mobile-debug-tools copilot-instructions.md

A set of instructions for mobile-debug-mcp, a tool for debugging Android devices and iOS simulators. It uses adb for Android and Apple's simctl command-line tool for iOS.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to build and run the server or implement tools for starting, stopping, restarting, resetting, and inspecting mobile apps and their logs.
Why use it?
It documents how the server is built and how each mobile platform is handled, reducing guesswork when changing or testing the tool.

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add instructions/clivejefferies/mobile-debug-tools/copilot-instructions
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/clivejefferies/mobile-debug-tools

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

Per session 467 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 467 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 1 finding. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00467 $0.00467
Opus 5 $0.00234 $0.00234
Sonnet 5 $0.00093 $0.00093
Haiku 4.5 $0.00047 $0.00047

Measured 2d ago against content hash 657df546b8c7, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

mobile-debug-tools copilot-instructions.md scanned grade A with 1 finding against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Runs shell commandslowCapability

Expected in a hook, worth knowing in a rule or an instructions file.

- **Execution**: Uses `child_process.exec` for running shell commands.
.github/copilot-instructions.md · 34 lines

What it actually says

Copilot Instructions for mobile-debug-mcp

Build and Run

  • Build: npm run build (runs tsc to compile TypeScript to dist/)
  • Start: npm start (runs the compiled server at dist/server.js)
  • Dev Workflow: modify src/*.ts -> npm run build -> npm start to test changes.

Architecture

  • Core: src/server.ts implements the MCP server using @modelcontextprotocol/sdk. It handles tool registration and execution.
  • Platform Modules:
    • src/android.ts: Encapsulates adb commands for Android device interaction.
    • src/ios.ts: Encapsulates xcrun simctl commands for iOS simulator interaction.
  • Types: src/types.ts defines shared interfaces for device info and tool responses.

Key Conventions

Tool Implementation

  • Response Format: Tools typically return a list of content blocks.
    • start_app: Returns a single text block containing JSON (via wrapResponse).
    • terminate_app: Returns a single text block containing JSON (via wrapResponse).
    • restart_app: Returns a single text block containing JSON (via wrapResponse).
    • reset_app_data: Returns a single text block containing JSON (via wrapResponse).
    • get_logs: Returns a text block (JSON metadata) AND a text block (raw logs).
    • capture_screenshot: Returns a text block (JSON metadata) AND an image block (base64 PNG).
  • Metadata: Always include a device object (platform, id, model, etc.) in the JSON response part.

External Tools

  • Android: Uses process.env.ADB_PATH or defaults to adb.
  • iOS: Uses process.env.XCRUN_PATH or defaults to xcrun. Assumes a booted simulator.
  • Execution: Uses child_process.exec for running shell commands.

Error Handling

  • Tools should catch execution errors and return a user-friendly error message in a text content block, rather than crashing the server.
Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 34 lines · 467 tokens per session scan A 657df546b8c7

Subscribe to this mod's changes

mobile-debug-tools copilot-instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository clivejefferies/mobile-debug-tools (7 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 467 tokens to every session, about $0.0023 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 1 finding (runs shell commands). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.