SilbercueSwift

The fastest, most complete MCP server for iOS development. One Swift binary, 58 tools, zero dependencies. SilbercueSwift has the most complete toolset of any alternative out there.

Built for Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible AI agent.

Looking for an alternative to existing iOS MCP servers? SilbercueSwift covers the full feature set of XcodeBuildMCP, Appium-MCP, and iosef in a single binary — plus xcresult parsing, UI automation, code coverage, and up to 75x faster screenshots. See comparison below.

Why SilbercueSwift?

Every iOS MCP server has the same problem: raw xcodebuild output is useless for AI agents. 500 lines of build log, stderr noise mistaken for errors, no structured test results. Agents waste minutes parsing what a human sees in seconds.

SilbercueSwift fixes this. It parses .xcresult bundles — the same structured data Xcode uses internally — and returns exactly what the agent needs: pass/fail counts, failure messages with file:line, code coverage per file, and failure screenshots.

What you get	XcodeBuildMCP	Appium-MCP	iosef	SilbercueSwift
Screenshot latency	~1127ms	~77ms	~83ms	~316ms ( ~15ms, 75x)
View hierarchy	~259ms	~938ms	~44ms	~31ms ( ~5ms)
Find element	—	76ms	50ms	31ms ( <1ms + auto-scroll)
Tap (coordinates)	235ms	470ms	48ms	16ms ( 4ms)
Swipe	1284ms	2685ms	262ms	~250ms
Build for simulator	Yes	—	—	Yes
Build + Run in one call	Yes (sequential)	—	—	Yes (parallel, ~9s faster)
Structured test results	Partial	—	—	Full xcresult JSON
Failure screenshots from xcresult	—	—	—	Auto-exported
Code coverage per file	Basic	—	—	Sorted, filterable
Build error diagnosis	stderr parsing	—	—	xcresult JSON with file:line
Navigate (find + tap + verify)	—	—	—	1 call (~380ms)
Double tap	—	—	—	~60ms
Drag & drop	—	Coordinates only (3 calls)	—	Element-to-element (1 call)
Scroll to element	—	Manual swipe loop	—	SmartScroll (1 call)
Alert handling	—	Single alert	—	3-tier search + batch accept_all
iOS 18 ContactsUI dialog	—	—	—	Supported
Batch UI automation	—	—	—	run_plan: multi-step plans with adaptive decisions
Log filtering	Subsystem only	—	Partial	Topic-filtered: 90% fewer tokens
Console log per failed test	—	—	—	Optional
Wait for log pattern	—	—	—	Regex + timeout
Visual regression	—	—	—	Baseline + pixel diff
Multi-device check	—	—	—	Dark Mode, Landscape, iPad
Cross-platform (Android)	—	Yes	—	—
Tools	77 (Rust)	61 (Node.js + Appium)	15 (Swift)	58 (Native Swift, 8.5MB)
Cold start	~400ms	~1000ms	~100ms	~50ms

Where SilbercueSwift really shines

Screenshots up to 75x faster — ~316ms ( ~15ms)

Free tier screenshots (~316ms) are faster than XcodeBuildMCP (~1127ms) and most alternatives. Pro brings latency down to ~15ms — 5x faster than Appium, 75x faster than XcodeBuildMCP. Agents can take screenshots freely without penalty at either tier.

Structured test results from xcresult bundles — zero guesswork on failures

When a test fails, the agent gets the error message, the exact file:line, a screenshot of the failure state, and optionally the console output — all parsed from Apple's .xcresult format. No guessing from 500 lines of xcodebuild stderr. This is the difference between "agent knows what broke" and "agent guesses what broke".

Single binary, zero dependencies — 58 tools, install in 10 seconds

brew install silbercueswift — done. 8.5MB native Swift binary. No Node.js, no npm, no Appium server, no Python, no Java, no Rust toolchain. Cold start in ~50ms. The fastest way to get an iOS MCP server running.

