iOS Simulator Skillby conorluddy

Efficient iOS app building, navigation, and testing using accessibility-first automation. Optimized for AI agents with minimal token output and maximum capability.

npx skills add https://github.com/conorluddy/ios-simulator-skill --skill ios-simulator-skill

Download ZIP GitHub

iOS Simulator Skill

Build, test, and automate iOS applications using accessibility-driven navigation and structured data instead of pixel coordinates.

Quick Start

# 1. Check environment
bash scripts/sim_health_check.sh

# 2. Launch app
python scripts/app_launcher.py --launch com.example.app

# 3. Map screen to see elements
python scripts/screen_mapper.py

# 4. Tap button
python scripts/navigator.py --find-text "Login" --tap

# 5. Enter text
python scripts/navigator.py --find-type TextField --enter-text "[email protected]"

All scripts support --help for detailed options and --json for machine-readable output.

Navigation Strategy

Always prefer the accessibility tree over screenshots for navigation. The accessibility tree gives you element types, labels, frames, and tap targets — structured data that's cheaper and more reliable than image analysis.

Use this priority:

screen_mapper.py → structured element list (5-7 lines, ~10 tokens)
navigator.py --find-text/--find-type/--find-id → semantic interaction
Screenshots → only for visual verification, bug reports, or visual diff

Screenshots cost 1,600–6,300 tokens depending on size. The accessibility tree costs 10–50 tokens in default mode.

22 Production Scripts

Build & Development (2 scripts)

build_and_test.py - Build Xcode projects, run tests, parse results with progressive disclosure
- Build with live result streaming
- Parse errors and warnings from xcresult bundles
- Retrieve detailed build logs on demand
- Options: --project, --scheme, --clean, --test, --verbose, --json
log_monitor.py - Real-time log monitoring with intelligent filtering
- Stream logs or capture by duration
- Filter by severity (error/warning/info/debug)
- Deduplicate repeated messages
- Options: --app, --severity, --follow, --duration, --output, --json

Navigation & Interaction (5 scripts)

screen_mapper.py - Analyze current screen and list interactive elements
- Element type breakdown
- Interactive button list
- Text field status
- Options: --verbose, --hints, --json
navigator.py - Find and interact with elements semantically
- Find by text (fuzzy matching)
- Find by element type
- Find by accessibility ID
- Enter text or tap elements
- Options: --find-text, --find-type, --find-id, --tap, --enter-text, --json
gesture.py - Perform swipes, scrolls, pinches, and complex gestures
- Directional swipes (up/down/left/right)
- Multi-swipe scrolling
- Pinch zoom
- Long press
- Pull to refresh
- Options: --swipe, --scroll, --pinch, --long-press, --refresh, --json
keyboard.py - Text input and hardware button control
- Type text (fast or slow)
- Special keys (return, delete, tab, space, arrows)
- Hardware buttons (home, lock, volume, screenshot)
- Key combinations
- Options: --type, --key, --button, --slow, --clear, --dismiss, --json
app_launcher.py - App lifecycle management
- Launch apps by bundle ID
- Terminate apps
- Install/uninstall from .app bundles
- Deep link navigation
- List installed apps
- Check app state
- Options: --launch, --terminate, --install, --uninstall, --open-url, --list, --state, --json

Testing & Analysis (6 scripts)

accessibility_audit.py - Check WCAG compliance on current screen
- Critical issues (missing labels, empty buttons, no alt text)
- Warnings (missing hints, small touch targets)
- Info (missing IDs, deep nesting)
- Options: --verbose, --output, --json
visual_diff.py - Compare two screenshots for visual changes
- Pixel-by-pixel comparison
- Threshold-based pass/fail
- Generate diff images
- Options: --threshold, --output, --details, --json
test_recorder.py - Automatically document test execution
- Capture screenshots and accessibility trees per step
- Generate markdown reports with timing data
- Options: --test-name, --output, --verbose, --json
app_state_capture.py - Create comprehensive debugging snapshots
- Screenshot, UI hierarchy, app logs, device info
- Markdown summary for bug reports
- Options: --app-bundle-id, --output, --log-lines, --json
sim_health_check.sh - Verify environment is properly configured
- Check macOS, Xcode, simctl, IDB, Python
- List available and booted simulators
- Verify Python packages (Pillow)
model_inspector.py - Inspect Core Data and SwiftData models from project files
- Parse .xcdatamodeld packages (entities, attributes, relationships)
- Detect model versions and current active version
- Best-effort SwiftData @Model class extraction
- Raw source dump for any model on demand (--raw ModelName)
- Options: --project-path, --core-data-only, --swiftdata-only, --show-versions, --raw, --verbose, --json

