name

axe-ios-simulator

description

iOS Simulator automation using AXe CLI for touch gestures, text input, hardware buttons, screenshots, video recording, and accessibility inspection. Use when automating iOS Simulator interactions, writing UI tests, capturing screenshots/video, or inspecting accessibility elements. Triggers on iOS Simulator automation, AXe CLI usage, simulator tap/swipe/gesture commands, or accessibility testing tasks.

AXe iOS Simulator Automation

AXe is a single-binary CLI for iOS Simulator automation via Apple's Accessibility APIs and HID.

Installation

brew install cameroncooke/axe/axe

Quick Start

# Get simulator UDID
axe list-simulators
UDID="<simulator-udid>"

# Basic interactions
axe tap -x 100 -y 200 --udid $UDID
axe tap --label "Safari" --udid $UDID
axe type 'Hello World!' --udid $UDID
axe gesture scroll-down --udid $UDID
axe button home --udid $UDID
axe screenshot --udid $UDID

Touch & Gestures

# Tap at coordinates
axe tap -x 100 -y 200 --udid $UDID

# Tap by accessibility identifier or label
axe tap --id "myButton" --udid $UDID
axe tap --label "Submit" --udid $UDID

# With timing controls
axe tap -x 100 -y 200 --pre-delay 1.0 --post-delay 0.5 --udid $UDID

# Swipe
axe swipe --start-x 100 --start-y 300 --end-x 300 --end-y 100 --udid $UDID
axe swipe --start-x 50 --start-y 500 --end-x 350 --end-y 500 --duration 2.0 --delta 25 --udid $UDID

# Low-level touch control
axe touch -x 150 -y 250 --down --udid $UDID
axe touch -x 150 -y 250 --up --udid $UDID
axe touch -x 150 -y 250 --down --up --delay 1.0 --udid $UDID

Gesture Presets

Preset	Use Case
`scroll-up`	Content navigation
`scroll-down`	Content navigation
`scroll-left`	Horizontal scrolling
`scroll-right`	Horizontal scrolling
`swipe-from-left-edge`	Back navigation
`swipe-from-right-edge`	Forward navigation
`swipe-from-top-edge`	Dismiss/close
`swipe-from-bottom-edge`	Open/reveal

axe gesture scroll-down --udid $UDID
axe gesture swipe-from-left-edge --udid $UDID
axe gesture scroll-up --screen-width 430 --screen-height 932 --udid $UDID
axe gesture scroll-down --pre-delay 1.0 --post-delay 0.5 --udid $UDID

Text Input

# Direct text (use single quotes for special characters)
axe type 'Hello World!' --udid $UDID

# From stdin (best for automation)
echo "Complex text" | axe type --stdin --udid $UDID

# From file
axe type --file input.txt --udid $UDID

# Individual key press by HID keycode
axe key 40 --udid $UDID  # Enter key
axe key 42 --duration 1.0 --udid $UDID  # Hold Backspace

# Key sequence
axe key-sequence --keycodes 11,8,15,15,18 --udid $UDID  # "hello"

Hardware Buttons

axe button home --udid $UDID
axe button lock --duration 2.0 --udid $UDID
axe button side-button --udid $UDID
axe button siri --udid $UDID
axe button apple-pay --udid $UDID

Screenshot & Video

# Screenshot (auto-generates filename)
axe screenshot --udid $UDID

# Screenshot to specific path
axe screenshot --output ~/Desktop/screenshot.png --udid $UDID

# Video recording to MP4
axe record-video --udid $UDID --fps 15 --output recording.mp4
axe record-video --udid $UDID --fps 10 --quality 60 --scale 0.5 --output low-bandwidth.mp4

# Stream MJPEG
axe stream-video --udid $UDID --fps 10 --format mjpeg > stream.mjpeg

# Pipe to ffmpeg
axe stream-video --udid $UDID --fps 30 --format ffmpeg | \
  ffmpeg -f image2pipe -framerate 30 -i - -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast output.mp4

Press Ctrl+C to stop recording. AXe finalizes MP4 and prints path to stdout.

Accessibility Inspection

# Full screen accessibility tree
axe describe-ui --udid $UDID

# Accessibility info at specific point
axe describe-ui --point 100,200 --udid $UDID

Automation Patterns

Wait-then-tap pattern

axe tap --label "Continue" --pre-delay 2.0 --udid $UDID

Scroll to find element

for i in {1..5}; do
  axe describe-ui --udid $UDID | grep -q "targetElement" && break
  axe gesture scroll-down --udid $UDID
done
axe tap --label "targetElement" --udid $UDID

Form filling

axe tap --label "Email" --udid $UDID
axe type 'user@example.com' --udid $UDID
axe tap --label "Password" --udid $UDID
axe type 'secret123' --udid $UDID
axe tap --label "Sign In" --udid $UDID

Screenshot after action

axe tap --label "Submit" --post-delay 1.0 --udid $UDID
axe screenshot --output result.png --udid $UDID