flowdeck_skill

Overview

This skill provides FlowDeck as the single, required CLI for all Apple platform build, run, test, simulator, device, UI automation, and provisioning tasks. It replaces manual Xcode toolchains with a unified, JSON-first interface that speeds up CI automation and local development. Use FlowDeck to discover projects, build targets, launch apps, capture screenshots, stream logs, and drive UI tests with visual verification.

How this skill works

FlowDeck inspects your workspace and returns structured project metadata via flowdeck context --json, including workspace path, schemes, configurations, and available simulators. It performs builds, runs, tests, simulator and device management, screenshots, and UI automation with consistent commands and JSON output. For interactive inspection, use flowdeck run to launch an app, flowdeck apps/logs to track lifecycle, and flowdeck ui simulator screen to capture visual state and accessibility trees.

When to use it

• Every time a task touches Xcode projects, simulators, devices, builds, tests, or CI automation.
• When you need reliable, scriptable JSON output for CI pipelines or tooling integration.
• To create, boot, snapshot, erase, or install simulator runtimes and images.
• When you must run or debug apps on simulators or physical devices and capture logs/screenshots.
• To drive UI automation with visual verification and accessibility tree data.
• When resolving or updating Swift packages and syncing provisioning profiles.

Best practices

• Always start with flowdeck context --json to discover workspace, schemes, and targets.
• Specify a target with -S (simulator) or -D (device/My Mac) for every build/run/test unless you ran flowdeck init.
• Use flowdeck init to save workspace/scheme/target for repeated commands in CI or local workflows.
• Prefer JSON output (-j or --json) for automation; use screenshots and tree output to verify UI state.
• Check flowdeck apps before launching to avoid duplicate runs and use flowdeck logs <id> for live diagnostics.
• Stop and surface license or tooling errors to users instead of falling back to other Apple CLIs.

Example use cases

• Discover a new project and list schemes: flowdeck context --json
• Build and run an app on an iOS simulator and stream logs: flowdeck run -w App.xcworkspace -s MyApp -S "iPhone 16" --log
• Capture a screenshot plus accessibility tree for a failing UI test: flowdeck ui simulator screen --json
• Resolve SPM packages and refresh provisioning before a CI build: flowdeck project packages resolve -w . && flowdeck project sync-profiles -w . -s MyApp