Agent reads only what matters — 90% fewer tokens, zero wasted calls (topic filtering )

Free tier already strips noise: 15 known noise processes are excluded at capture time, and duplicate lines are collapsed (79% I/O reduction). Pro adds topic filtering — read_logs categorizes lines into 8 topics and shows only app + crashes by default, with a menu: network(87) lifecycle(12) springboard(8). The agent opens specific topics in one call — no guessing, no iteration.

One call to dismiss all permission dialogs — 3 alerts in 1 roundtrip

Every app shows 2–3 permission dialogs on first launch. Other servers require the agent to screenshot → find button → click, per dialog. handle_alert(action: "accept_all") clears them all in a single call, searching across SpringBoard, ContactsUI, and the active app. Free tier handles alerts individually with accept / dismiss.

Drag & drop with element IDs — 1 call instead of 3

"Drag item A above item B" is a single call: drag_and_drop(source_element: "el-0", target_element: "el-1"). The competition only supports raw coordinates, forcing the agent to find both elements, extract their frames, and build a W3C Actions sequence — 3 calls minimum.

Auto-scroll to off-screen elements — no more manual swipe loops

find_element(using: "accessibility id", value: "Save", scroll: true) scrolls automatically until the element appears. SmartScroll handles UIKit, SwiftUI, and lazy-loaded lists — no guessing scroll direction.

View hierarchy in ~31ms (Free) / ~5ms (Pro) — up to 188x faster element inspection

get_source returns the full UI tree in ~31ms (Free) or ~5ms (Pro). The fastest competitor takes 44ms, most take 250ms+. This makes element inspection practically free for agents.

Navigate in one call — find + tap + settle + screenshot in ~380ms

navigate(to: "Settings") finds the element, taps it, waits for the screen to settle, and returns a verification screenshot — all in a single call. No competitor offers this. Agents save 3-4 tool calls per navigation step.

Batch UI automation — run_plan executes multi-step plans with adaptive decisions

run_plan takes a sequence of UI steps and executes them server-side. When a step needs a decision (unexpected dialog, element not found), it falls back through 4 tiers — from MCP sampling to pause & resume. No more "one tool call per tap" overhead.

Quick Start

Install via Homebrew

brew tap silbercue/silbercue
brew install silbercueswift

Or build from source

git clone https://github.com/silbercue/SilbercueSwift.git
cd SilbercueSwift
swift build -c release
cp .build/release/SilbercueSwift /usr/local/bin/

Configure in Claude Code

One command — installs globally for all projects:

claude mcp add --scope user SilbercueSwift /opt/homebrew/bin/SilbercueSwift

Note: Use the full path (/opt/homebrew/bin/SilbercueSwift). Claude Code starts MCP servers without a full shell PATH, so bare command names won't be found.

Uninstall

claude mcp remove --scope user SilbercueSwift
brew uninstall silbercueswift
brew untap silbercue/silbercue

Free vs Pro

SilbercueSwift ships 49 tools for free — build, test, simulate, automate UI, capture logs, and take screenshots. No time limit, no signup.

Pro adds 9 tools and faster internals for teams and power users who need the full picture.

	Free	Pro
Build, test, sim management	49 tools	58 tools
Screenshot	~316ms	~15ms (75x faster)
Structured test results (xcresult)	Yes	Yes
Find element	31ms	<1ms
View hierarchy	31ms	~5ms
Tap (coordinates)	16ms	4ms
Click / type / swipe / double tap / long press / drag & drop	Yes	Yes
Navigate (find + tap + verify)	Yes	Yes
Batch UI automation (run_plan)	Yes	Yes
Alert handling	Single accept/dismiss	+ Batch accept_all / dismiss_all
Log capture	Smart + verbose	+ App mode, topic filtering
Console capture, git tools	Yes	Yes
Scroll to element	—	SmartScroll
Visual regression	—	Baseline + pixel diff
Multi-device check	—	Dark Mode, Landscape, iPad
Accessibility check	—	Dynamic Type rendering
Localization check	—	Multi-language + RTL
Pinch / zoom	—	Yes

Pro costs 12 EUR/month. Get a license on Polar.sh, then:

silbercueswift activate <YOUR-LICENSE-KEY>

58 Tools in 14 Categories

Build (5 tools)

