Argent Device Interact

Unified tool surface

All interaction tools below accept a udid parameter and auto-dispatch iOS vs Android based on its shape (UUID → iOS simulator, chromium-cdp-<port> → Chromium (CDP) app, anything else → Android adb serial). You use the same tool names on every platform.

Chromium (CDP) app = an Electron app or a Chromium-family browser (Chrome/Brave/Edge) exposing a Chrome DevTools Protocol endpoint. The same describe/tap/keyboard/screenshot surface drives it, but scrolling, tabs, cookies and storage differ — read `references/chromium.md` before driving a `chromium` target.

1. Before You Start

If you delegate simulator tasks to sub-agents, make sure they have MCP permissions.

Use list-devices to get a target id. Results are tagged with platform (ios, android, or chromium); booted/ready devices come first. Pick the first entry that matches the platform you need — if none are ready, call boot-device with udid (iOS), avdName (Android), or electronAppPath (boots an Electron app as a chromium device). A Chromium browser already running with a CDP port shows up directly — no boot-device needed. See argent-ios-simulator-setup / argent-android-emulator-setup for full setup flow.

Load tool schemas before first use. Gesture tools (gesture-tap, gesture-swipe, gesture-pinch, gesture-rotate, gesture-custom) may be deferred — their parameter schemas are not loaded until fetched. Always use ToolSearch to load the schemas of all gesture tools you plan to use before calling any of them. If you skip this step, parameters may be coerced to strings instead of numbers, causing validation errors.

2. Best Practices

1. Always refer to tapping_rule from your argent.md rule before tapping.
2. Before performing interactions, consider whether they can be dispatched sequentially - more on that in run-sequence.
3. Use `gesture-swipe` for lists/scrolling, not gesture-custom, unless you need non-linear movement. On Chromium use gesture-scroll instead — gesture-swipe is touch-only. Consider whether you need multiple swipes, if yes - use run-sequence. Pass momentum: false when the swipe should decelerate before ending for a precise movement.
4. Tap a text field before typing, then use keyboard to enter text.
5. Coordinates are normalized — always 0.0–1.0, not pixels.
6. For app navigation, use the element tree returned after each action (--- Elements after action (describe) ---); call describe only when no fresh tree is available for the current screen. It works on any screen without app restart. Do not navigate from screenshot pixels on regular in-app screens unless the tree failed to expose a reliable target. Use native-describe-screen only when you need app-scoped UIKit properties.

3. Opening Apps

Never navigate to an app by tapping home-screen icons. Use launch-app or open-url — they are instant and reliable.

launch-app — by bundle ID

{ "udid": "<UDID>", "bundleId": "com.apple.MobileSMS" }

Common IDs: com.apple.MobileSMS (Messages), com.apple.mobilesafari (Safari), com.apple.Preferences (Settings), com.apple.Maps, com.apple.Photos, com.apple.mobilemail, com.apple.mobilenotes, com.apple.MobileAddressBook (Contacts)

open-url — by URL scheme

{ "udid": "<UDID>", "url": "messages://" }

Common schemes: messages://, settings://, maps://?q=<query>, tel://<number>, mailto:<address>, https://... (Safari)

4. Choosing the Right Tool

5. Finding Tap Targets

IMPORTANT. When moved to a different screen after an action or do not know the coordinates of component, always perform proper discovery first.