Swift Package IndexRecently, we’ve been focusing our attention on improving search here on the Swift Package Index, and it’s time to let you all know what we’ve implemented!
Search Results
First up, we improved the information you’ll see when you see search results or any list of packages:
All package lists across the whole site now include the number of stars and how recently a package has had maintenance activity so you can start making some decisions before you even open a package page. You can see examples of this in search results, keyword results, and owner/author pages.
Note: We update the date of the last “maintenance activity” when there is a commit to the default branch or when someone closes or merges an issue or pull request.
Search Filters
We’ve also added filters so you can refine any set of search results. The best way to explain this feature is with some examples:
- Packages matching “http” that are compatible with iOS and Linux.
- Packages matching “URLSession” that have had maintenance activity within the last three months.
- Packages matching “chart” that are licensed with App Store compatible licenses.
- Packages matching “layout” that have more than 5,000 stars.
Head over to the documentation for more information on all the fields you can filter on and more information on this significant feature.
We’re not entirely done with updates to search yet, but what we have is certainly significant enough for an update post!
As always, all of this work is a team effort, and these improvements would not exist without the invaluable contributions of James Sherlock, who did the lion’s share of the work getting filters implemented and Sarah Lichter, who helped with the package list improvements. Thank you both!