Tool	Description
build_sim	Build for iOS Simulator — returns structured errors + caches bundle ID & app path
build_run_sim	Build + boot + install + launch in one call — parallel 2-phase pipeline, ~9s faster than sequential
clean	Clean build artifacts
discover_projects	Find .xcodeproj/.xcworkspace files
list_schemes	List available schemes

Testing & Diagnostics (4 tools)

Tool	Description
test_sim	Run tests + structured xcresult summary (pass/fail/duration)
test_failures	Failed tests with error messages, file:line, and failure screenshots
test_coverage	Code coverage per file, sorted and filterable
build_and_diagnose	Build + structured errors/warnings from xcresult

Simulator (12 tools)

Tool	Description
list_sims	List available simulators
boot_sim	Boot a simulator
shutdown_sim	Shut down a simulator
install_app	Install .app bundle
launch_app	Launch app by bundle ID
terminate_app	Terminate running app
clone_sim	Clone an existing simulator
erase_sim	Erase simulator content and settings
delete_sim	Delete a simulator
set_orientation	Rotate device (PORTRAIT, LANDSCAPE_LEFT, LANDSCAPE_RIGHT) via WDA
sim_status	Simulator state (booted/shutdown, device type, runtime)
sim_inspect	Detailed simulator info (data path, log path, UDID)

UI Automation (16 tools)

Native input for gestures, WDA for element queries and alerts — no Appium, no Node.js, no Python.

Tool	Description	Latency
handle_alert	Accept, dismiss, or batch-handle system & in-app alerts	~200ms
find_element / find_elements	Find elements by accessibility ID, predicate, class chain. scroll: true auto-scrolls until the element appears (SmartScroll — 3 fallback strategies)	31ms ( <1ms)
click_element	Tap a UI element	~75ms
tap_coordinates	Coordinate-based tap	~16ms ( ~4ms)
double_tap / long_press	Double tap or long press at coordinates	~60ms / ~1000ms
swipe	Directional swipe	~250ms
pinch	Zoom in/out	~400ms
drag_and_drop	Drag from source to target — element-to-element, coordinates, or mixed. Smart defaults for reorderable lists, Kanban boards, sliders	~1.3s
navigate	Find + tap + settle + screenshot in 1 call — saves 3-4 roundtrips	~380ms
type_text / get_text	Type into or read from elements	~100-300ms
get_source	Full view hierarchy (JSON/XML)	~31ms ( ~5ms)
wda_status / wda_create_session	WDA health check & session management	~50-100ms

handle_alert — the smartest alert handler

# Accept a single alert with smart defaults
handle_alert(action: "accept")

# Dismiss with a specific button label
handle_alert(action: "dismiss", button_label: "Not Now")

# Batch-accept ALL alerts after app launch (unique to SilbercueSwift)
handle_alert(action: "accept_all")

3-tier alert search — finds alerts across:

1. Springboard — system permission dialogs (Location, Camera, Tracking)
2. ContactsUI — iOS 18+ Contacts "Limited Access" dialog (separate process)
3. Active app — in-app UIAlertController dialogs

Smart defaults — knows which button to tap:

• Accept: "Allow" → "Allow While Using App" → "OK" → "Continue" → last button
• Dismiss: "Don't Allow" (handles Unicode U+2019) → "Cancel" → "Not Now" → first button

Batch mode — accept_all / dismiss_all loops through multiple sequential alerts server-side. One HTTP roundtrip instead of N. Returns details of every handled alert.

These capabilities go beyond what other iOS MCP servers currently offer.

