Mobile Automation with agent-device
Quick start
bash
agent-device open Settings --platform ios agent-device snapshot -i agent-device click @e3 agent-device wait text "Camera" agent-device alert wait 10000 agent-device fill @e5 "test" agent-device close
If not installed, run:
bash
npx -y agent-device
Core workflow
- •Open app or just boot device:
open [app] - •Snapshot:
snapshotto get full XCTest accessibility tree snapshot - •Interact using refs (
click @ref,fill @ref "text") - •Re-snapshot after navigation or UI changes
- •Close session when done
Commands
Navigation
bash
agent-device open [app] # Boot device/simulator; optionally launch app agent-device open [app] --activity com.example/.MainActivity # Android: open specific activity agent-device close [app] # Close app or just end session agent-device session list # List active sessions
Snapshot (page analysis)
bash
agent-device snapshot # Full XCTest accessibility tree snapshot agent-device snapshot -i # Interactive elements only (recommended) agent-device snapshot -c # Compact output agent-device snapshot -d 3 # Limit depth agent-device snapshot -s "Camera" # Scope to label/identifier agent-device snapshot --raw # Raw node output agent-device snapshot --backend xctest # default: XCTest snapshot (fast, complete, no permissions) agent-device snapshot --backend ax # macOS Accessibility tree (fast, needs permissions, less fidelity, optional)
XCTest is the default: fast and complete and does not require permissions. Use it in most cases and only fall back to AX when something breaks.
Find (semantic)
bash
agent-device find "Sign In" click agent-device find text "Sign In" click agent-device find label "Email" fill "user@example.com" agent-device find value "Search" type "query" agent-device find role button click agent-device find id "com.example:id/login" click agent-device find "Settings" wait 10000 agent-device find "Settings" exists
Settings helpers (simulators)
bash
agent-device settings wifi on agent-device settings wifi off agent-device settings airplane on agent-device settings airplane off agent-device settings location on agent-device settings location off
Note: iOS wifi/airplane toggles status bar indicators, not actual network state. Airplane off clears status bar overrides.
App state
bash
agent-device appstate agent-device apps --metadata --platform ios agent-device apps --metadata --platform android
Interactions (use @refs from snapshot)
bash
agent-device click @e1 agent-device focus @e2 agent-device fill @e2 "text" # Clear then type (Android: verifies value and retries once on mismatch) agent-device type "text" # Type into focused field without clearing agent-device press 300 500 # Tap by coordinates agent-device long-press 300 500 800 # Long press (where supported) agent-device scroll down 0.5 agent-device pinch 2.0 # Zoom in 2x (iOS simulator + Android) agent-device pinch 0.5 200 400 # Zoom out at coordinates agent-device back agent-device home agent-device app-switcher agent-device wait 1000 agent-device wait text "Settings" agent-device alert get
Get information
bash
agent-device get text @e1 agent-device get attrs @e1 agent-device screenshot out.png
Trace logs (AX/XCTest)
bash
agent-device trace start # Start trace capture agent-device trace start ./trace.log # Start trace capture to path agent-device trace stop # Stop trace capture agent-device trace stop ./trace.log # Stop and move trace log
Devices and apps
bash
agent-device devices agent-device apps --platform ios agent-device apps --platform android # default: launchable only agent-device apps --platform android --all agent-device apps --platform android --user-installed
Best practices
- •Pinch (
pinch <scale> [x y]) is supported on iOS simulators and Android; scale > 1 zooms in, < 1 zooms out. On Android, pinch uses multi-touchsendeventinjection. - •Always snapshot right before interactions; refs invalidate on UI changes.
- •Prefer
snapshot -ito reduce output size. - •On iOS,
xctestis the default and does not require Accessibility permission. - •If XCTest returns 0 nodes (foreground app changed), agent-device falls back to AX when available.
- •
open <app>can be used within an existing session to switch apps and update the session bundle id. - •If AX returns the Simulator window or empty tree, restart Simulator or use
--backend xctest. - •Use
--session <name>for parallel sessions; avoid device contention. - •Use
--activity <component>on Android to launch a specific activity (e.g. TV apps with LEANBACK). - •Use
fillwhen you want clear-then-type semantics. - •Use
typewhen you want to append/enter text without clearing. - •On Android, prefer
fillfor important fields; it verifies entered text and retries once when IME reorders characters.