AppleDev.Tools

.NET Library with useful Apple/Xcode tool wrappers and implementations for developers including a global .NET CLI tool

Table of Contents

• Installation
• CLI Tool Features
  • Simulator Management
  • Device Management
  • Keychain Operations
  • Provisioning & Certificates
  • App Store Connect
  • Xcode Tools
  • App Management
  • CI/CD Automation
• Library APIs
  • Core Tools
  • App Store Connect
  • Security & Certificates
• Output Formats
• Requirements
• Contributing
• License

Installation

Install the global CLI tool:

dotnet tool install -g AppleDev.Tool

Install the library packages:

# Core Apple development tools
dotnet add package AppleDev

# App Store Connect API client
dotnet add package AppStoreConnectClient

# IDB (iOS Development Bridge) client
dotnet add package AppleDev.FbIdb

CLI Tool Features

The apple command provides comprehensive tooling for Apple development workflows:

Simulator Management

Manage iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS simulators.

apple simulator list

Lists simulators with powerful filtering options.

Options:

• --booted - Show only running simulators
• --available - Show only available simulators
• --unavailable - Show only unavailable simulators (e.g., unsupported runtime)
• --name <name> - Filter by simulator name
• --udid <udid> - Filter by UDID
• --runtime <runtime> - Filter by runtime (e.g., "iOS 18.3", "tvOS 18.2")
• --device-type <type> - Filter by device type (e.g., "iPhone 16 Pro")
• --product-family <family> - Filter by product family (e.g., "iPhone", "Apple TV")
• --format <format> - Output format: table (default), json, or verbose
• --verbose - Show additional details
• --include-screen-info - Include device type screen information (size, scale, DPI, pixel dimensions, model identifier)

Examples:

apple simulator list
apple simulator list --available --runtime "iOS 18.4"
apple simulator list --booted --format json
apple simulator list --product-family iPhone

apple simulator create <name>

Creates a new simulator.

Arguments:

• <name> - Name for the new simulator

Options:

• -d, --device-type <type> - Device type identifier (required, e.g., "iPhone 15")
• -r, --runtime <runtime> - Runtime identifier (optional, uses newest compatible if omitted)

Examples:

apple simulator create "My iPhone 16" --device-type "iPhone 16"
apple simulator create "Test Device" --device-type "iPhone 15 Pro" --runtime "iOS 17.0"

apple simulator boot <target>

Boots a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name

Options:

• --wait - Wait until simulator is fully booted
• --timeout <seconds> - Timeout for wait (default: 120)

Examples:

apple simulator boot "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator boot --wait --timeout 180 ABCD1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC

apple simulator shutdown <target>

Shuts down running simulators.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID, name, "booted", or "all"

Examples:

apple simulator shutdown "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator shutdown booted
apple simulator shutdown all

apple simulator erase <target>

Erases simulator content and settings (factory reset).

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID, name, "booted", or "all"

Examples:

apple simulator erase "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator erase all

apple simulator delete <target>

Permanently deletes simulators.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID, name, "unavailable", or "all"

Examples:

apple simulator delete "Old Test Device"
apple simulator delete unavailable
apple simulator delete all

apple simulator screenshot <target>

Captures a screenshot from a running simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• -o, --output <path> - Output file or directory path

Examples:

apple simulator screenshot "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator screenshot --output ~/Desktop/screenshot.png "My iPhone 16"

apple simulator app install <target> <app-path>

Installs an app (.app bundle) on a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• <app-path> - Path to .app bundle

Examples:

apple simulator app install "My iPhone 16" ~/MyApp.app
apple simulator app install booted /path/to/MyApp.app

apple simulator app uninstall <target> <bundle-id>

Uninstalls an app from a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• <bundle-id> - Bundle identifier of the app

