specterqa-ios 16.0.0a3

SpecterQA iOS Simulator Driver — AI-driven iOS testing via Claude Computer Use

SpecterQA iOS

AI-driven iOS testing that records once and replays free in CI — no AI cost on repeat runs.

Install

pip install "git+https://github.com/SyncTek-LLC/specterqa-ios.git"

Quick Start with Claude Code (MCP)

pip install 'specterqa-ios[mcp]'

Add to .claude/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specterqa-ios": {
      "command": "specterqa-ios-mcp",
      "env": { "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "sk-ant-..." }
    }
  }
}

Then in Claude Code: "Run a smoke test on the Palace app, record it as palace-smoke". Claude drives the simulator, records every action. After that, CI runs it free — no AI involved.

Your First Session (30 seconds)

# Claude calls these 6 MCP tools in order:
ios_start_session(bundle_id="com.example.app")
ios_screenshot()                          # see what's on screen
ios_tap(label="Sign In")                  # tap by label
ios_screenshot()                          # verify result
ios_stop_recording(name="signin-smoke")   # save replay YAML to .specterqa/replays/
ios_stop_session()                        # clean up

The replay YAML is now in .specterqa/replays/signin-smoke.yaml. Run it in CI with:

specterqa-ios replay .specterqa/replays/signin-smoke.yaml

No AI needed on replay — it runs the deterministic engine directly.

Dual-Mode Architecture

Phase	Who drives	Cost
Record (once)	Claude AI via MCP	AI tokens
Replay (every CI run)	Deterministic replay engine	Free

Record once with Claude, replay forever without it. This is the key advantage over traditional frameworks.

Maestro-Compatible YAML

Users migrating from Maestro can use familiar shorthand — SpecterQA understands it natively:

replay:
  bundle_id: com.example.app
  steps:
    - tapOn: "Sign In"            # same as: action: tap, element_label: Sign In
    - inputText: "[e-mail]"
    - assertVisible: "Dashboard"  # asserts element is present
    - assertNotVisible: "Loading"
    - waitFor: "Feed"             # waits up to 10s for element

All Maestro shortcuts work alongside native SpecterQA syntax in the same file.

CI Commands

# Run all replays (shared runner on by default — ~10x faster)
specterqa-ios ci .specterqa/replays/

# Parallel execution — run 4 replays simultaneously
specterqa-ios ci --parallel 4

# Per-replay isolation (full reset between each replay)
specterqa-ios ci --no-reuse-runner

# Validate a replay file before running it
specterqa-ios validate-replay .specterqa/replays/smoke.yaml

Full CLI Reference

Command	Description
setup	Check Xcode, simulators, API key
devices	List available iOS simulators
boot	Boot a simulator
install <app.app>	Install app on simulator
init	Scaffold .specterqa/ project files
validate --product <slug>	Validate product/journey config
validate-replay <file>	Validate a replay YAML (schema + references)
run --product <slug> --journey <id>	Run a test journey (AI-driven)
smoke --product <slug>	Quick smoke test
replay <file>	Replay a recorded session
ci [dir]	Run all replays in CI mode
serve	Start the MCP server

vs. Maestro / Appium / XCUITest

	SpecterQA	Maestro	Appium	XCUITest
No AI in CI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AI-assisted recording	Yes	No	No	No
Maestro YAML syntax	Yes	Native	No	No
Parallel CI	Yes (--parallel N)	No	Yes	Yes
Zero config	Yes	Yes	No	No
Claude Code native	Yes (MCP)	No	No	No

Physical device support (experimental)

SpecterQA can drive a connected iOS device (iPhone or iPad) in addition to the simulator. Physical device support uses devicectl-based deployment and communicates with the XCTest runner over the device's IP address, exactly as in the simulator path.

To opt in, set the environment variable SPECTERQA_ALLOW_PHYSICAL_DEVICE=1 and pass device_type="physical" when calling ios_start_session:

export SPECTERQA_ALLOW_PHYSICAL_DEVICE=1

# In your MCP tool call:
ios_start_session(bundle_id="com.example.app", device_id="<device-udid>", device_type="physical")

Call ios_get_capabilities() first to confirm the physical device type is advertised and check whether opt_in_active is true. Known limitations: xcodebuild integration has rough edges on iOS 26 that can cause intermittent failures; the install/deploy step is slower than the simulator path; and there is no guarantee of stability on non-GM OS builds. The simulator (device_type="simulator", the default) remains the fully supported path.

Requirements

• macOS + Xcode 15+
• Python 3.10+
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (recording only — not needed for replay)

License

Elastic License 2.0 — see LICENSE.