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iCTRL

The creator: @OpenMinisOriginal post

An open-source XCUITest service that lets Codex, Claude Code and other agents operate an iPhone or iPad wirelessly.

Full build guide

iCTRL
No photo in the source; GitHub repository card, served from HardwareLab.

By @OpenMinis

View original on GitHub View original on X
Posted
GitHub stars
593 (GitHub)

What you need

Difficulty
Intermediate
License
Apache-2.0 (source)

Parts

  • iPhone or iPad running iOS 16+, A signing route and mounted Developer Disk Image, Same-network computer or an on-device agent
AI model or service
Codex, Claude Code, OpenClaw, Hermes or Minis, JSON-RPC 2.0 API, XCUITest and Vision OCR

Overview

iCTRL is an open-source iOS and iPadOS automation service by @OpenMinis. It turns a device into an endpoint that Codex, Claude Code and other HTTP-capable agents can discover and drive through an encrypted JSON-RPC 2.0 API.

How it works

A long-running runner built on XCUITest serves a manual, method schema and JSON-RPC 2.0 API over HTTP. After the user approves X25519 pairing on the device, an agent can tap, swipe, type, read the UI tree, use on-device OCR, take screenshots, launch apps and open URLs; LAN access is off by default.

Why it's interesting

iCTRL makes an iPhone or iPad discoverable to an AI agent through a control service running on the device. The creator's README describes a long-running XCUITest runner with a JSON-RPC 2.0 API over HTTP, rather than an integration tied to one agent. An agent reads the operating manual and method schema from the device, then requests pairing; the device user must approve that request before encrypted calls can operate the phone. Available actions include tapping, swiping, typing, reading the UI tree, taking screenshots, launching apps and opening URLs, with Vision OCR for text outside the accessibility tree. Remote access is off by default, so an agent on another computer needs LAN access enabled and the same Wi-Fi network. Setup also requires signing the runner and mounting the Developer Disk Image. The optional companion app helps manage those surrounding tasks; the runner itself must remain running for automation to work. The creator documents how to pair securely: verify the key fingerprint on the device before approving the agent.

Source: github.com/OpenMinis/iCTRL#readme

Hardware

  • iPhone or iPad running iOS 16+
  • A signing route and mounted Developer Disk Image
  • Same-network computer or an on-device agent

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