⌄Style
Fill
Border
Shadow
The right-hand details panel is the inspector — toggle it from the toolbar
Inspector
/ View.inspector(isPresented:content:) · View.inspectorColumnWidth(min:ideal:max:) /
also called inspector panel, details sidebar, properties inspector, utility area
An inspector is a trailing panel that displays properties and controls for the item currently selected in the main content. Apps such as Keynote and Xcode organize formatting, identity, and configuration controls in inspectors so the document remains visible while details change. On macOS 14 and later SwiftUI provides a dedicated inspector modifier; classic AppKit layouts commonly build one as the trailing item of a split view.
If you called it…
…you meant a inspector.
Anatomy — every part, named
- 1Inspector column
View.inspector(isPresented:content:)“The properties panel on the right” is the inspector column.
- 2Inspector section disclosure
DisclosureGroup“The little arrow that folds a group of settings” is an inspector section disclosure.
- 3Inspector column divider
NSSplitViewItem“The thin line you drag to resize the properties panel” is the inspector column divider.
Prompt — paste into your agent
Put these selection-specific controls in an Inspector using SwiftUI View.inspector(isPresented:content:) (macOS 14+), as a collapsible right-hand column with a sensible inspectorColumnWidth. The inspector must update with the selected object without replacing the main content.
Debug prompt — when it misbehaves
Paste this, then describe what you’re seeing — it hands your agent the classic failure modes to rule out first.
Debug my macOS inspector (SwiftUI View.inspector(isPresented:), NSSplitViewItem(inspectorWithViewController:)). Rule out: the inspector auto-presenting as a sheet on narrow windows — that is the built-in adaptive behavior; the toggle binding out of sync because the user can also close it by dragging; min/ideal widths forcing a collapse on window resize; inspector content not tracking the current selection. The symptom:
In code
The exact names this thing goes by in code — each row is one framework’s word for it. Use the row that matches your project (or paste it into your prompt).
| SwiftUI | View.inspector(isPresented:content:) | macOS 14+ |
| SwiftUI | View.inspectorColumnWidth(min:ideal:max:) | |
| AppKit | NSSplitViewController | common foundation for a classic trailing inspector |
| AppKit | NSSplitViewItem |