Xcode 26.5 adds two features that make agent coding more useful

Alongside macOS 26.5 and its counterparts, Apple released Xcode 26.5 yesterday, with several bug fixes and improvements. Two of these improvements make agent coding workflows even smarter. Here are the details.

Xcode 26.5 adds two useful Coding Intelligence features

Apple released Xcode 26.5 yesterday, with two features that build on the agent coding capabilities introduced with Xcode 26.3.

Since then, developers have been able to integrate AI tools like OpenAI’s Codex or Anthropic’s Claude Agent directly into Xcode to facilitate tasks ranging from writing boilerplate code to updating the entire project based on its own documentation, file structure, and more.

This follows a broader shift towards AI-driven coding, in which developers work alongside AI tools or delegate actual coding to them, then review and adjust the results as necessary.

A few days ago, during Airbnb’s Q1 2026 earnings conference call, the company revealed that 60% of its new code is now written by AI. This came after Google CEO Sundar Pichai said 75% of the company’s code was generated by AI, up from 50% last fall.

Back to Xcode 26.5, the update introduced two features that will make agent coding easier and more useful. From the Xcode 26.5 release notes:

Coding Intelligence

New features

Messages can now be queued in the Coding Assistant. (174563016)

Agents can now ask clarifying questions to provide more accurate results. (175182375)

This means developers no longer need to wait for the helper to finish generating a response before lining up another message. Agents, meanwhile, can now ask clarifying questions before continuing with a task, which Apple says should help them provide more accurate results.

In practice, both features are extremely useful for sending the agent on a more precise path from the start and for longer periods of time, while minimizing the risk that the outcome will differ from what the developer had in mind.

These Coding Intelligence features join other additions in Xcode 26.5, including new support for StoreKit Testing that lets developers simulate Apple’s new monthly subscriptions with a 12-month commitment.

To see everything new in Xcode 26.5, follow this link.