# Argent IOS Device Setup

> Set up a cabled physical iPhone for argent. Use when a physical iPhone is involved (a list-devices iOS entry with kind "device") and ONLY then; never for a simulator.

- Skill: `software-mansion/argent-ios-device-setup` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add software-mansion/argent-ios-device-setup`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/software-mansion/argent-ios-device-setup/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: software-mansion (https://skillmd.com/u/software-mansion)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/software-mansion/argent-ios-device-setup

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# Physical iPhone setup

Read this only for a physical iPhone. Simulators use `argent-ios-simulator-setup`.

## First run

1. Cable the phone, unlock it, keep the screen awake, and turn on Developer Mode (Settings > Privacy & Security > Developer Mode). `list-devices` must show it `connected`.
2. `launch-app` only registers the app. The first `describe`, gesture or `screenshot` builds, signs and starts the on-device runner: minutes cold, tens of seconds from cache or after a tool-server restart. Build cap 15 min, runner ready 120 s.
3. On the first install the phone asks to trust the developer (Settings > General > VPN & Device Management), and an **ArgentRunner** app appears on the home screen. Tell the user it is argent's automation runner and must stay installed.

## Signing and failures

Signing needs no configuration. The first phone call of a tool-server process carries a note naming the team picked and the `ARGENT_IOS_TEAM_ID` override (tool-server environment; a change forces a cold rebuild). Cable, lock, trust, expired-profile and missing-certificate errors name their fix: apply it, retry the same call. Also: `errSecInternalComponent`: run `security set-key-partition-list -S apple-tool:,apple:,codesign: -s ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db` (asks the user's login password), retry. `team has no devices`: keep the phone cabled, retry. Bundle id registration failed: free-team app-id cap, wait days or sign under a paid team. Any other xcodebuild failure prints raw `error:` lines: read `~/.argent/ios-device-runner/logs/runner-<udid8>.log`. `RUNNER_WEDGED`: `stop-simulator-server` for the udid, retry.

Then read `argent-ios-device-interact`.