Unwanted diffs for Xcode 16+

[adellibovi]

Background
Starting from Xcode 16, Xcode adds empty inputsPaths and outputPaths causing unwanted diffs when running a pod install.

Why This Is a Problem
These unnecessary entries make the project file needlessly complex and create unwanted diffs.

Solution
As a workaround:

pre_install do |install|
  Xcodeproj::Project::Object::PBXShellScriptBuildPhase.class_eval do
      def to_hash_as(method = :to_hash)
        hash_as = super
        included_keys_for_serialization_when_empty.each do |key|
          if hash_as[key].nil?
            hash_as[key] = []
          end
        end
        hash_as
      end

      def included_keys_for_serialization_when_empty
        %w(inputPaths outputPaths)
      end
  end
end

[adellibovi]

Another scenario is when in PBXGroup path and name have the same values, Xcode cleans up the path property.

  Xcodeproj::Project::Object::PBXGroup.class_eval do
      def to_hash_as(method = :to_hash)
        hash_as = super
        if hash_as["path"] == hash_as["name"]
          hash_as.delete("path")
        end
        hash_as
      end
  end

[revolter]

Workaround for Xcode 16's buildable folders with target exceptions:

Xcodeproj::Project::Object::PBXFileSystemSynchronizedRootGroup.class_eval do
    def to_hash_as(method = :to_hash)
        hash_as = super
        excluded_keys_for_serialization_when_empty.each do |key|
            hash_as.delete(key) if hash_as[key].empty?
        end
        hash_as
    end

    def excluded_keys_for_serialization_when_empty
        %w[exceptions]
    end
end

Workaround for local Swift package references:

Xcodeproj::Project::Object::XCLocalSwiftPackageReference.class_eval do
    def ascii_plist_annotation
        # Copied and adapted from https://github.com/CocoaPods/Xcodeproj/blob/2cf6a2263d2b164b87c1fdaed340667046b4e44d/lib/xcodeproj/project/object/swift_package_local_reference.rb#L22
        " #{isa} \"#{relative_path}\" "
    end
end