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FlowDeck CLI provides comprehensive simulator management capabilities, allowing you to list, create, boot, and manage iOS simulators without leaving your terminal.

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Managing Simulators

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List All Simulators

flowdeck simulator list

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Filter by Platform

flowdeck simulator list --platform iOS
flowdeck simulator list --platform tvOS
flowdeck simulator list --platform watchOS
flowdeck simulator list --platform visionOS

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Show Only Available Simulators

flowdeck simulator list --available-only

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JSON Output

flowdeck simulator list --json
Example output: 
iOS 18.0
  ✓ iPhone 16 Pro (Booted)
      12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC
    iPhone 16
      23456789-2345-2345-2345-23456789ABCD

Total: 2 simulator(s), 1 booted

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Booting & Shutting Down

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Boot a Simulator

flowdeck simulator boot <UDID>

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Shutdown a Simulator

flowdeck simulator shutdown <UDID>

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Open Simulator.app

flowdeck simulator open

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Creating Simulators

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Create a New Simulator

flowdeck simulator create \
  --name "My Test iPhone" \
  --device-type "iPhone 15 Pro" \
  --runtime "iOS 17.2"

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Find Available Options

# List available device types
flowdeck simulator device-types

# List installed runtimes
flowdeck simulator runtime list

# List downloadable runtimes
flowdeck simulator runtime available
See Runtimes for install/remove workflows and the full runtime command reference.

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Deleting Simulators

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Delete by UDID

flowdeck simulator delete <UDID>

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Delete Unavailable Simulators

Remove all simulators that are no longer available: 
flowdeck simulator delete --unavailable

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Prune Unused Simulators

Delete simulators that have never been used: 
flowdeck simulator prune

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Screenshots

Capture a screenshot (and accessibility tree when needed) via UI automation: 
# Start background session capture (trees + screenshots)
flowdeck ui simulator session start

# One-off screenshot + accessibility tree
flowdeck ui simulator screen

# Tree-only output (no screenshot bytes)
flowdeck ui simulator screen --tree --json
See UI Automation for more screenshot options, including --optimize for AI-friendly output.
FlowDeck’s UI automation is a core CLI feature (not a simulator subcommand) that targets iOS simulators. See the UI Automation overview for examples and the full command reference for all commands and flags.

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Cache Management

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Clear Simulator Cache

flowdeck simulator clear-cache

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Erase Simulator Contents

Reset a simulator to factory state: 
flowdeck simulator erase <UDID>
Erasing a simulator deletes all apps, data, and settings. This cannot be undone.

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CI/CD Usage

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Boot Simulator Before Tests

# Get UDID from list
UDID=$(flowdeck simulator list --platform iOS --json | jq -r '.[0].udid')

# Boot if not already running
flowdeck simulator boot "$UDID"

# Run tests
flowdeck test --workspace MyApp.xcworkspace --simulator "iPhone 16"

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Create Fresh Simulator for CI

# Create a clean simulator
flowdeck simulator create \
  --name "CI-iPhone" \
  --device-type "iPhone 16" \
  --runtime "iOS 18.0" \
  --json

# Run tests
flowdeck test --workspace MyApp.xcworkspace --simulator "CI-iPhone"

# Delete when done
flowdeck simulator delete "CI-iPhone"

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JSON Output Examples

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simulator list —json

[
  {
    "udid": "12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789ABC",
    "name": "iPhone 16 Pro",
    "platform": "iOS",
    "os": "iOS 18.0",
    "state": "Booted",
    "isAvailable": true
  }
]

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simulator runtime list —json

[
  {
    "identifier": "com.apple.CoreSimulator.SimRuntime.iOS-18-0",
    "name": "iOS 18.0",
    "version": "18.0",
    "isAvailable": true
  }
]

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Troubleshooting

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Simulator Won’t Boot

Try erasing and rebooting: 
flowdeck simulator erase <UDID>
flowdeck simulator boot <UDID>

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Simulator Not Found

Verify the simulator exists and get its UDID: 
flowdeck simulator list --json | jq '.[] | {name, udid}'

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Old Runtimes

Check for available runtimes and update Xcode if needed: 
flowdeck simulator runtime list