rn-device-control

rn-device-control — Device Lifecycle and State Extraction

Commands for controlling iOS Simulator and Android Emulator, taking screenshots, reading UI state, and managing device settings. All commands run via bash.

See also: 3-Tier Interaction Model — when to use cdp_interact vs device_press vs Maestro.

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iOS Simulator (simctl)

The raw commands below are non-authoritative diagnostics or manual maintenance. Never use the booted alias for plugin verification: require rn_session(action="status") and substitute its exact bound UDID. Prefer device_* tools, which enforce the session claim and return authority receipts.

Boot and Manage Devices

# List all available simulators
xcrun simctl list devices

# List only booted simulators
xcrun simctl list devices booted

# Boot a specific simulator by name or UDID
xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 16 Pro"
xcrun simctl boot <UDID>

# Shutdown a simulator
xcrun simctl shutdown booted

# Install an app (.app bundle)
xcrun simctl install booted /path/to/YourApp.app

# Uninstall an app
xcrun simctl uninstall booted com.example.app

# Launch an app
xcrun simctl launch booted com.example.app

# Terminate a running app
xcrun simctl terminate booted com.example.app

# Erase all content (reset to factory)
xcrun simctl erase booted

Deep Links

device_deeplink(url="myapp://home")
device_deeplink(url="myapp://product/123")
device_deeplink(url="myapp://checkout")

Prefer deep links over Maestro navigation flows — faster and more deterministic. On an open exact iOS session, device_deeplink automatically accepts the SpringBoard-owned Open confirmation and reports meta.openDialogTapped: true. If a URL was opened externally or the dialog is still visible, call device_accept_system_dialog(label="Open"); if it returns DIALOG_BUTTON_NOT_FOUND, retry with one of availableButtons. Never guess coordinates for a native system dialog.

Screenshots (prefer JPEG — 2x faster, good enough for AI analysis)