Our take
Activerecent releases- Activity
- 54
- Community
- 11
- Issues
- 47
- Pull requests
- 62
+27 stars in the last 16 days
- Fewer contributors than 86% of the projects we track
This is a focused, actively maintained toolkit for agent-assisted iOS development, with recent commits and releases, but its development is highly concentrated in one contributor.
Good fit if
- Your team uses Claude Code and wants scripts for Xcode builds and simulator interaction in one skill.
- You can meet the macOS, Xcode, Python, and idb requirements, and value accessibility-based UI automation.
- MIT licensing fits your project, and you are comfortable with a project maintained primarily by one person.
Look elsewhere if
- You need a cross-platform simulator tool or cannot run the required Apple development tools.
- You want an MCP-based interface rather than a Claude Code skill and scripts. The README points to XC-MCP as an alternative.
- Your team requires development to be spread across multiple contributors before adopting a tool.
All health signals
| Last commit | 2026-10-06 (4 days ago) |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 90 days | 8 |
| Releases, last 12 months | 7 (latest v1.5.0, 2026-09-12) |
| Contributors | 2 (top contributor: 99% of commits) |
| Issues closed, last 90 days | 1 |
| Pull requests merged, last 90 days | 5 (typically merged in 0 days) |
| Project age | 12 months |
Checked on 2026-10-11 with the GitHub API.
Overview
ios-simulator-skill is a collection of scripts and a Claude Code skill for working with Xcode projects and iOS simulators. It addresses two agent-workflow problems: raw build logs can consume substantial context, and coordinate-based UI interactions can break when screens change.
The project wraps Xcode builds and tests, and uses simulator tools to inspect and operate apps. Its accessibility-first approach lets agents locate interface elements by meaning, while scripts provide compact summaries and on-demand diagnostics. It is designed for developers building or testing iOS apps with coding agents, rather than as a general-purpose simulator interface.
Key Features
- Wraps
xcodebuildfor builds and tests, with detailed errors, warnings, and logs available on demand. - Finds and interacts with UI elements through accessibility data instead of relying only on screen coordinates.
- Automates simulator actions such as gestures, keyboard input, app launching, and device lifecycle operations.
- Audits accessibility and localization, compares screenshots, and captures app state for debugging.
- Controls simulator settings including appearance, location, permissions, status bar, and notifications.
- Provides text and JSON output modes, with configurable output limits and operational timeouts.
Use Cases
- A developer using Claude Code can ask an agent to build an app and inspect failures without placing full Xcode logs in every interaction.
- An iOS team can automate UI exploration using accessibility labels, particularly when layouts change and coordinate-based taps are brittle.
- A QA engineer can check accessibility, localization, permissions, and visual differences during simulator-based testing.
- A developer debugging a simulator-only issue can capture app state, monitor logs, or reproduce location and device-setting scenarios.
What you need
Detected in the repository
- Python >=3.12 (from pyproject.toml)
- A test suite and automated checks on GitHub Actions
License in plain words
MITpermissive
- Commercial use: yes
- Modify and redistribute: yes
- You must keep: the copyright and license notice
- Share your changes: no
A summary, not legal advice: the LICENSE file is what applies.
Getting Started
Install through the Claude Code plugin marketplace:
/plugin marketplace add conorluddy/ios-simulator-skill
/plugin install ios-simulator-skill@conorluddy
Restart Claude Code after installation. See the README for manual installation, prerequisites, and script usage.
Considerations
The skill requires macOS 15 or later, Xcode 26 or later, Python 3.12 or later, and idb for interactive scripts. These requirements limit it to Apple development environments, and simulator interaction depends on a compatible idb installation. The project is active and has had recent releases, but measured contributor activity is concentrated in one person. Its MIT license permits broad reuse, subject to the license terms.
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