sim-cli

iOS Simulator & Android Emulator Manager

A cross-platform command-line tool for managing mobile development environments.

Overview

sim-cli provides a unified interface for iOS simulators and Android emulators. It allows you to manage devices, install apps, capture media, and view logs directly from the terminal.

Features

• Device Management: List, start, stop, restart, delete, and erase simulators and emulators.
• App Management: Install and uninstall .apk, .app, and .ipa files.
• Media Capture: Take screenshots, record screen activity, and copy outputs to the clipboard.
• GIF Conversion: Convert screen recordings to GIFs using ffmpeg.
• Deep Linking: Open URLs or deeplinks on running devices.
• Camera Injection: Inject physical webcams or static images into iOS simulators.
• Shell Autocompletion: Tab completion for bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell.

Installation

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

Install sim-cli and ffmpeg via Homebrew:

brew install annurdien/tap/sim-cli

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/annurdien/sim-cli.git
cd sim-cli
make build
make install

Prerequisites

sim-cli interacts with native tools provided by Apple and Google. You need the following dependencies installed based on your target platform:

iOS Simulators (macOS only):

• Xcode / Command Line Tools: Install via the Mac App Store or run xcode-select --install.

Android Emulators:

• Android SDK / Command-line Tools: Requires adb and the emulator tool. Install via Android Studio. Check Android SDK Command-line Tools in the SDK Manager.

Optional:

• ffmpeg: Required for GIF recording (brew install ffmpeg).

Run sim doctor after installation to verify dependencies.

Usage

Quick Start

# List available devices
sim list
# Start a device
sim start "iPhone 15 Pro"# Install an app
sim install app-release.apk
# Stop the device
sim stop "iPhone 15 Pro"

Shell Autocompletion

Enable tab completion for device names and commands:

# Zsh
sim completion zsh >~/.zshrc_sim_completion
source~/.zshrc_sim_completion
# Bash
sim completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/sim
# Fish
sim completion fish >~/.config/fish/completions/sim.fish

Feature Support

Feature / Command	iOS	Android	Notes
Core Lifecycle (start, stop, delete, erase)	✅	✅	Full support on both platforms.
App Management (install, uninstall)	✅	✅	Handles .apk, .app, and .ipa.
Media (screenshot, record)	✅	✅	Includes clipboard copy and GIF conversion.
Deep Linking (open)	✅	✅	Opens URLs or custom URI schemes.
Real-time Logs (logs)	✅	✅	Streams and filters system and app logs.
Copy File To Device (copy to)	✅	✅	iOS: Adds to Photos. Android: Pushes to Download.
Copy File From Device (copy from)	❌	✅	Pulls files from Android to the local machine.
Clone Device (clone)	✅	❌	Duplicates an existing simulator.
Push Notifications (push)	✅	❌	Sends custom push payloads.
Watch Pairing (pair)	✅	❌	Pairs an Apple Watch with an iPhone simulator.
Camera Injection (cam)	✅	❌	Injects frames into the iOS Simulator camera.

Commands Reference

Command	Aliases	Description
doctor	-	Check system dependencies (Xcode, Android SDK, ffmpeg).
list	l, ls	List available simulators and emulators.
start <device>	s	Start a device by name or UDID.
stop <device>	st, sd, shutdown	Stop or shut down a running device.
restart <device>	r	Restart a device.
delete <device>	d, del	Permanently delete a device.
erase <device>	reset	Factory reset a device.
clone <source> <new>	-	Clone an iOS simulator.
install [dev] <app>	i	Install an app (.apk, .app, .ipa).
uninstall [dev] <id>	u, remove	Uninstall an app by ID or package name.
open [device] <url>	o	Open a deeplink or URL.
screenshot <device> [file]	ss, shot	Take a screenshot.
record <device> [file]	rec	Record the screen.
logs [device]	log	Stream real-time logs.
push [dev] <id> <file>	-	Send a push notification (iOS only).
create	-	Create a new iOS simulator or Android emulator.
status	-	Show a dashboard of running devices.
copy to/from	-	Transfer files to or from a device.
pair [watch] [phone]	-	Pair an Apple Watch simulator with an iPhone simulator.
config	-	Manage sim-cli configuration values.
last	-	Show the last used device.
lts	-	Start the last used device.
completion <shell>	-	Generate a shell autocompletion script.
cam	-	iOS Simulator camera injection and management.
version	-v	Show the current version.
help	-	Show help information.

Interactive Mode (TUI)

Commands that require a device argument (start, stop, shutdown, restart, delete, erase, logs, pair) will launch an interactive Text User Interface (TUI) if run without an argument, allowing you to select a target device.

screenshot Options

Flag	Shorthand	Description
--copy	-c	Copy the screenshot to the clipboard.

record Options

Flag	Shorthand	Description
--duration	-d	Recording duration in seconds (e.g., --duration 15).
--gif	-g	Convert the recording to a GIF.
--copy	-c	Copy the output file path to the clipboard.

open Options

The open command accepts URLs or custom URI schemes. If no device is specified, it targets the first booted device:

# Auto-select the first booted device
sim open "myapp://settings"# Target a specific device
sim open "iPhone 15 Pro""myapp://settings"

logs Options

Flag	Shorthand	Description
--level	-l	Filter logs by level (debug, info, warn, error).
--filter	-f	Filter logs with a grep pattern.
--app	-a	Filter logs by app bundle ID (iOS) or package name (Android).

push Options

Flag	Shorthand	Description
--template	-t	Generate a sample payload template (push.json).

create Options

Flag	Shorthand	Description
--ios / --android	-	Specify the target platform (required).
--name	-n	The name for the new device.
--type	-t	The hardware device type (e.g., iPhone-15).
--runtime	-r	The OS runtime/system image (e.g., iOS-17-0).
--list-types	-	Display available hardware types and OS runtimes.

copy Usage

# Copy a local file to a device (iOS: Photos, Android: /sdcard/Download)
sim copy to "iPhone 15 Pro"~/Pictures/test.png
# Copy a remote file from an Android device to your machine
sim copy from "Pixel_7" /sdcard/Download/test.png ./

Camera Injection

sim-cli allows you to inject physical webcams, Continuity Cameras, or static images into iOS Simulator applications.

Open the camera management dashboard:

sim cam

Apps that scan with AVCaptureMetadataOutput work too: the injector runs QR and face detection over the injected frames and delivers real AVMetadataMachineReadableCodeObjects to the app's metadata delegate, so pointing the camera at a QR code (sim cam start --image qr.png, or just holding one up to your webcam) triggers the app's scanner.

sim cam start --image qr.png # the app's QR scanner fires as if it saw a code

Read the SIM-CLI Camera Architecture for technical details on shared memory and dylib injection.

Configuration

Configuration and runtime state (like the last used device) are stored in ~/.sim-cli/config.json. Manage settings using the config command:

# View configuration
sim config show
# Set the default directory for captures
sim config set outputDir ~/Desktop/captures
# Set GIF recording framerate and scale
sim config set gifFps 15
sim config set gifScale 320

Supported keys: defaultDevice, outputDir, gifFps, gifScale.

The repository's config.yaml file stores version metadata for the build system:

app:
name: "sim-cli"version: "1.8.1"description: "CLI tool to manage iOS simulators and Android emulators."

To release a new version, bump the version in config.yaml and commit with a message starting with release:.

Delete and Erase Commands

• delete: Permanently removes the simulator or emulator. Recreate the device via Xcode or AVD Manager.
• erase: Wipes all user data on the device (factory reset).

Use the --force or -f flag to bypass the interactive confirmation prompt.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/name).
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add feature').
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/name).
5. Open a pull request.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.