simulator

The iOS Simulator MCP Server provides a standardized interface to manage iOS simulators programmatically. Through the MCP protocol, you can enumerate available simulators, boot or shutdown specific devices, install .app bundles onto a simulator, and launch installed apps by their bundle ID. This enables automated testing, CI workflows, or interactive control of simulators via the MCP client tooling and your integration scripts. To begin, connect to the simulator MCP server using the MCP client and issue the supported methods to list devices, perform boot or shutdown actions, install apps, and launch them by bundle ID as needed.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js and npm (or npx available with Node.js)
• Access to the CLI or environment where Claude Configs are evaluated

Installation steps:

1. Ensure Node.js and npm are installed on your machine.
   • Check: node -v and npm -v
2. Install or use npx to run the MCP server directly from the npm registry.
3. Add the MCP server configuration to your Claude Config JSON as shown in the README:

{ "mcpServers": { "simulator": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "y", "@joshuarileydev/simulator-mcp-server" ] } } }

4. Save the config in your Claude project and run your Claude environment. The MCP server for the iOS Simulator will be accessible via the configured server name (simulator).

Optional:

• If you prefer to install the package globally or via a package manager, you can run: npm install -g @joshuarileydev/simulator-mcp-server and then configure your environment to call the server accordingly.

Notes and tips:

• This server relies on the Xcode/Simulator tooling available on macOS; ensure you have Xcode installed and the simulators you intend to use created beforehand.
• If you encounter network or permission issues with npx, try updating Node.js/npm or running with elevated permissions where appropriate.
• The MCP client should be able to issue commands to list, boot/shutdown, install, and launch apps on the selected simulator instance. Ensure your target device ID or context is correctly specified when issuing commands.
• If you update the MCP server package, verify compatibility with your MCP client version and the MCP protocol version in use by Claude.