Examples:

apple simulator app uninstall "My iPhone 16" com.mycompany.myapp
apple simulator app uninstall booted com.example.app

apple simulator app launch <target> <bundle-id>

Launches an installed app on a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• <bundle-id> - Bundle identifier of the app

Examples:

apple simulator app launch "My iPhone 16" com.mycompany.myapp
apple simulator app launch booted com.example.app

apple simulator app terminate <target> <bundle-id>

Terminates a running app on a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• <bundle-id> - Bundle identifier of the app

Examples:

apple simulator app terminate "My iPhone 16" com.mycompany.myapp
apple simulator app terminate booted com.example.app

apple simulator app list <target>

Lists all installed apps on a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• --format <format> - Output format: table (default), json, or verbose
• --verbose - Show additional details

Examples:

apple simulator app list "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator app list booted --format json
apple simulator app list --verbose

apple simulator open [udid]

Opens the Simulator.app, optionally to a specific simulator.

Arguments:

• [udid] - Optional simulator UDID (if omitted, just opens Simulator.app)

Examples:

apple simulator open
apple simulator open ABCD1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC

apple simulator open-url <target> <url>

Opens a URL on a simulator (for deep linking and URL scheme testing).

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• <url> - URL to open

Examples:

apple simulator open-url "My iPhone 16" "myapp://profile/123"
apple simulator open-url booted "https://example.com"

apple simulator logs <target>

Retrieves and displays logs from a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name
• --predicate <predicate> - NSPredicate filter for logs (e.g., "eventMessage contains 'error'")
• --start <timestamp> - Start timestamp for logs (e.g., "2025-10-30 10:00:00")
• --format <format> - Output format: table (default), json, or verbose
• --verbose - Show additional details

Examples:

apple simulator logs "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator logs booted --predicate "eventMessage contains 'error'"
apple simulator logs "My iPhone 16" --start "2025-10-30 10:00:00"
apple simulator logs "My iPhone 16" --format json
apple simulator logs booted --verbose

apple simulator device-types

Lists available simulator device types and runtime versions with optional screen information.

Options:

• --format <format> - Output format: table (default), json, or verbose
• --verbose - Show additional details
• --include-screen-info - Include device type screen information (size, scale, DPI, pixel dimensions, model identifier, product class)

Screen Information: When --include-screen-info is specified, the following additional columns are shown:

• Screen Size - Width and height in points (e.g., "1206x2622")
• Scale - Display scale factor (e.g., "3" for @3x Retina displays)
• Pixel Size - Physical pixel dimensions (calculated as width * scale)
• DPI - Display dots per inch for width and height
• Model Identifier - Device model code (e.g., "iPhone17,1")
• Product Class - Product class code (e.g., "D93")
• Colorspace - Display colorspace (e.g., "DisplayP3" for Vision Pro)

Examples:

apple simulator device-types
apple simulator device-types --include-screen-info
apple simulator device-types --format json
apple simulator device-types --verbose

Device Management

apple simulator create <name>

Creates a new simulator.

Arguments:

• <name> - Name for the new simulator

Options:

• -d, --device-type <type> - Device type identifier (required, e.g., "iPhone 15")
• -r, --runtime <runtime> - Runtime identifier (optional, uses newest compatible if omitted)

Examples:

apple simulator create "My iPhone 16" --device-type "iPhone 16"
apple simulator create "Test Device" --device-type "iPhone 15 Pro" --runtime "iOS 17.0"

apple simulator boot <target>

Boots a simulator.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID or name

Options:

• --wait - Wait until simulator is fully booted
• --timeout <seconds> - Timeout for wait (default: 120)

Examples:

apple simulator boot "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator boot --wait --timeout 180 ABCD1234-1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC

apple simulator shutdown <target>

Shuts down running simulators.

Arguments:

• <target> - Simulator UDID, name, "booted", or "all"

Examples:

apple simulator shutdown "My iPhone 16"
apple simulator shutdown booted
apple simulator shutdown all

apple simulator erase <target>

Erases simulator content and