Kotlin Multiplatform install docs still recommend CocoaPods with no deprecation notice #19539

SDK

Kotlin Multiplatform SDK

Description

The Kotlin Multiplatform install docs still present CocoaPods as the default, recommended way to supply
Sentry-Cocoa, with no deprecation notice — while the Apple docs for the same SDK are already titled
"CocoaPods (Deprecated)".

Affected pages:

• https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/kotlin/guides/kotlin-multiplatform/
• https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/kotlin/guides/kotlin-multiplatform/manual-setup/
• https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/kotlin/guides/kotlin-multiplatform/configuration/gradle/

What they currently say: the getting-started guide states that if you use the Kotlin CocoaPods plugin,
the Gradle plugin "installs the Sentry Cocoa dependency", presented as the default path. Swift Package
Manager appears only as an alternative that additionally requires CocoaPods — "you need to use
Cocoapods and Swift Package Manager simultaneously". The Gradle configuration page documents
autoInstall.cocoapods without qualification and describes the linker block as "only relevant if you
are using SPM". None of the three mentions that CocoaPods is deprecated.

By contrast, https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/apple/guides/macos/install/cocoapods/ is titled
"CocoaPods (Deprecated)", states publishing stopped at the end of June 2026 with 9.19.1 as the last
published version, and recommends SPM or the pre-built XCFramework. Per getsentry/sentry-cocoa#7383 the
CocoaPods trunk goes read-only on 2 December 2026.

Why it matters: a KMP user following the current docs wires up an integration that can no longer receive
updates and breaks outright once the trunk is read-only. It isn't discoverable from the KMP docs alone —
you only find out by reading the Apple install page, which a KMP user has no particular reason to visit.

The gap is sharper for projects whose KMP module publishes its own pod (the iOS app consumes the shared
framework via CocoaPods). There the documented SPM alternative doesn't apply cleanly either: the Gradle
plugin skips its linker handling entirely whenever the Kotlin CocoaPods plugin is applied, so neither
documented path works. Filed separately against sentry-kotlin-multiplatform.

For what it's worth, #7383's acceptance criteria listed sentry-docs, release notes, README and CHANGELOG
but did not mention downstream SDKs — which may be how the KMP guide was missed.

Suggested Solution

1. Add the deprecation notice the Apple pages already carry to the KMP install and manual-setup pages,
   including the 2 December 2026 read-only date.
2. State which non-CocoaPods options are supported for KMP today, and the compatibility rules between
   the KMP SDK version and the Sentry-Cocoa version supplied.
3. On the Gradle configuration page, document how autoInstall.cocoapods and linker interact and
   which combinations are actually supported.
4. Add a short migration note for existing KMP users on CocoaPods, matching the Apple guidance.