iOS Simulator
📇 🏠 🍎 - A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with iOS simulators. This server allows you to interact with iOS simulators by getting information about them, controlling UI interactions, and inspecting UI elements.
What is iOS Simulator?
iOS Simulator is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to 📇 🏠 🍎 - a model context protocol (mcp) server for interacting with ios simulators. this server allows you to interact with ios simulators by getting information about them, controlling ui interacti...
📇 🏠 🍎 - A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interacting with iOS simulators. This server allows you to interact with iOS simulators by getting information about them, controlling UI interactions, and inspecting UI elements.
This server falls under the Browser Automation category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- 📇 🏠 🍎 - A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for interactin
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
NPM
npx -y ios-simulator-mcpManual Installation
npx -y ios-simulator-mcpConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use iOS Simulator
The iOS Simulator MCP server enables AI assistants to directly control and interact with iOS simulators running on macOS, exposing tools for UI automation, accessibility inspection, screenshots, video recording, and app management through natural language commands. It bridges the gap between AI coding assistants and mobile app testing by letting you describe UI interactions in plain English and have the agent execute them against a live simulator. iOS developers and QA engineers use it to automate simulator-based testing workflows, debug UI issues, and capture screenshots without writing UITest code.
Prerequisites
- macOS with Xcode installed (iOS Simulator requires Xcode)
- At least one iOS Simulator booted (open Xcode > Simulators or use 'xcrun simctl boot')
- Node.js 18 or later with npx available
- An MCP client such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code
- Optional: Facebook IDB (idb_companion) for enhanced UI interaction support
Boot an iOS Simulator
Ensure at least one iOS Simulator is running before connecting the MCP server. You can boot a simulator from Xcode or via the command line.
# List available simulators:
xcrun simctl list devices
# Boot a specific simulator by UDID:
xcrun simctl boot <simulator-udid>
# Open the Simulator app:
open -a SimulatorAdd the server to Claude Code
Register the iOS Simulator MCP server using the Claude Code CLI. No API key is required — the server communicates with the simulator locally.
claude mcp add ios-simulator npx ios-simulator-mcpConfigure in Claude Desktop manually
Alternatively, add the server to your claude_desktop_config.json. The IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIR env variable sets where screenshots and videos are saved.
{
"mcpServers": {
"ios-simulator": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "ios-simulator-mcp"],
"env": {
"IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIR": "/Users/yourname/Downloads"
}
}
}
}Verify tools are available
Restart your MCP client and confirm the iOS Simulator tools appear — including get_booted_sim_id, screenshot, ui_tap, ui_type, ui_swipe, ui_describe_all, install_app, and launch_app.
Optional: configure tool filtering
If you want to restrict which tools are exposed (for example to exclude video recording), set IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_FILTERED_TOOLS to a comma-separated list of tool names to hide.
"IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_FILTERED_TOOLS": "record_video,stop_recording"iOS Simulator Examples
Client configuration
Complete claude_desktop_config.json block for the iOS Simulator MCP server with a custom screenshot output directory.
{
"mcpServers": {
"ios-simulator": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "ios-simulator-mcp"],
"env": {
"IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIR": "/Users/yourname/Desktop/simulator-output"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts for controlling the iOS Simulator through your AI assistant.
- "Take a screenshot of the current iOS simulator screen and save it as login_screen.png."
- "Tap on the 'Sign In' button on the current screen."
- "Type '[email protected]' into the email text field."
- "Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal the home screen."
- "List all the UI elements currently visible on screen."
- "Install the app at ~/build/MyApp.app and launch it."Troubleshooting iOS Simulator
get_booted_sim_id returns no simulator found
The server can only interact with already-booted simulators. Open Xcode's Simulator app or run 'xcrun simctl boot <udid>' before using any tools. Run 'xcrun simctl list devices | grep Booted' to confirm a simulator is running.
UI interaction tools fail with IDB not found
Some UI interaction features require Facebook IDB. Install it with 'brew install idb-companion' and then set the IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_IDB_PATH environment variable to the idb_companion binary path if it is not in your default PATH.
Screenshots save to an unexpected location
Set IOS_SIMULATOR_MCP_DEFAULT_OUTPUT_DIR in the env block of your MCP config to an absolute path where you have write permission. The default is ~/Downloads.
Frequently Asked Questions about iOS Simulator
What is iOS Simulator?
iOS Simulator is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that 📇 🏠 🍎 - a model context protocol (mcp) server for interacting with ios simulators. this server allows you to interact with ios simulators by getting information about them, controlling ui interactions, and inspecting ui elements. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install iOS Simulator?
Install via npm with the command: npx -y ios-simulator-mcp. Then add the server configuration to your AI client's JSON config file (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json).
Which AI clients work with iOS Simulator?
iOS Simulator works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is iOS Simulator free to use?
Yes, iOS Simulator is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Set Up iOS Simulator in Your Editor
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Quick Config Preview
Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json
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