# Testa > Autonomous iOS Simulator E2E driver for AI agents — accessibility tree + on-device OCR, every gesture, token-efficient, zero third-party deps. - **Type:** MCP server - **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-valewnrt-testa` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [valewnrt](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/valewnrt) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [valewnrt](https://github.com/valewnrt) - **Source:** https://github.com/valewnrt/testa ## Install ```sh agentstack add mcp-valewnrt-testa ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Testa **Drive the iOS Simulator like a human — from an AI agent.** Real HID touches (every gesture), screen reading via the accessibility tree **or on-device OCR**, token-efficient, fast, and **zero third-party dependencies**. Test React Native / Expo and native SwiftUI apps end-to-end — **without adding a single `testID`**. [](https://github.com/seizeddev/testa/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](LICENSE) An agent tapping, pinching, rotating, dragging-and-dropping, and typing — all verified through the accessibility tree, no screenshots. --- ## Why Testa Agents are great at writing iOS apps and clumsy at the part that comes next: **actually exercising them in the simulator.** Testa is built for that — and two things set it apart from the rest of the field: it drives screens that expose **zero accessibility** (via on-device OCR), and it's a **single, fully-open, dependency-free binary**. - 🧠 **No app setup required.** Reads the accessibility tree, and falls back to **Apple Vision OCR** to tap any *visible text* — so it drives canvas, games, WebViews and vibe-coded apps that never added a `testID`. - 🪙 **Token-efficient.** One compact line per element (`e5 Button "Save" #save @120,300`) with `find` / `assert` / `ui diff` — not screenshots. - ⚡ **Fast.** A warm daemon keeps the connection, accessibility translator and HID client hot: **~60 ms** per snapshot. - 👆 **Every gesture, for real.** Tap, long-press, swipe, **drag-and-drop**, **pinch/zoom**, **rotate**, multi-touch, unicode/emoji text — genuine HID events. - 🔌 **Agent-native.** Ships an **MCP server** (`testa mcp`) and a Claude Code skill. - 🔒 **Local & private.** A `0600` per-user Unix socket. No network, no telemetry. - 📦 **Zero third-party runtime deps.** Talks straight to Apple's `CoreSimulator`, `SimulatorKit`, `AccessibilityPlatformTranslation`, Vision and `simctl`. | | **Testa** | Argent | idb | Appium | Maestro | |---|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:| | Agent-native (MCP + token-efficient snapshots) | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ⚠️ | | Drives screens with **zero accessibility** (on-device OCR) | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Pinch · rotate · drag-and-drop · multi-touch | ✅ | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ | | Self-contained: one native binary, no Node/SDK runtime | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | Fully open source, no proprietary parts | ✅ MIT | ⚠️ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Platforms | iOS | iOS · Android | iOS | iOS · Android · web | iOS · Android | | Live debugging & profiling (logs · network · RN tree · Instruments) | ❌ | ✅ | ⚠️ | ❌ | ❌ | High-level summary, verified against each project's docs as of 2026. These are all good tools. The closest is Argent (Software Mansion): broader than Testa (cross-platform, deep debugging & profiling), but accessibility-only (no OCR), Node-based, and Apache-2.0 source plus proprietary binaries. Testa's niche: fully-open, dependency-free, OCR-driven, iOS-focused. ## Quick start ```bash # Install (one line) — builds, installs the skill, registers the MCP server brew install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seizeddev/testa/main/Formula/testa.rb testa setup # …or from source git clone https://github.com/seizeddev/testa && cd testa && ./install.sh ``` ```bash testa boot "iPhone 17 Pro" testa install ./MyApp.app && testa launch com.example.myapp testa ui # what's on screen (token-efficient) testa tap "Continue" # by visible text — falls back to OCR testa typein "#email" "a@b.co" testa assert "#welcome" exists # → PASS / FAIL (exit 0/1) ``` > First call boots a background daemon and warms accessibility (a few seconds, > once). Every call after is ~60 ms. Requires macOS + Xcode 26 (iOS 26 sims), Swift 6. ## The loop 1. **Observe** — `testa ui` (on-screen elements) · `testa see` (OCR every visible text) · `testa find ` · `testa scrollto `. 2. **Act** — `tap · typein · setvalue · clear · swipe · drag · dragdrop · pinch · rotate`. Address things by `eN` ref, `#identifier`, `"label"`, or `x y`. 