Appium CLI Selector Navigator

Appium CLI Selector Navigator

Use this skill to perform Appium-based mobile automation from the terminal with the fewest possible LLM-to-CLI calls.

Setup

1. Appium server must be running and reachable (default: http://127.0.0.1:4723).
2. appium-recorder must be installed.
3. jq must be available for JSON parsing.
4. Prepare a capabilities file (e.g., caps.json):

iOS Safari:

{
  "platformName": "iOS",
  "appium:automationName": "XCUITest",
  "appium:deviceName": "iPhone 16",
  "appium:browserName": "Safari"
}

iOS native app:

{
  "platformName": "iOS",
  "appium:automationName": "XCUITest",
  "appium:deviceName": "iPhone 16",
  "appium:bundleId": "com.apple.mobilesafari"
}

Android Chrome:

{
  "platformName": "Android",
  "appium:automationName": "UiAutomator2",
  "appium:deviceName": "emulator-5554",
  "appium:browserName": "Chrome"
}

Android native app:

{
  "platformName": "Android",
  "appium:automationName": "UiAutomator2",
  "appium:deviceName": "emulator-5554",
  "appium:appPackage": "com.example.app",
  "appium:appActivity": ".MainActivity"
}

Capabilities can also be passed inline with --caps-json '{"platformName":"iOS", ...}'.

Execution Rules

1. Write command output to files with --output /tmp/<step>.json.
2. Never print raw XML source or base64 screenshots to stdout — always parse with jq.
3. Skip screen elements and selectors best when you can guess selectors from the task context.
4. Retry each failed action at most twice.
5. Always delete the session when finished, whether the task succeeded or failed.
6. Chain commands in a single bash call using && to reduce round-trips.

Session Lifecycle

APPIUM_URL="http://127.0.0.1:4723"

Create session and capture ID (one bash call):

appium-recorder session create \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --caps-file ./caps.json \
  --output /tmp/session.json \
&& SESSION_ID="$(jq -r '.result.sessionId' /tmp/session.json)"

Delete session:

appium-recorder session delete \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --output /tmp/session.delete.json

Workflow Selection

Choose the simplest path that fits:

Direct Action Path (Preferred, 3 Bash Calls)

Use when you can infer selectors from the task description. Most native app elements use accessibility id matching their visible label (e.g., "Save", "Cancel", "Search", "Done", "Delete"). Chain all actions into a single bash call with &&:

Bash Call 1 — Create session

See Session Lifecycle above.

Bash Call 2 — Chain all actions

appium-recorder drive tap \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "accessibility id" \
  --value "<BUTTON_LABEL>" \
  --output /tmp/drive.1.json \
&& appium-recorder drive type \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "accessibility id" \
  --value "<FIELD_LABEL>" \
  --text "<TEXT>" \
  --clear-first \
  --output /tmp/drive.2.json \
&& appium-recorder drive tap \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "accessibility id" \
  --value "<CONFIRM_LABEL>" \
  --output /tmp/drive.3.json

If any step returns ok: false, the chain stops. Check the last output file, then fall back to the Selector Discovery Path for that step.

Bash Call 3 — Delete session

URL Fast Path (3–5 CLI Commands, 2–3 Bash Calls)

Use for browser navigation. Do not run discovery commands if this path succeeds.

Bash Call 1 — Create session

See Session Lifecycle above.

Bash Call 2 — Type URL and verify

Try these address-field selectors in order until one succeeds:

Append \n to the text to submit the URL automatically:

appium-recorder drive type \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "id" \
  --value "URL" \
  --text "https://example.com\n" \
  --clear-first \
  --output /tmp/drive.type.json

If ok: false, retry with the next selector from the table. If the URL field remains active after typing, tap the Go button:

appium-recorder drive tap \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "accessibility id" \
  --value "Go" \
  --output /tmp/drive.tap.go.json

To verify navigation, take a snapshot and check for the expected domain:

appium-recorder screen snapshot \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --output /tmp/screen.snapshot.json \
&& jq -r '.result.source' /tmp/screen.snapshot.json | grep -c "example.com"

Skip verification if the drive type command already returned ok: true and the task does not require confirmation.

Bash Call 3 — Delete session

Selector Discovery Path (Fallback)

Use when the fast path does not apply or has failed.

Step 1 — Create session

See Session Lifecycle above.

Step 2 — Get actionable elements and inspect them (one bash call)

appium-recorder screen elements \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --only-actionable \
  --limit 80 \
  --output /tmp/screen.elements.json \
&& jq -r '.result.elements[] | [.elementRef, .type, .name, .label, .resourceId] | @tsv' \
  /tmp/screen.elements.json

Step 3 — Get the best selector for the target element (one bash call)

Pick the elementRef that matches your target from Step 2, then:

appium-recorder selectors best \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --element-ref "<ELEMENT_REF>" \
  --output /tmp/selectors.best.json \
&& jq -r '.result.topSelectors[] | select(.matchCount == 1) | [.strategy, .value] | @tsv' \
  /tmp/selectors.best.json

Use the first selector where matchCount equals 1.

Step 4 — Perform the action

Tap:

appium-recorder drive tap \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "<STRATEGY>" \
  --value "<SELECTOR>" \
  --output /tmp/drive.tap.json

Type:

appium-recorder drive type \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "<STRATEGY>" \
  --value "<SELECTOR>" \
  --text "<TEXT>" \
  --clear-first \
  --output /tmp/drive.type.json

Back:

appium-recorder drive back \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --output /tmp/drive.back.json

Swipe:

appium-recorder drive swipe \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --from 500,1800 \
  --to 500,400 \
  --duration-ms 350 \
  --output /tmp/drive.swipe.json

Scroll:

appium-recorder drive scroll \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --direction down \
  --output /tmp/drive.scroll.json

Directions: up, down, left, right. Optional --duration-ms (default 300).

Scrolling to find elements

If an action fails with no such element, the target may be off-screen. Scroll down and retry:

appium-recorder drive scroll \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --direction down \
  --output /tmp/drive.scroll.json \
&& appium-recorder drive tap \
  --appium-url "$APPIUM_URL" \
  --session-id "$SESSION_ID" \
  --using "<STRATEGY>" \
  --value "<SELECTOR>" \
  --output /tmp/drive.tap.json

Try scrolling up to 3 times before giving up. After each scroll, retry the original action.

Step 5 — On failure, retry once

1. Take one snapshot to refresh state.
2. Try the next selector from selectors best.
3. Stop after two retries and report the blocker.

Step 6 — Delete session

Error Handling

• ok: false means the command failed. Branch on error.code.
• no such element or stale element reference: take a fresh snapshot and retry with the next selector.
• Connection errors: verify Appium is reachable, then retry the command once.
• After the retry budget is exhausted, stop and report:
  1. Last successful step.
  2. Last failed command and error.code.
  3. Last selector attempted.
  4. Whether session cleanup succeeded.

Call Budget

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