Screenshots (1 tool)

Tool	Latency
screenshot	Free: ~316ms / Pro: ~15ms

Logs (4 tools)

Tool	Description
start_log_capture	Smart-filtered os_log stream — 3 modes: smart (default, topic filtering enabled), app (tight stream, auto-detected), verbose (unfiltered). Deduplicates repetitive lines.
stop_log_capture	Stop capture
read_logs	Topic-filtered reading — default: app + crashes only. Response includes topic menu with line counts. Add topics via include parameter.
wait_for_log	Wait for regex pattern with timeout — eliminates sleep() hacks

Smart Log Filtering — 4 layers, zero config

# Start capture (default: smart mode — broad stream, topic filtering enabled)
start_log_capture()

# Read logs — default shows only app logs + crashes + topic menu
read_logs()
# → --- 230 buffered, 42 shown [app, crashes] ---
# → Topics: app(35) crashes(2) | network(87) lifecycle(12) springboard(8) widgets(0) background(3) system(83)
# → Hint: include=["network"] to add SSL/TLS + background transfer logs
# → ---
# → [42 filtered lines]

# Agent sees network(87) and wants SSL details — one call:
read_logs(include: ["network"])

# Narrow stream for production monitoring:
start_log_capture(mode: "app")

# Bypass mode logic with explicit predicate:
start_log_capture(subsystem: "com.apple.SwiftUI")

4 filter layers:

1. Stream-side noise exclusion — 15 known noise processes + subsystem/category exclusions removed before buffering. Server-side filtering in logd — 79% I/O reduction.
2. 3 capture modes — smart (default, broad stream for topic filtering), app (tight, auto-detected bundle ID + process name), verbose (unfiltered).
3. Read-time topic filtering — read_logs categorizes every buffered line into 8 topics (app, crashes, network, lifecycle, springboard, widgets, background, system). Default shows only app + crashes. Agent adds topics as needed — stateless per call.
4. Buffer deduplication — 60 identical heartbeat lines become 2: the line itself + ... repeated 59x.

8 topics with LLM-optimized menu:

Topic	Matches	Use case
app (always on)	subsystem == bundleId OR process == appName	Your app: os_log, print(), NSLog()
crashes (always on)	fault-level logs	Crashes from any process
network	trustd, nsurlsessiond	SSL/TLS certs, background transfers
lifecycle	runningboardd, com.apple.runningboard.*	Jetsam, memory pressure, app kills
springboard	SpringBoard	Push notifications, app state
widgets	chronod	WidgetKit timeline, refresh budget
background	com.apple.xpc.activity.*	BGTaskScheduler, background fetch
system	everything else	WARNING: high volume

Console (3 tools)

Tool	Description
launch_app_console	Launch app with stdout/stderr capture
read_app_console	Read console output
stop_app_console	Stop console capture

Git (5 tools)

Tool	Description
git_status / git_diff / git_log	Read operations
git_commit / git_branch	Write operations

Visual Regression (2 tools)

Tool	Description
save_visual_baseline	Save a screenshot as a named baseline
compare_visual	Compare current screen against baseline — pixel diff + match score

Multi-Device (1 tool)

Tool	Description
multi_device_check	Run visual checks across multiple simulators (Dark Mode, Landscape, iPad) — returns layout scores

Accessibility (1 tool)

Tool	Description
accessibility_check	Render screens across Dynamic Type content size categories — detects truncation and layout issues

Localization (1 tool)

Tool	Description
localization_check	Render screens across languages including RTL (Arabic, Hebrew) — detects layout breaks

Automation (2 tools)

Tool	Description
run_plan	Execute a multi-step UI automation plan server-side — adaptive decisions with 4-tier fallback
run_plan_decide	Resume a paused plan with a decision — for clients without MCP sampling

Session (1 tool)

Tool	Description
set_defaults	Set default project, scheme, simulator — avoids repeating params

xcresult Parsing — The Killer Feature

The Problem

Every Xcode MCP server returns raw xcodebuild output. For a test run, that's 500+ lines of noise. AI agents can't reliably extract which tests failed and why.

The Solution

SilbercueSwift uses xcresulttool to parse the .xcresult bundle — the same structured data Xcode's Test Navigator uses.

