID() } } In this case, the transaction has been deleted, but the relationship existed when the fetch occurred, so the transaction value is non-nil. The crash occurs when accessing the id. This is the error. SwiftData/BackingData.swift:1035: Fatal error: This model instance was invalidated because its backing data could no longer be found the store. PersistentIdentifier(id: SwiftData.PersistentIdentifier.ID(backing: SwiftData.PersistentIdentifier.PersistentIdentifierBacking.managedObjectID(0xb43fea2c4bc3b3f5 &lt;x-coredata://A9EFB8E3-CB47-48B2-A7C4-6EEA25D27E2E/Transaction/p1756&gt;))) I see other posts about this error and am exploring some suggestions, but if anyone has any thoughts, they would be appreciated.

I'm trying to handle the serverRecordChanged return code you get in CKError when you have a conflict and your using the savePolicy of ifServerRecordUnchanged. According to the CKError.Code.serverRecordChanged documentation, I should be receiving all three records that I need to do a 3-way merge. The problem is that the ancestorRecord (CKRecordChangedErrorAncestorRecordKey can also be used to look it up in the userInfo) doesn't actually contain a record. It only contains the record metadata. Is there something I need to be doing to get the full ancestorRecord in the CKError? If not is it possible to query iCloud for the ancestorRecord? Given that iCloud has the change history (as I understand it), then it is theoretically possible. I just don't know how to do it if it is possible. Are 3-way merges even possible? The design of the serverRecordChanged looks like that is the intent, but I can't see how to do it with the data that CloudKit is providing.

I'm using Swift Data for an app that requires iOS 18. All of my models conform to a protocol that guarantees they have a 'serverID' String variable. I wrote a function that would allow me to pass in a serverID String and have it fetch the model object that matched. Because I am lazy and don't like writing the same functions over and over, I used a Self reference so that all of my conforming models get this static function. Imagine my model is called "WhatsNew". Here's some code defining the protocol and the fetching function. protocol RemotelyFetchable: PersistentModel { var serverID: String { get } } extension WhatsNew: RemotelyFetchable {} extension RemotelyFetchable { static func fetchOne(withServerID identifier: String, inContext modelContext: ModelContext) -> Self? { var fetchDescriptor = FetchDescriptor<Self>() fetchDescriptor.predicate = #Predicate<Self> { $0.serverID == identifier } do { let allModels = try modelContext.fetch(fetchDescriptor) return allModels.first } catch { return nil } } } Worked great! Or so I thought... I built this and happily ran a debug build in the Simulator and on devices for months while developing the initial version but when I went to go do a release build for TestFlight, that build reliably crashed on every device with a message like this: SwiftData/DataUtilities.swift:65: Fatal error: Couldn't find \WhatsNew. on WhatsNew with fields [SwiftData.Schema.PropertyMetadata(name: "serverID", keypath: \WhatsNew., defaultValue: nil, metadata: Optional(Attribute - name: , options: [unique], valueType: Any, defaultValue: nil, hashModifier: nil)), SwiftData.Schema.PropertyMetadata(name: "title", keypath: \WhatsNew., defaultValue: nil, metadata: nil), SwiftData.Schema.PropertyMetadata(name: "bulletPoints", keypath: \WhatsNew.)>, defaultValue: nil, metadata: nil), SwiftData.Schema.PropertyMetadata(name: "dateDescription", keypath: \WhatsNew., defaultValue: nil, metadata: nil), SwiftData.Schema.PropertyMetadata(name: "readAt", keypath: \WhatsNew.)>, defaultValue: nil, metadata: nil)] It seems (cannot confirm) that something in the release build optimization process is stripping out some metadata / something about these models that makes this predicate crash. Tested on iOS 18.0 and 18.1 beta. How can I resolve this? I have two dozen types that conform to this protocol. I could manually specialize this function for every type myself but... ugh.

I accidentally deleted all CloudKit containers from the CloudKit Database console, and now I'm unable to create new containers. Both the CloudKit Console website and Xcode are not allowing me to create any new containers. Is there a way to restore the deleted containers? How can I create a new CloudKit container if the console website is not responding? Thank you.

I am trying out the new AttributedString binding with SwiftUI’s TextEditor in iOS26. I need to save this to a Core Data database. Core Data has no AttributedString type, so I set the type of the field to “Transformable”, give it a custom class of NSAttributedString, and set the transformer to NSSecureUnarchiveFromData When I try to save, I first convert the Swift AttributedString to NSAttributedString, and then save the context. Unfortunately I get this error when saving the context, and the save isn't persisted: CoreData: error: SQLCore dispatchRequest: exception handling request: <NSSQLSaveChangesRequestContext: 0x600003721140> , <shared NSSecureUnarchiveFromData transformer> threw while encoding a value. with userInfo of (null) Here's the code that tries to save the attributed string: struct AttributedDetailView: View { @ObservedObject var item: Item @State private var notesText = AttributedString() var body: some View { VStack { TextEditor(text: $notesText) .padding() .onChange(of: notesText) { item.attributedString = NSAttributedString(notesText) } } .onAppear { if let nsattributed = item.attributedString { notesText = AttributedString(nsattributed) } else { notesText = "" } } .task { item.attributedString = NSAttributedString(notesText) do { try item.managedObjectContext?.save() } catch { print("core data save error = \(error)") } } } } This is the attribute setup in the Core Data model editor: Is there a workaround for this? I filed FB17943846 if someone can take a look. Thanks.

