ios-simulator

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This skill should be used when the user asks to "test on iOS simulator", "run app on iPhone", "take iOS screenshot", "tap button in simulator", "automate iOS UI", "install app on simulator", "boot simulator", or when working with iOS apps, Xcode, Simulator, simctl, idb, UI automation, or iOS testing. It automates iOS Simulator workflows including device lifecycle (create/boot/erase), app management (install/launch), push notifications, privacy grants, screenshots, and accessibility-based UI navigation.

5installs

Sourcetristanmanchester/agent-skills

Added on2026-05-12

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add tristanmanchester/agent-skills ios-simulator

SKILL.md Content

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iOS Simulator Automation

This skill provides a Node-only CLI wrapper around:

```
xcrun simctl
```
for simulator/device/app management
```
idb
```
for accessibility-tree inspection + synthesised UI input (tap/text/button)

It is designed for AI agents: minimal, structured output by default, with opt-in detail.

Important constraints

Must run on macOS with Xcode Command Line Tools (or Xcode) available.
If the ClawdBot gateway is not macOS, run these commands on a connected macOS node (see “Remote macOS node” below).
```
idb
```
is optional, but required for UI tree / semantic tapping. (Install steps below.)

Quick start

bash

# 1) Sanity check
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs health

# 2) List simulators (compact)
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs list

# 3) Select a default simulator (writes .ios-sim-state.json in the current dir)
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs select --name "iPhone" --runtime "iOS" --boot

# 4) Install + launch an .app
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs app install --app path/to/MyApp.app
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs app launch --bundle-id com.example.MyApp

# 5) Inspect current UI (requires idb)
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs ui summary
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs ui tap --query "Log in"
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs ui type --text "hello world"

# 6) Screenshot
node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs screenshot --out artifacts/screen.png

Remote macOS node

If you are not on macOS, run the same commands on the macOS node using ClawdBot’s node execution (e.g.

exec

with

host: node

/ node tools). Ensure the skill folder exists on that node, or copy it there.

Output conventions (token-efficient)

Default output: single-line JSON (small summary object).
Add
```
--pretty
```
to pretty-print JSON.
Add
```
--text
```
for a short human-readable summary (when provided by the command).
Commands that can be huge (
```
ui tree
```
,
```
list --full
```
) are opt-in.

State / default UDID

select

writes a state file (default:

./.ios-sim-state.json

) that stores the chosen UDID. All commands accept

--udid <UUID>

and otherwise fall back to the state file.

Override location with:

```
IOS_SIM_STATE_FILE=/path/to/state.json
```

Dependency notes

Xcode / simctl availability

If

xcrun

cannot find

simctl

, ensure Xcode CLI tools are selected (via Xcode settings or

xcode-select

) and run the first-launch setup:

```
xcodebuild -runFirstLaunch
```

idb (for accessibility automation)

Install

idb_companion

and the

idb

CLI:

bash

brew tap facebook/fb
brew install idb-companion
python3 -m pip install --upgrade fb-idb

Safety tiers

Tier	Commands	Notes
SAFE	`list` , `health` , `boot` , `shutdown` , `screenshot` , `ui *`	No data loss
CAUTION	`privacy ` , `push` , `clipboard ` , `openurl`	Alters simulator/app state
DANGEROUS	`erase` , `delete`	Requires `--yes`

Command index

All commands live under:

bash

node {baseDir}/scripts/ios-sim.mjs <command> [subcommand] [flags]

Core simulator lifecycle

```
list [--full]
```

select --name <substr> [--runtime <substr>] [--boot]

```
boot [--udid <uuid>] [--wait]
```
```
shutdown [--udid <uuid>|--all]
```
```
erase --yes [--udid <uuid>|--all]
```
```
delete --yes [--udid <uuid>]
```

create --name <name> --device-type <substr> --runtime <substr>

App management

app install --app <path/to/App.app> [--udid ...]

app uninstall --bundle-id <id> [--udid ...]

app launch --bundle-id <id> [--udid ...] [-- <args...>]

app terminate --bundle-id <id> [--udid ...]

app container --bundle-id <id> [--type data|app] [--udid ...]

Screenshots & video

screenshot --out <file.png> [--udid ...]

record-video --out <file.mp4> [--udid ...]

(runs until Ctrl+C)

Clipboard / URL

```
clipboard get [--udid ...]
```

clipboard set --text <text> [--udid ...]

```
openurl --url <url> [--udid ...]
```

Simulator permissions & push notifications

privacy grant --bundle-id <id> --service <svc[,svc...]> [--udid ...]

privacy revoke --bundle-id <id> --service <svc[,svc...]> [--udid ...]

privacy reset --bundle-id <id> --service <svc[,svc...]> [--udid ...]

push --bundle-id <id> --payload <json-string> [--udid ...]

Logs

logs show [--last 5m] [--predicate <expr>] [--udid ...]

Accessibility-driven UI automation (requires idb)

```
ui summary [--limit 12]
```
```
ui tree
```
(full UI JSON array)
```
ui find --query <text> [--limit 20]
```
```
ui tap --query <text>
```
(find + tap best match)
```
ui tap --x <num> --y <num>
```
(raw coordinate tap)
```
ui type --text <text>
```

ui button --name HOME|LOCK|SIRI|SIDE_BUTTON|APPLE_PAY

Troubleshooting

See: references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md

ios-simulator

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

iOS Simulator Automation

Important constraints

Quick start

Remote macOS node

Output conventions (token-efficient)

State / default UDID

Dependency notes

Xcode / simctl availability

idb (for accessibility automation)

Safety tiers

Command index

Core simulator lifecycle

App management

Screenshots & video

Clipboard / URL

Simulator permissions & push notifications

Logs

Accessibility-driven UI automation (requires idb)

Troubleshooting