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/deploy-ios

Build and deploy iOS apps to Simulator, TestFlight, or App Store. Auto-detects Xcode project config, resolves signing, and validates builds.

Synopsis

/deploy-ios [simulator|testflight|appstore] [--device name] [--scheme scheme]

--clean is also accepted to force a clean build.

When to use it

• Running your iOS/iPadOS app in the Simulator to check a change
• Archiving and uploading a build to TestFlight for beta testers, or to App Store Connect for review
• Not for: Expo/EAS-managed internal-testing uploads driven by your calibrated deploy targets — that’s /deploy testflight-internal; non-iOS projects (it stops if no Xcode project is found)

Prerequisites

• TestFlight/App Store uploads need an App Store Connect API key. Set three environment variables before running the skill: APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY_ID, APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_ISSUER_ID, and APP_STORE_CONNECT_API_KEY_PATH (path to your .p8 key file). Generate the key from your Apple Developer account under App Store Connect → Users and Access → Integrations. Without these, the skill falls back to producing a local IPA for you to upload manually.
• Manual code signing (instead of the default Xcode-managed automatic signing) needs PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER and CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY set as environment variables before running the skill, e.g. export PROVISIONING_PROFILE_SPECIFIER=<profile-name> and export CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=<identity-name>.

Quickstart

/deploy-ios

What you’ll see: the detected workspace/project and scheme, a simulator build (the default target), then the app installed and launched in the iOS Simulator with a summary of device, OS version, and bundle ID.

Examples

/deploy-ios                                    # build + launch in the default simulator
/deploy-ios simulator --device "iPhone 16 Pro" # pick a specific simulator device
/deploy-ios testflight --scheme MyApp          # archive + upload to TestFlight
/deploy-ios appstore                           # archive + upload for App Store review
/deploy-ios simulator --clean                  # clean build when caches are suspect

Arguments & flags

Flag	Values	Default	What it does
target	simulator, testflight, appstore	simulator	Where the build goes
--device	simulator device name	most recent iPhone simulator available; falls back to any available iOS simulator if no iPhone found	Which simulator to boot and install on
--scheme	Xcode scheme name	asks if multiple	Which scheme to build
--clean	—	off	Cleans before building

What it does

1. Detects the project — finds the .xcworkspace (or .xcodeproj), lists schemes, detects the package manager (SPM/CocoaPods/Carthage), warns if Pods are stale, and reads build settings for bundle ID and deployment target. If multiple schemes exist and you didn’t pass --scheme, it asks which to use — a user-confirmation checkpoint. If there’s no Xcode project, it stops.
2. Resolves the target — simulator (default), TestFlight, or App Store.
3. Builds — simulator builds use a Debug configuration against your chosen device; TestFlight/App Store builds clean-archive in Release with automatic code signing (manual signing supported if you provide the profile and identity — see Prerequisites above).
4. Deploys — simulator: installs and launches the app, opening Simulator.app if needed. TestFlight/App Store: exports the archive and uploads directly to App Store Connect using your App Store Connect API key (see Prerequisites); if no key is configured, it produces a local IPA and tells you to upload via Transporter or the App Store Connect web UI.
5. Validates — simulator: confirms the app installed and launched without crashing, reports device/OS/bundle/build time. Uploads: confirms success and reminds you TestFlight processing takes 15–30 minutes.

After two failed build attempts it stops, shows the full error log, and asks for guidance.

Fastlane integration

If your project has a fastlane/ directory, the skill automatically uses your existing Fastlane lanes instead of raw xcodebuild — for simulator builds, fastlane run build_app; for TestFlight, fastlane pilot upload; for App Store, fastlane release if that lane exists. Make sure your lanes support the target you’re deploying to (simulator, testflight, appstore); the skill checks fastlane lanes first.

Output & artifacts

• Simulator: the app running in the Simulator, plus a build summary in the conversation
• TestFlight/App Store: an archive under build/<scheme>.xcarchive, an exported IPA, and an upload to App Store Connect (with bundle version and build number reported)
• No files committed and no remote infrastructure touched

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
No signing certificate	Sign in to your Apple Developer account: Xcode → Settings → Accounts
No profiles found	Enable Automatic Signing in Xcode, or create the provisioning profile in the Apple Developer portal
Simulator not found	Run xcrun simctl list devices and pass a valid name via --device
xcodebuild: error: ... not found (scheme)	Run xcodebuild -list and pass the correct --scheme
Stale/missing Pods	Run pod install in the project directory, then retry
SPM resolution failed	Run xcodebuild -resolvePackageDependencies, then retry
Upload times out	Retry the upload and check your network connection
Build mysteriously failing	Retry with --clean — and after 2 failures the skill stops with the full log rather than guessing

Related

• /deploy — environment-level deploys, including EAS/fastlane internal-testing tracks from your calibrated config
• /fix — for code-level build failures the toolchain can’t resolve
• /sre — health and operations for your backend services