# One call, structured result
test_sim(project: "MyApp.xcodeproj", scheme: "MyApp")

→ Tests FAILED in 15.2s
  12 total, 10 passed, 2 FAILED
  FAIL: Login shows error message
    LoginTests.swift:47: XCTAssertTrue failed
  FAIL: Profile image loads
    ProfileTests.swift:112: Expected non-nil value

  Failure screenshots (2):
    /tmp/ss-attachments/LoginTests_failure.png
    /tmp/ss-attachments/ProfileTests_failure.png

  Device: iPhone 16 Pro (18.2)
  xcresult: /tmp/ss-test-1774607917.xcresult

The agent gets:

• Pass/fail counts — immediate overview
• Failure messages with file:line — actionable
• Failure screenshots — visual context (Claude is multimodal)
• xcresult path — reusable for test_failures or test_coverage

Deep Failure Analysis

test_failures(xcresult_path: "/tmp/ss-test-*.xcresult", include_console: true)

→ FAIL: Login shows error message [LoginTests/testErrorMessage()]
    LoginTests.swift:47: XCTAssertTrue failed
    Screenshot: /tmp/ss-attachments/LoginTests_failure.png
    Console:
      [LoginService] Network timeout after 5.0s
      [LoginService] Retrying with fallback URL...
      ✘ Test "Login shows error message" failed after 6.2s

Code Coverage

test_coverage(project: "MyApp.xcodeproj", scheme: "MyApp", min_coverage: 80)

→ Overall coverage: 72.3%

  Target: MyApp.app (74.1%)
      0.0% AnalyticsService.swift
     45.2% LoginViewModel.swift
     67.8% ProfileManager.swift

  Target: MyAppTests.xctest (62.0%)
     ...

Benchmarks

Measured on M3 MacBook Pro, iOS 26.4 Simulator. All values are median of 5 runs after 2 warmups.

Action	iosef	XcodeBuildMCP	Appium-MCP	SS Free	SS Pro
Screenshot	83ms	1127ms	77ms	316ms	15ms
Find element	50ms	N/A	76ms	31ms	<1ms
Tap (coordinates)	48ms	235ms	470ms	16ms	4ms
Swipe	262ms	1284ms	2685ms	~250ms	~250ms
View hierarchy	44ms	259ms	938ms	31ms	5ms
Navigate (1 call)	—	—	—	~380ms	~380ms
Double tap	—	—	—	~84ms	~60ms
Drag & drop	—	coords only	—	~1.3s	~1.3s
Handle alert	—	—	118ms	~200ms	~200ms
Handle 3 alerts (batch)	—	—	3 calls	~800ms (1 call)	~800ms (1 call)
Scroll to element	—	—	swipe loop	—	Automatic
Build (clean)	—	2501ms	—	3188ms	1800ms
Simulator list	12ms	567ms	—	15ms	15ms
Cold start	~100ms	~400ms	~1000ms	~50ms	~50ms
Binary size	~5MB	~4MB	~200MB	8.5MB	8.5MB

Comparison with other MCP servers

See feature comparison table above for a detailed breakdown vs XcodeBuildMCP, Appium-MCP, and iosef. All three are excellent projects that pioneered iOS MCP tooling. SilbercueSwift combines all their feature sets with deeper integration into a single native binary. The only trade-off: SilbercueSwift is iOS-only (no Android, watchOS, tvOS, or visionOS).

Architecture

SilbercueSwift (8.5MB Swift binary)
├── MCP SDK (modelcontextprotocol/swift-sdk)
├── StdioTransport (JSON-RPC)
└── 58 Tools in 14 Categories
    Build · Test · Simulator · Screenshot · UI Automation
    Logs · Console · Visual Regression · Multi-Device
    Accessibility · Localization · Automation · Git · Session

No Node.js. No Python. No Appium server. No Selenium. One binary.

Requirements

• macOS 13+
• Xcode 15+ (for xcresulttool and simctl)
• Swift 6.0+ (for building from source)
• WebDriverAgent installed on simulator (for UI automation tools)

License

The core binary and all 49 free tools are MIT licensed — see LICENSE. Use them however you want, commercially or otherwise.

Pro tools (9 additional tools + faster internals) require a paid license. The license validation code (LicenseManager.swift) is included in the source for transparency — you can see exactly what it checks and when.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.