`silk-devices(1)` - Manage Platform Devices And App Lifecycles

NOTE: This is the Markdown source for the eventual man 1 page for silk devices. The roff-formatted manpage should be generated from this content.

Name#

silk-devices - discover devices, install apps, launch apps, and inspect logs.

Synopsis#

silk devices list [--json] [--kind <desktop|ios-simulator|ios-device|android>]
silk devices doctor [--json] [--kind <desktop|ios-simulator|ios-device|android>]
silk devices setup [--kind <kind>] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices install --app <path> [--kind <kind>] [--device <id>|--booted] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices uninstall (--bundle-id <id>|--package <name>) [--kind <kind>] [--device <id>|--booted] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices boot [--kind ios-simulator --device <id>|--name <name>] [--kind android --name <avd>] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices shutdown [--kind ios-simulator|android] [--device <id>|--booted] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices launch (--bundle-id <id>|--package <name>|--app <path>) [--kind <kind>] [--device <id>|--booted] [--activity <name>] [-- <tool args...>]
silk devices run ...
silk devices logs [--kind <kind>] [--device <id>|--booted] [--bundle-id <id>|--package <name>] [-- <tool args...>]

Description#

silk devices keeps common app lifecycle plumbing under the Silk CLI while preserving access to the platform tools that actually operate on devices.

Supported backend kinds:

desktop - the local host.
ios-simulator - iOS simulators through xcrun simctl.
ios-device - iPhone and iPad devices through xcrun devicectl.
android - Android mobile, TV, attached devices, and emulators through adb and emulator.

list and doctor are discovery commands. They always report the local desktop backend and detect whether the platform-specific tools are available on the current host. Lifecycle actions fail with a missing-tool diagnostic when the required SDK/tool is not installed.

Options#

--help, -h - show command help and exit.
--json - emit newline-terminated, schema-versioned discovery data for list and doctor.
--kind <kind>, --platform <kind> - select desktop, ios-simulator, ios-device, or android.
--device, -d <id> - select a simulator UDID, physical device id, or adb serial.
--booted - use the currently booted iOS simulator.
--name <name> - select a named simulator/emulator for boot actions.
--app <path> - app path for install and run actions. launch / run derives Apple bundle identifiers from .app bundles; Android APK launch also requires --package <name>.
--bundle-id <id> - Apple bundle identifier.
--package <name> - Android package name.
--activity <name> - Android activity for adb shell am start.
-- - pass remaining arguments to the selected platform tool.

Lifecycle Mapping#

iOS simulator:
install -> xcrun simctl install
boot -> xcrun simctl boot
launch / run -> xcrun simctl launch
logs -> xcrun simctl spawn <device> log stream
uninstall -> xcrun simctl uninstall
shutdown -> xcrun simctl shutdown
iPhone/iPad:
install -> xcrun devicectl device install app
launch / run -> xcrun devicectl device process launch
logs -> xcrun devicectl device log stream
uninstall -> xcrun devicectl device uninstall app
Android:
setup -> adb start-server
install -> adb install for APK inputs
boot -> emulator -avd <name>
launch / run -> adb shell monkey or adb shell am start
logs -> adb logcat
uninstall -> adb uninstall
shutdown -> adb emu kill
Desktop:
run launches a direct executable or, on macOS, a .app bundle through open.
logs uses log stream on macOS or journalctl -f on Linux when present.

launch / run --app <path> is intentionally platform-specific. For desktop apps it launches an executable directly, or a macOS bundle path directly when --kind desktop is passed. .app paths infer ios-simulator by default; for iOS simulator and iPhone/iPad .app bundles, Silk reads CFBundleIdentifier from Info.plist and launches that installed bundle id. .ipa and Android .apk launches require an explicit --bundle-id or --package because those archive formats are install inputs and are not parsed by this command yet.

Android install currently accepts APK inputs only. Android App Bundles (.aab) need bundletool/device-specific APK generation and are rejected with a concrete diagnostic until that lifecycle path is implemented.

JSON Output#

list --json and doctor --json emit schemaVersion: 1, command: "devices", mode, host, devices, backends, and listings. The doctor mode keeps listings empty and reports the local desktop device plus backend/tool availability. The list mode also invokes available platform listing commands, adds normalized device records to devices, and stores raw stdout/stderr in listings for diagnostics or platform-specific fields.

Each backend contains:

kind
name
available
tool with name, probe kind, role, availability, and discovered path
setupHint

Each device contains:

kind
id
name
state
optional platform metadata such as iOS simulator runtime

Each listing contains:

kind
command
ok
unavailable
stdout
stderr

Examples#

# Inspect available lifecycle backends.
silk devices doctor

# Emit machine-readable backend/tool facts.
silk devices doctor --json

# Install and launch an iOS simulator app built by silk build.
silk devices install --kind ios-simulator --booted --app build/ios-simulator/MyApp.app
silk devices run --kind ios-simulator --booted --app build/ios-simulator/MyApp.app

# Stream Android logs for a selected device.
silk devices logs --kind android --device emulator-5554 -- -s MyTag

Exit Status#

0 on success.
non-zero when arguments are invalid, a required platform tool is unavailable, or the delegated tool exits non-zero.

silk-devices(1) - Manage Platform Devices And App Lifecycles