Do Core Data Entities Need Primary Keys?

This article investigates whether developers need to add a primary key property to Core Data entities when using SQLite as the persistent store. Through an Xcode sample project and SQL debug logging, the author demonstrates that Core Data automatically generates internal primary keys (like Z_PK) for each entity, making manual primary key attributes unnecessary for most use cases. The article covers the purpose of primary keys in relational databases, how Core Data abstracts the underlying SQLite store, and provides practical steps to inspect the generated SQL schema. It is a technical tutorial relevant to iOS/macOS developers working with Core Data.