What does inherit! :search_paths do?

The purpose behind behind inherit!, according to https://guides.cocoapods.org/syntax/podfile.html#inherit_bang
(which I would agree is not very clear), is to provide one of 3 available modes:

• :complete The target inherits all behaviour from the parent.
• :none The target inherits none of the behaviour from the parent.
• :search_paths The target inherits the search paths of the parent only.

In this question’s example it is the :search_paths mode that is being expressed. The three different modes serve different roles when testing a Pod project.

Here is an additional link pertaining to Framework Search Paths in Xcode that helped clear some confusion for me.