Set up a coding agent

Install the lim CLI and the Limrun skills where your coding agent runs, then ask it for a product change. The skills teach the agent the whole loop: build on a remote Mac, run the app on a cloud simulator, check the screen, and hand you a link to review.

Install the CLI

The CLI needs Node.js 20 LTS or newer. Install it with your package manager:

npm  install --global lim
pnpm add     --global lim
bun  add     --global lim

Set your API key

Create an API key at console.limrun.com/settings under API Keys, then export it in the shell your agent uses:

export LIM_API_KEY=lim_...

The CLI also reads LIM_API_KEY from a .env file in the working directory.

Install the Limrun skills

From your project root, install the skills:

lim skills install

The command fetches the latest skills from the public limrun-inc/skills repository and installs them into each agent's native skills directory without prompting. By default it targets every agent that already has a skills directory, or all supported agents when none exists, and uses project scope. In project scope, the Bazel and Detox skills are included only when a scan of the folder finds matching clues; a global install includes every skill.

Narrow or change the install with these flags:

Existing skill directories with different content are updated in place, so review the change in your version control diff.

Ask for a change

Open the same project in the agent, then ask for the change you want and say that it should build and run the app on Limrun:

Update the onboarding screen, build the app with Limrun, run it on the remote simulator, and share the signed stream URL so I can review it.

What the agent does

The skills walk the agent through this loop. Each step links to the page that documents its commands in full.

1. Build the app. lim xcode build . creates or reuses an Xcode sandbox, syncs the source to it, runs xcodebuild remotely, and streams the logs back. See Build with Xcode.
2. Attach a simulator. lim ios create --attach --reuse-if-exists --label issue=<id> boots a simulator attached to the sandbox. The attach installs and launches the latest build, and every later successful build reinstalls it. With --reuse-if-exists, a rerun with the same labels lands on the same instance. See Run a simulator.
3. Share the live view. The create output includes a signed stream URL, labeled Signed Stream URL. Anyone with it can watch and use the simulator in a browser without signing in, so the agent shares it at the start of the task.
4. Read the screen, then act. Before every tap, the agent reads lim ios element-tree and picks elements by accessibility ID instead of pixel coordinates. See Run a simulator.
5. Record video for changes that involve motion, and attach it to the pull request. See Record a video.
6. Share a preview link. A build with --upload <asset-name> lands in Asset Storage, and https://console.limrun.com/preview?asset=<asset-name>&platform=ios opens it in the console for members of your organization. See PR previews.
7. Delete the instances when the work is done with lim ios delete and lim xcode delete.

Tips for agents

• The element tree is big. Pipe lim ios element-tree --json through jq or grep so it does not fill the agent's context window.
• Build errors are the agent's job. When lim xcode build fails, the agent reads the output, fixes the code, and rebuilds instead of handing the failure back to you.
• Unknown bundle ID? Check the Xcode project, or run lim ios list-apps after a successful build.
• Delete defaults to the last instance. Without an ID, lim ios delete removes the last iOS instance the CLI created in this workspace. If the agent created several, list them by label first with lim ios list --label-selector "issue=LIM-34".

Next steps