3. **Verify** — `testa assert [exists|gone|value=…|label=…]` (exit 0/1). ```text $ testa ui 25 elements (on screen) e1 Application "Testa Native" @201,437 e5 Button "Tap me" #tapButton @102,171 e16 TextField #textInput =type here @201,673 … $ testa pinch "#map" 2.0 → pinched $ testa dragdrop "#card" "#trash" → drag-and-dropped $ testa assert "#status" label=done → PASS exists e2 … ``` Full command reference ``` Observe ui [diff|full] on-screen snapshot (diff = changes, full = incl. off-screen) see OCR every visible text + tap coords (any app) find elements matching label/id/value/role scrollto scroll until an element is visible assert [exists|gone|value=..|label=..] wait [timeoutMs] screenshot [path] Act (sel = eN ref · #identifier · "label") tap | tap | tapocr typein | type | setvalue | clear key swipe drag dragdrop longpress | pinch | rotate App / device devices | boot | shutdown install | launch | terminate | apps | open logs [bundle] [seconds] | crashes [bundle] permission record Setup / daemon setup | start | stop | status | info | mcp (target a sim: --udid ) ``` ## Works without app setup You do **not** need the app to add `testID`s. Visible text is enough: - Native SwiftUI and RN `Text` / `Pressable` / `TextInput` already expose their text as labels — `testa tap "Continue"`. - For anything else, `testa see` + `testa tapocr ""` reads pixels via **on-device Apple Vision** (no key, no network). This even drives a HealthKit permission sheet or a canvas-rendered screen that exposes *zero* accessibility. Adding `testID` / `accessibilityIdentifier` just makes targeting more precise. The bottom row above is drawn with `Canvas` — it exposes **zero accessibility**. Most tools (and accessibility-only agents) are blind to it. Testa isn't: ```console $ testa ui # accessibility tree … no "Start" / "Settings" / "Profile" — they aren't accessibility elements $ testa see # on-device OCR "Start" @79,702 "Settings" @200,703 "Profile" @322,702 $ testa tapocr "Settings" tapped (ocr) "Settings" @200,703 → #status = canvas:Settings ``` ## For AI agents - **Claude Code** — `testa setup` installs the skill (`skills/testa/SKILL.md`). - **Any MCP client** (Codex, Cursor, …) — `claude mcp add testa -- testa mcp`. Tools: `ui, see, find, scrollTo, tap, tapText, type, setValue, clear, key, swipe, drag, dragdrop, longpress, pinch, rotate, screenshot, assert, wait, install, launch, terminate, apps, logs, crashes, open, info`. ## How it works ``` agent ──► testa (CLI) ──┐ agent ──► testa mcp (MCP server) ──┤ Unix socket (~/.testa/daemon-.sock, 0600) ▼ testad (warm daemon) │ Obj-C engine, dlopen'd private frameworks ┌──────────────┼───────────────┐ ▼ ▼ ▼ SimulatorKit CoreSimulator AccessibilityPlatformTranslation (Indigo HID) (SimDevice) (AXPTranslator → a11y tree) + Vision (OCR) └──────────────┴────────────────┘ booted iOS Simulator ``` - **HID injection** reimplements the Indigo touch wire-format (`SimDeviceLegacyHIDClient`) — taps/drags/multitouch are byte-for-byte what the simulator's guest HID service expects. - **Accessibility** drives `AXPTranslator` with a token delegate that bridges each attribute read to an async `SimDevice` XPC request, yielding the element tree in **point coordinates that match the tap space**. - **OCR** runs Apple Vision over an in-process framebuffer capture (IOSurface). ## Showcase / tests Two example apps with complex gestures double as the regression suite. Each mirrors the last recognized gesture into a `#status` element, so gestures are verified through the accessibility tree alone: - `examples/native` — SwiftUI · `examples/native/build.sh`, then `examples/native/e2e.sh`. - `examples/rnshowcase` — Expo / React Native · see `TESTA_README.md` there. ```bash make build # debug build make test # unit tests make e2e # gesture regression vs the native showcase (needs a booted sim) ``` ## Limitations (honest) - **Icon-only controls with no text and no accessibility label** are ambiguous to *any* automation — use coordinates, or add an `accessibilityLabel`. - iOS Simulator only, by design. Real devices and Android are out of scope. - The prebuilt binary isn't notarized unless built with your own Apple Developer ID (`release.sh`); the `clone` and Homebrew paths build from source. - `testa record` produces H.264 MP4; live FPS streaming isn't implemented. ## Project - [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md) · [CHANGELOG](CHANGELOG.md) · [Onboarding](ONBOARDING.md) - License: [MIT](LICENSE) Verified on Xcode 26.4 / iOS 26.4 (iPhone 17 Pro), against SwiftUI + Expo/React Native showcases and a real production app. ## Source & license This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [valewnrt](https://github.com/valewnrt) - **Source:** [valewnrt/testa](https://github.com/valewnrt/testa) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-valewnrt-testa - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/valewnrt - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. 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