"Allow Paste" not triggered when instrumented with agent-device

[rborn]

Hi, before anything thank you for this tool 😻

I Tried to automate the clipboard detection flow in my app:
Safari → ⋯ → Share → Copy
agent-device home
agent-device open "MyApp"
The iOS "Allow Paste" system dialog never appears. Same flow done manually works every time.

Environment:
iPhone 17 Pro simulator, iOS 26.0
agent-device 0.5.0

Is there something with XCTest runner suppressing the pasteboard ? 🙏

[thymikee]

This is a known XCUITest limitation, not a bug in agent-device.

When an app is launched or activated through XCUITest, the iOS runtime detects the testing context and suppresses certain system prompts, including the "Allow Paste" pasteboard notification banner introduced in iOS 16. Apple designed this deliberately so automated tests aren't blocked by system prompts.

In RunnerTests.swift, apps are activated via:

    let target = XCUIApplication(bundleIdentifier: bundleId)
    // ...
    target.activate()

This places the target app in a testing context where UIPasteboard.general reads are silently allowed -- the "Allow Paste" dialog is never triggered by the system.

Why manual works but automation doesn't?

• Manual: App reads UIPasteboard.general in a normal foreground context -> iOS shows "Allow Paste" prompt
• XCUITest-driven: App reads UIPasteboard.general while being driven by the test runner -> iOS detects the XCUITest entitlement and suppresses the prompt, granting pasteboard access silently

This means you cannot test the "Allow Paste" dialog flow via any XCUITest-based automation tool (agent-device, Appium's XCUITest driver, etc.). It is an Apple platform constraint.

Workarounds:

1. If you just need to get pasteboard content into the app (and don't need to test the dialog itself): use xcrun simctl pbcopy <device-udid> to set the simulator pasteboard, then the app will be able to read it silently under XCUITest.

2. If you need to test the "Allow Paste" dialog UX itself: this requires manual testing or a non-XCUITest automation approach (e.g., an accessibility-based tool or Apple's Instruments).

3. If you want to pre-authorize pasteboard access: on simulator you can reset privacy settings with xcrun simctl privacy <device-udid> reset pasteboard <app-bundle-id>, though this doesn't change the XCUITest suppression behavior.

[rborn]

Thank you for replying 😻