This guide covers everything you need before you can install and use the Kustomer Chat iOS SDK.

## Apple iOS development requirements

The Kustomer Chat iOS SDK requires the following minimum Apple iOS and Xcode versions:

  • [iOS](🔗): Minimum build target version of iOS 11

  • [Xcode](🔗): Xcode 12



Given Apple's deprecation of Xcode 12 & lower, all Kustomer iOS SDKs can only be built using Xcode 13 starting in version 2.6.2 of our SDK.

## Kustomer platform permissions

To work with the Kustomer Chat SDK, you'll need at least [Administrator-level permission sets](🔗) to create API keys and to access the chat settings for your Kustomer organization.

## Kustomer API Key

The Kustomer Chat SDK requires an API key with the `org.tracking` role for your Kustomer organization.

You can manually generate an API key in your Kustomer Security settings.

### Manually generate the API key

To generate the API key manually:

  1. Go to **Settings** in your Kustomer app, and select **Security > API Keys > Add API Key**.

  2. Enter a descriptive name for your API key. Set **Roles** to `org.tracking` and **Expires (in days)** to "No Expiration".

  3. Select **Create** to generate a new API Key. Save your API key in a secure location.

To learn more about Kustomer API keys, see [API keys](🔗) in the Kustomer Help Center.

Optional: Building your own UI

You can also disable all of our UI, and use the iOS Chat SDK with your own custom view controllers and interface. The `ChatProvider` and `ChatListener` classes let you interact with our API directly.

See [Build your own UI](🔗) for more.