Agent Device

Debugging

When to open this file

Open this file when the task turns into failure triage, logs, network inspection, permission prompts, setup trouble, or unstable session behavior.

Main commands to reach for first

• logs clear --restart

• network dump

• logs path

• logs doctor

• alert wait

• alert accept or alert dismiss

Most common mistake to avoid

Do not leave logging on for normal flows or dump full log files into context. Keep debug windows short and inspect logs with grep or tail.

Canonical loop

agent-device open MyApp --platform ios
agent-device logs clear --restart
agent-device network dump 25
agent-device logs path
agent-device close

Log and network flow

Logging is off by default. Enable it only when you need a debugging window.

• Default app logs live under ~/.agent-device/sessions/<session>/app.log.

• logs clear --restart is the fastest clean repro loop.

• network dump [limit] [summary|headers|body|all] parses recent HTTP(s) entries from the same session app log.

• logs doctor checks backend and runtime readiness for the current session and device.

• logs mark "before tap" inserts a timestamped marker into the app log.

• Session app logs can contain runtime data, headers, or payload fragments. Review them before sharing.

• logs start requires an active app session and appends to app.log.

• logs stop stops streaming. close also stops logging.

• logs clear truncates app.log and removes rotated app.log.N files, and requires logging to be stopped first.

• logs path returns the log path plus metadata about the active backend and file state.

• network log is an alias for network dump.

Operational limits:

• app.log rotates to app.log.1 after 5 MB by default.

• network dump scans the last 4000 app-log lines, returns up to 200 entries, and truncates header or payload fields at 2048 characters.

• Retention knobs:

  • AGENT_DEVICE_APP_LOG_MAX_BYTES

  • AGENT_DEVICE_APP_LOG_MAX_FILES

• Redaction hook:

  • AGENT_DEVICE_APP_LOG_REDACT_PATTERNS

Useful shell follow-up after logs path:

grep -n -E "Error|Exception|Fatal|crash" <path>
tail -50 <path>

Alerts and permissions

Use alert for iOS simulator permission dialogs instead of tapping coordinates.

agent-device alert wait 5000
agent-device alert accept

• alert is only supported on iOS simulators.

• alert accept and alert dismiss retry internally for a short window, so you usually do not need manual sleeps.

• iOS 16+ "Allow Paste" prompts are suppressed under XCUITest. Use xcrun simctl pbcopy booted when you need to seed simulator clipboard content directly.

Setup problems worth recognizing early

• iOS snapshots do not require macOS Accessibility permissions.

• iOS physical-device XCTest setup does require valid signing and provisioning.

• If physical-device runner setup fails, prefer Xcode Automatic Signing first.

• Optional overrides are:

  • AGENT_DEVICE_IOS_TEAM_ID

  • AGENT_DEVICE_IOS_SIGNING_IDENTITY

  • AGENT_DEVICE_IOS_PROVISIONING_PROFILE

  • AGENT_DEVICE_IOS_BUNDLE_ID

• If daemon startup is timing out during setup, increase AGENT_DEVICE_DAEMON_TIMEOUT_MS.

• If daemon startup fails with stale metadata hints, clean ~/.agent-device/daemon.json and ~/.agent-device/daemon.lock, then retry.

• Free Apple Developer personal-team accounts may reject generic bundle IDs. Use a unique reverse-DNS value for AGENT_DEVICE_IOS_BUNDLE_ID when that happens.

Common failure patterns

• snapshot returns 0 nodes: the app may no longer be foregrounded or the UI is not stable yet. Re-open the app or retry when state settles.

• Logs are empty: confirm you opened an app session before logs clear --restart.

• Android logs look stale after relaunch: retry the repro window after the process rebinds.

• Permission prompts block the flow: wait for the alert and handle it explicitly.

• If snapshots keep returning 0 nodes on an iOS simulator, restart Simulator and re-open the app.

• If a macOS snapshot looks incomplete, compare with snapshot --raw --platform macos to separate collector filtering from missing AX content.

Crash triage fast path

Always start from the session app log, then branch by platform.

agent-device logs path
grep -n -E "SIGABRT|SIGSEGV|EXC_|fatal|exception|terminated|killed|jetsam|memorystatus|FATAL EXCEPTION|Abort message" <path>

• iOS: if the log suggests ReportCrash, SIGABRT, or EXC_*, inspect ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports.

• Android: if the app log is not enough, use adb logcat for FATAL EXCEPTION, Abort message, or signal lines around process death.

• If no crash signature appears in app logs, stop collecting broad logs and switch to the platform-native crash source.

When to leave this file

• Return to exploration.md once the app is stable again.

• Load verification.md if you need evidence artifacts after reproducing the issue.