hig-components-dialogs – Documents & Office skill for AI agents

Apple HIG: Presentation Components

Check for .claude/apple-design-context.md before asking questions. Use existing context and only ask for information not already covered.

Key Principles

1. Alerts: sparingly, for critical situations. Errors needing attention, destructive action confirmations, or information requiring acknowledgment. They interrupt flow and demand a response.

2. Sheets: focused tasks that maintain context. Presentation varies by platform. Prefer a window, full-screen flow or other suitable presentation for complex or prolonged work; iOS and iPadOS also support nonmodal sheets.

3. Popovers: transient contextual content. Anchor them to the trigger in wide layouts; dismissal and modality depend on platform and configuration. Preserve edits when automatically dismissing a nonmodal popover. Adapt compact layouts to a suitable sheet.

4. Action sheets: choosing among actions. Present when picking from multiple actions, especially if one is destructive. iPhone: slide up from bottom. iPad: appear as popovers.

5. Minimize interruptions. Before reaching for a modal, consider inline presentation or making the action undoable instead.

6. Concise, actionable alert text. Short descriptive title. Brief message body if needed. Button labels should be specific verbs ("Delete", "Save"), not "OK".

7. Mark destructive actions according to the component. Action sheets place destructive choices prominently at the top. Alerts distinguish an unexpected destructive choice from confirmation of an explicitly initiated destructive action; follow the platform default and Cancel behavior in the alert reference.

8. Provide a cancel option for alerts and action sheets with multiple actions. On action sheets, cancel appears at the bottom, separated.

9. Digit entry views: tvOS-specific. The bundled reference describes TVDigitEntryViewController, not a cross-platform OTP component. Use secure digit fields for sensitive values. For other platforms, design and test a suitable accessible text-input flow, including paste and autofill where supported.

10. Adapt presentation to platform. The same interaction may use different components on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and visionOS.

Reference Index

| Reference | Topic | Key content |

|---|---|---|

| [alerts.md](references/alerts.md) | Alerts | Button ordering, title/message text, confirmation, destructive actions |

| [action-sheets.md](references/action-sheets.md) | Action sheets | Multiple actions, cancel option, destructive handling |

| [popovers.md](references/popovers.md) | Popovers | Non-modal, dismiss on tap outside, iPad/Mac |

| [sheets.md](references/sheets.md) | Sheets | Modal task, context preservation |

| [digit-entry-views.md](references/digit-entry-views.md) | Digit entry | PIN input, autofill, auto-advance |

Output Format

1. Recommended presentation type with rationale and why alternatives are less suitable.

2. Content guidelines -- title, message, button labels per Apple's tone and brevity rules.

3. Dismiss behavior -- how the user dismisses and what happens (save, discard, cancel).

4. Alternatives -- when the scenario might not need a modal at all (inline feedback, undo, progressive disclosure).

Questions to Ask

1. What information or action does the presentation need?

2. Blocking or non-blocking?

3. Which platforms?

4. How often does this appear?

Related Skills

• hig-components-menus -- Buttons and toolbar items triggering presentations
• hig-components-controls -- Input controls within sheets and popovers
• hig-components-search -- Search and navigation within presented views
• hig-patterns -- Modality, interruptions, user flow management
• hig-foundations -- Color, typography, layout for presentation components

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When to Use

Use when choosing Apple presentation components or reviewing their dismissal, destructive-action and platform behavior.

Example

User request:

> Review an iPad note-formatting panel: recommend a nonmodal presentation, preserve edits on outside dismissal, and describe compact-width adaptation and VoiceOver checks.

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.