iOS Debugger Agent

Overview

Build and run iOS projects on a booted simulator, interact with the UI, and capture logs for debugging.

Prerequisites

• Xcode installed with command-line tools
• A booted iOS simulator (check with xcrun simctl list devices)
• Project with .xcodeproj or .xcworkspace

Core Workflow

1) Discover the booted simulator

xcrun simctl list devices | grep -E "Booted"

If none are booted, ask the user to boot one:

xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 15 Pro"

2) Build the project

For a workspace:

xcodebuild -workspace MyApp.xcworkspace -scheme MyApp -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro' build

For a project:

xcodebuild -project MyApp.xcodeproj -scheme MyApp -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 15 Pro' build

3) Install and launch the app

Find the built app:

find ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData -name "*.app" -path "*Debug-iphonesimulator*" | head -1

Install on simulator:

xcrun simctl install booted /path/to/MyApp.app

Launch the app:

xcrun simctl launch booted com.example.MyApp

4) Capture logs

Stream logs from the app:

xcrun simctl spawn booted log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "com.example.MyApp"' --level debug

Or capture all simulator logs:

xcrun simctl spawn booted log stream --level debug

UI Interaction

Take a screenshot

xcrun simctl io booted screenshot screenshot.png

Record video

xcrun simctl io booted recordVideo video.mp4
# Press Ctrl+C to stop recording

Open a URL in the simulator

xcrun simctl openurl booted "myapp://deeplink"

Send push notification

xcrun simctl push booted com.example.MyApp notification.apns

Troubleshooting

• Build fails: Check scheme name with xcodebuild -list
• App won't launch: Verify bundle ID with defaults read /path/to/MyApp.app/Info.plist CFBundleIdentifier
• Simulator not found: List available simulators with xcrun simctl list devices available
• Clean build: xcodebuild clean or delete DerivedData

Common Commands Reference

Task	Command
List simulators	xcrun simctl list devices
Boot simulator	xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 15 Pro"
Shutdown simulator	xcrun simctl shutdown booted
Erase simulator	xcrun simctl erase booted
Install app	xcrun simctl install booted /path/to/App.app
Uninstall app	xcrun simctl uninstall booted com.example.app
Launch app	xcrun simctl launch booted com.example.app
Terminate app	xcrun simctl terminate booted com.example.app
Get app container	xcrun simctl get_app_container booted com.example.app