Advanced Testing & Permissions (4 scripts)

clipboard.py - Manage simulator clipboard for paste testing
- Copy text to clipboard
- Test paste flows without manual entry
- Options: --copy, --test-name, --expected, --json
status_bar.py - Override simulator status bar appearance
- Presets: clean (9:41, 100% battery), testing (11:11, 50%), low-battery (20%), airplane (offline)
- Custom time, network, battery, WiFi settings
- Options: --preset, --time, --data-network, --battery-level, --clear, --json
push_notification.py - Send simulated push notifications
- Simple mode (title + body + badge)
- Custom JSON payloads
- Test notification handling and deep links
- Options: --bundle-id, --title, --body, --badge, --payload, --json
privacy_manager.py - Grant, revoke, and reset app permissions
- 13 supported services (camera, microphone, location, contacts, photos, calendar, health, etc.)
- Batch operations (comma-separated services)
- Audit trail with test scenario tracking
- Options: --bundle-id, --grant, --revoke, --reset, --list, --json

Device Lifecycle Management (5 scripts)

simctl_boot.py - Boot simulators with optional readiness verification
- Boot by UDID or device name
- Wait for device ready with timeout
- Batch boot operations (--all, --type)
- Performance timing
- Options: --udid, --name, --wait-ready, --timeout, --all, --type, --json
simctl_shutdown.py - Gracefully shutdown simulators
- Shutdown by UDID or device name
- Optional verification of shutdown completion
- Batch shutdown operations
- Options: --udid, --name, --verify, --timeout, --all, --type, --json
simctl_create.py - Create simulators dynamically
- Create by device type and iOS version
- List available device types and runtimes
- Custom device naming
- Returns UDID for CI/CD integration
- Options: --device, --runtime, --name, --list-devices, --list-runtimes, --json
simctl_delete.py - Permanently delete simulators
- Delete by UDID or device name
- Safety confirmation by default (skip with --yes)
- Batch delete operations
- Smart deletion (--old N to keep N per device type)
- Options: --udid, --name, --yes, --all, --type, --old, --json
simctl_erase.py - Factory reset simulators without deletion
- Preserve device UUID (faster than delete+create)
- Erase all, by type, or booted simulators
- Optional verification
- Options: --udid, --name, --verify, --timeout, --all, --type, --booted, --json

Common Patterns

Auto-UDID Detection: Most scripts auto-detect the booted simulator if --udid is not provided.

Device Name Resolution: Use device names (e.g., "iPhone 16 Pro") instead of UDIDs - scripts resolve automatically.

Batch Operations: Many scripts support --all for all simulators or --type iPhone for device type filtering.

Output Formats: Default is concise human-readable output. Use --json for machine-readable output in CI/CD.

Help: All scripts support --help for detailed options and examples.

Screenshot Sizing: Screenshots are resized to save tokens. Presets: full (3-4 tiles, ~5K tokens), half (1 tile, ~1.6K tokens, default), quarter (1 tile, ~800 tokens, less detail). Use quarter for quick visual checks, half for readable UI, full only when pixel-level detail matters. Scripts that capture screenshots (app_state_capture.py, test_recorder.py) default to half.

Typical Workflow

Verify environment: bash scripts/sim_health_check.sh
Launch app: python scripts/app_launcher.py --launch com.example.app
Analyze screen: python scripts/screen_mapper.py
Interact: python scripts/navigator.py --find-text "Button" --tap
Verify: python scripts/accessibility_audit.py
Debug if needed: python scripts/app_state_capture.py --app-bundle-id com.example.app