xcdev

A publishable npm CLI for:

• listing simulators and connected real devices
• building iOS projects with profiles
• running apps on simulator or real device

Prerequisites

• OS: macOS
• Node.js: >= 18
• Xcode: 15 or higher (relies on xcodebuild, xcrun simctl, xcrun xctrace, and xcrun devicectl).
• Project: A valid iOS project (.xcodeproj or .xcworkspace) with a buildable scheme.

Install

npm install -g @rabithua/xcdev

Commands

The xcdev CLI offers the following commands for managing devices and building/running your iOS project.

Listing Devices and Profiles

• xcdev list devices: Lists all available simulator and connected real devices.
• xcdev list devices sim: Lists only the available iOS simulators.
• xcdev list devices real: Lists only the currently connected real iOS devices.
• xcdev list profiles: Displays all the device profiles (e.g., specific simulators or real devices) that you have defined or are available as defaults.

Setting Default Targets

You can assign a specific device name or pattern to your default sim and real profiles. This is useful for quickly targeting a preferred device.

• xcdev set sim "iPhone Air": Sets the default simulator profile target to a simulator named "iPhone Air".
• xcdev set sim --version 18.2 "iPhone Air": Sets the default simulator target and preferred iOS runtime version.
• xcdev set real "Huawei Air": Sets the default real device profile target to a connected device matching "Huawei Air".

Building the Project

Builds the project for the specified profile without installing or running it.

• xcdev build sim: Compiles the project targeting the default simulator.
• xcdev build --version 18.2 sim: Compiles the project targeting the default simulator on a matching iOS runtime version.
• xcdev build real: Compiles the project targeting the default connected real device.

Running the Project

Builds (if necessary), installs, and launches the app on the target device.

• xcdev run sim: Runs your application on the default simulator. By default, it boots the simulator and opens Simulator.app for the selected device.
• xcdev run --version 18.2 sim: Runs your application on the default simulator whose runtime contains 18.2.
• xcdev run real: Runs your application on the default real device.

Use xcdev run --no-open-simulator sim if you want to keep the simulator app hidden while still running on the booted device.

(Note: sim and real are recommended default profile names. Any custom profile name, such as office-phone, can be used if defined in .xcdev.env.)

sim / real are recommended default profiles. Any profile name (such as air, office-phone) is user-defined in .xcdev.env. If real target is not set, xcdev uses the first connected real device.

Project Config

The CLI auto-discovers .xcdev.env by searching upward from current directory. If no config is found, it still works with auto-detected project/scheme and default profiles.

Create .xcdev.env in the project root if you want stable project-specific settings. You can start from:

templates/.xcdev.env.example

Required keys:

• IOS_PROJECT
• IOS_SCHEME

Common optional keys:

• IOS_CONFIGURATION
• IOS_BUNDLE_ID
• IOS_SIM_VERSION
• IOS_PROFILE_<NAME>_MODE
• IOS_PROFILE_<NAME>_TARGET
• IOS_PROFILE_<NAME>_VERSION
• IOS_OPEN_SIMULATOR (YES by default; set to NO to avoid opening Simulator.app during run)

Example:

IOS_PROFILE_SIM_MODE="sim"
IOS_PROFILE_SIM_TARGET="iPhone"
IOS_PROFILE_SIM_VERSION="18.2"

IOS_PROFILE_REAL_MODE="real"
IOS_PROFILE_REAL_TARGET=".*"