bridge4simulator

bridge4simulator is an MCP server that lets AI assistants control an iOS Simulator through a unified MCP interface. It exposes a set of capabilities (the Available Tools) to manipulate devices, run apps, perform gestures, capture screens, and query UI elements inside the simulator. With this server, you can issue JSON-RPC 2.0 requests over standard IO (stdin/stdout) or via the configured interface to drive iOS Simulator tasks from Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-enabled clients. Typical workflows include launching apps, taking screenshots, tapping or swiping at specific coordinates, describing UI trees, and performing automated navigation inside the simulator, all while keeping token usage efficient through terminal-based tooling integration.

To use it, start the MCP server with bridge4simulator mcp (or bridge4simulator mcp --http if you prefer an HTTP endpoint). Then point your MCP client at the server URL or standard IO stream as guided by your client. In client configurations, you can enable specific tools (for example, screenshot) to tailor the available capabilities. Common tasks include: launching apps via app_launch, interacting with the UI through tap and type_text, capturing screenshots with screenshot, and performing OCR or UI analysis through ui_describe, ui_find, ui_search, and ui_ocr. You can also use navigation and macro tools to automate repetitive sequences within the iOS Simulator.

Prerequisites:

• macOS with Xcode and Xcode Command Line Tools installed
• Internet access to install the bridge4simulator binary

Install via Homebrew (recommended):

brew tap AppGram/tap
brew install bridge4simulator
bridge4simulator --version

Or install using the official installer script:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/AppGram/bridge4simulator/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

After installation, run the MCP server:

bridge4simulator mcp

Note: The MCP server reads JSON-RPC 2.0 requests from stdin and writes responses to stdout by default. For local development, you can also use the --http flag to expose an HTTP endpoint if supported by your build. See the project README for environment details and CLI options.

Tips and common issues:

• Ensure Xcode Command Line Tools are installed and up to date to access the iOS Simulator.
• When configuring clients like Claude Desktop or Claude Code, you can specify the bridge4simulator command with the mcp subcommand and optional tool flags (e.g., --enable-tools=screenshot).
• If you run into permission or path issues, verify that bridge4simulator is in your PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin/bridge4simulator).
• The server communicates via JSON-RPC 2.0 over stdin/stdout by default; for HTTP-based clients or debugging, use the --http variant if provided by your build.
• Tools available cover Device, Input, Capture, Apps, Navigation, UI, and Macros categories, enabling a broad range of automation and testing workflows inside the iOS Simulator.