I have an Apple app that uses SwiftData and icloud to sync the App's data across users' devices. Everything is working well. However, I am facing the following issue: SwiftData does not support public sharing of the object graph with other users via iCloud. How can I overcome this limitation without stopping using SwiftData? Thanks in advance!

Hi Writing an app in Swift on Xcode for my iPhone, all software is the latest version. If after making a minor change and re-building all the application data has disappeared, is there a way to see if it is still in the .modelContainer and just not showing up?

I currently have a schema in production (cloudKit and local files) containing non-optional transformable values, e.g. @Attribute(.transformable(by: TestTransformer.self)) var number: TestTransformable = TestTransformable.init(value: 100) Unfortunately, this is preventing any migration from succeeding (documented at length in FB22151570). Briefly summarized, any migration from a Schema containing non-optional transformable values fails between willMigrate and didMigrate with the error "Can't find model for source store". This occurs for all migrations, including lightweight with a migration plan, lightweight without a plan, and custom migrations. Worst of all, this also prevents migration to optional transformable values, or the elimination of the transformable value entirely, leaving us completely stuck. (note: optional transformable values only work when they have a default value set to nil, otherwise even these have issues migrating) We already have features being blocked by this issue, and would like to preserve user-data while restoring our ability to move forwards with database. Are there any known workarounds for using SwiftData (+CloudKit) when schema migration is non-operational?

I have several macOS applications that use CloudKit. I need to test and finds out what happens when the user signs out of their iCloud account. That's because the application may lose data after signing out and then signing in again. Every time I do that, it'll take 15, 20 minutes... I don't time it, but it takes quite a gigantic time to sign out as the spinner keeps rolling. Why does it take so long to just sign out? This sign out effect is untestable because it takes a long time to sign out of an iCloud account and then make changes to the code and then test again. In case you need to know, my system version is Sequoia 15.7.

Hi, I am creating (or trying to) my first app using SwiftData - and I have questions :-) The main question I can't get my head wrapped around is the following: Let's say I have the sample below... @Model class Person { @Relationship(inverse:\Hat.owner) var hat:Hat } @Model class Hat { var owner:Person? } It looks like I am creating a strong reference cycle between the person and the hat objects? And in fact I am seeing these kinds of reference cycles when I look at the memory debugger. Many code samples I have seen so far use this type of relationship declaration... And I am wondering: Am I missing something? Admittedly I don't find many discussions about memory leaks caused by SwiftData despite the syntax being used in many examples? So what is the situation? Did Apple just miss to explain that the inverse: declaration causes memory leaks or is there some kind of magic that I should understand?

Hi everyone, On macOS 26.4 beta (with Xcode 26.4 beta), I’m seeing the following console messages in a brand new SwiftData + CloudKit template project (no custom logic added, fresh CloudKit container): updateTaskRequest called for a pre-running task com.apple.coredata.cloudkit.activity.export.F9EE783D-7521-4EC2-B42C-9FD1F29BA5C4 updateTaskRequest called for an already running/updated task com.apple.coredata.cloudkit.activity.export.F9EE783D-7521-4EC2-B42C-9FD1F29BA5C4 Error updating background task request: Error Domain=BGSystemTaskSchedulerErrorDomain Code=8 "(null)" These messages appear: When CloudKit is enabled Occasionally on app launch Often when bringing the app back to the foreground (Cmd-Tab away and back) Even with zero additional SwiftData logic They do not appear when CloudKit is disabled. This behavior is reproducible on a completely new project with a fresh CloudKit container. Questions: What exactly do these messages indicate? Is BGSystemTaskScheduler Code=8 expected in this context? Are these safe to ignore? Is this a known change in logging behavior in macOS 26.4 beta? Additionally, in a larger project I’ve observed SwiftData crashes and initially suspected these logs might be related. However, since the issue reproduces in a fresh template project, I’m unsure whether this is simply verbose beta logging or something more serious. Any clarification would be appreciated. Filed as FB21993521.

Since running on iOS 14b1, I'm getting this in my log (I have Core Data logging enabled): error: Store opened without NSPersistentHistoryTrackingKey but previously had been opened with NSPersistentHistoryTrackingKey - Forcing into Read Only mode store at 'file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/415B75A6-92C3-45FE-BE13-7D48D35909AF/StoreFile.sqlite' As far as I can tell, it's impossible to open my store without that key set - it's in the init() of my NSPersistentContainer subclass, before anyone calls it to load stores. Any ideas?