Mobile on a cloud sandbox (EAS Simulator)

A cloud sandbox is Linux: no xcrun, no simctl. apps/mobile/scripts/eas-dev.sh is the one command that gets the real dev-client app running on an EAS cloud iOS simulator, connected to this sandbox's own Metro and API. Run it:

apps/mobile/scripts/eas-dev.sh

It reuses this checkout's running session when there is one. Otherwise it installs the finished simulator build whose native fingerprint matches this checkout and starts a session, about two minutes. It builds only when no such build exists (the first time, or after a native change), about fifteen minutes. apps/mobile/AGENTS.md's "Verifying in the real app" section records why the script does each step.

apps/mobile/scripts/eas-dev.sh --reload   # load the app from Metro again; starts nothing
apps/mobile/scripts/eas-dev.sh --new      # stop the running session and start a fresh one
apps/mobile/scripts/eas-dev.sh --user maya@local.test   # sign the app in as this dev account

• Switch accounts with --user name@local.test. It runs db:seed-dev for the account, which creates it with the shared dev password and makes it an onboarded member of admin@local.test's Pro organization. Then it signs out in Settings and signs in through "Sign in with email (dev)". It needs no app code and takes about 20 s. It works alone on a running session or with --new and --reload. Only @local.test accounts: to test as your real account, use the token that setup bakes in for the first launch.
• Reload with --reload. It opens the dev-client URL and waits for a new iOS Bundled line in the Metro log, three tries. Never agent-device open Superset: that relaunches the app without the Metro URL and it fails with "Could not connect to the server".
• Switch sessions with --new, never eas simulator by hand. The egress client is bound to the session it started with, so the script stops the old client and starts one for the new session. With no flag it keeps a connected client and restarts one that died.
• When the script started Metro, each run that (re)starts the tunnel ends only when Metro has served the app a bundle; otherwise it exits non-zero and names the Metro and egress logs. With a Metro started some other way it opens the app but cannot confirm the load.
• The dev-client URL carries disableAutoLaunch=1&disableFab=1, so no dev menu opens at launch and no gear button covers the toolbar. Each session is a fresh install, so every load passes them.
• Logs and PID files are in .tmp/eas-dev/ of the checkout, so two checkouts do not stop each other's tunnel.
• The fingerprint lookup refuses to run when bun --version differs from .bun-version. The dependencies that bun installs give a fingerprint no build has, and EAS would start a 15-minute build that also fails. A cloud workspace made before the pin changed has the old bun: make a new one.

The session is tagged with the workspace id. The desktop Mobile pane lists the workspace's tagged sessions, so the person can watch the simulator there without a link. The script also prints an expo.dev/simulator-preview/... URL for a browser.

Driving the simulator

Load the session and call agent-device directly:

cd apps/mobile && set -a && . ./.env.eas-simulator && set +a
agent-device snapshot -i                        # what is on screen, with @refs
agent-device press 'label="Continue"' --settle  # acts, waits, prints what changed
agent-device fill @e16 "hello" --settle
agent-device screenshot /tmp/screen.png
agent-device help                               # the rest

• agent-device keeps one session per working directory. Run it from apps/mobile every time.
• Through eas simulator:exec npx agent-device each command takes about 25 s. Install it globally (npm install -g agent-device) when it is missing.
• The dev-menu sheet covers the first screen on a fresh install: press Continue, then Close.
• iOS's "slide to type" keyboard intro is already dismissed on a session the script started.
• SwiftUI menu items (@expo/ui Menu) are not in agent-device snapshot. Open the menu, take a screenshot, and tap the item by coordinate: agent-device press <x> <y>. This is a limit of the tool, not of the app.
• Source edits reach the app through fast refresh in about two seconds.

Limits

• The script forwards the relay and realtime ports but starts neither service, so host and workspace presence show as unreachable. That is fine for auth and UI checks.
• The session stops by itself after 15 idle minutes (MOBILE_EAS_IDLE_MINUTES). Stop it sooner with eas simulator:stop from apps/mobile.
• The Expo account runs two builds at a time; a build can wait in the queue behind the team's.

Needs EXPO_TOKEN and this repo's .env (.paradev/setup.sh or .paradev/setup.cloud.sh).