Pepper

Overview

Pepper injects a shared library into any running iOS Simulator app without requiring source code changes, SDK, or build steps. It exposes 60+ tools for AI agents to see the screen as structured data, tap buttons, inspect live objects, intercept network calls, read the heap, and debug layout issues. Using macOS's dynamic linker, it runs in-process with full access to the view hierarchy, ObjC runtime, live object graphs, and HID event system.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 5 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• look

  Inspect the current screen structure and interactive elements

  Try:What's on screen right now?Try:Show me all the buttons and text elements
• tap

  Tap on a UI element identified by text or other attributes

  Try:Tap the Settings buttonTry:Tap on the element with text 'Submit'
• inspect_network

  Examine network requests and responses

  Try:What API calls is this app making?Try:Check what the network request returned
• inspect_heap

  Inspect live objects in the app's memory

  Try:What objects are holding a reference to this service?Try:Check for memory leaks
• debug_layout

  Debug layout issues and view hierarchy problems

  Try:Why isn't this view displaying correctly?Try:Check the constraint layout
• profile_performance

  Profile performance issues like scrolling hitching

  Try:Profile the scroll performance on this feedTry:Check what's causing the UI lag
• access_keychain

  Read and write data in the keychain

  Try:Read what's in the keychain after logoutTry:Save this data to keychain
• control_locale

  Change the app's language and region settings

  Try:Switch the app to SpanishTry:Change the locale to Japan
• control_orientation

  Rotate the simulator to different orientations

  Try:Rotate the simulator to landscapeTry:Check how the app looks upside down
• send_push_notification

  Send push notifications to the app

  Try:Send a test push notificationTry:Trigger the remote notification handler
• feature_flags

  Control feature flags in the app

  Try:Turn off the feature flag for new-navTry:Enable the experimental feature
• responder_chain

  Inspect the responder chain to tap handling issues

  Try:Check the responder chain for this tapTry:What's intercepting button taps?

Note: Tool names inferred from CLI examples and description sections, as the README doesn't provide an explicit MCP tools list. The actual MCP tool names might differ slightly.

Comparable tools

Installation

pip install pepper-ios

brew install --HEAD skwallace36/pepper/pepper
tap: skwallace36/homebrew-pepper

pepper-ctl deploy            # inject into the frontmost simulator app
pepper-ctl look              # see what's on screen

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pepper": {
      "command": "pepper-mcp"
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Does Pepper work on physical iOS devices?

Pepper requires iOS Simulator for dylib injection. Device support uses a different mechanism that's not documented yet.

What iOS versions are supported?

Pepper works with iOS Simulator runtime on macOS 14+. Specific iOS version support depends on the simulator runtime.

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