How to automate an app without knowing its bundleId?

[rjlopez-designli]

Question / Problem

I'm trying to use Mobilewright to automate an iOS app that I do not own or have source access to. The issue is that I don't have the app's bundleId, and I'm not sure how to work around this.

From the docs I understand that bundleId is needed to launch an app, and that Mobilewright auto-detects it from project files like *.pbxproj, app.json, or build.gradle. However, in my case I'm trying to automate a third-party app already installed on the device/simulator — so none of those source files exist in my project.

What I've Tried So Far

Project setup (mobilewright v0.0.32, iOS, simulator):

mobilewright.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from 'mobilewright';

export default defineConfig({
  testDir: './tests',
  reporter: 'html',
  platform: 'ios',
  deviceName: /🦖/,
});

tests/example.spec.ts:

import { test, expect } from '@mobilewright/test';

test('app launches and shows home screen', async ({ screen, device }) => {
  await expect(screen.getByText('Welcome')).toBeVisible();
});

Running npx mobilewright results in a failed test — likely because no bundleId is configured and the framework doesn't know which app to launch.

npx mobilewright doctor output:

• ✅ 9/9 system checks pass (Node.js, Git, npm, mobilecli, Xcode, etc.)
• ⚠️ 0 iOS simulators currently booted (22 available)
• ❌ Android not fully configured (missing ANDROID_HOME/ADB) — not relevant for this case

Questions

1. Is there a way to discover the bundleId of an app already installed on a simulator or device through Mobilewright or mobilecli?
2. Is it possible to connect Mobilewright to an app that is already running (i.e., attach to a running process rather than launching by bundleId)?
3. Should bundleId be passed somewhere in the config or via test.use({ bundleId: '...' }) — and if so, how do I find the right value for a third-party app?

Any guidance or workaround would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[gmegidish]

@rjlopez-designli

1. You can use "npx mobilecli apps list" to find what's installed. You can also use "await device.listApps()" programmatically.
2. Yes, mobilewright does not need to attach to a process. You can use mobilewright without any app under test. Look in e2e directory.
3. bundleId is not required in the config. You can see in e2e tests directory that I don't provide it. It's only needed if you want autoStart (the app to be launched before all tests automatically).

Please let me know if it answers all of your questions. Thank you!