mobilewright install --device ... --provisioning-profile ... does not complete on real iOS device, and agent remains not installed

[chikhanh123]

Mobilewright version

0.0.30

Operating system

macOS

Target platform

iOS

Device or simulator

real device iPhone 13promax

Minimal reproduction

Summary

On a real iPhone, npx mobilewright install --device <udid> --provisioning-profile <profile> connects to the device successfully but never completes the agent installation.

After interrupting the command and checking status, Mobilewright reports that the agent is still not installed.

This reproduces even though:

• the iPhone is online and trusted
• Xcode can sign and deploy a sample app to the same device
• mobilecli devices and mobilecli apps list work successfully against the same device

This suggests an issue in the iOS real-device agent install flow of Mobilewright/mobilecli.

Environment

• Mobilewright: 0.0.30
• @mobilewright/test: 0.0.30
• macOS host
• Real iPhone device
• Device UDID: 00008110-0016518621E2401E
• Device name: Iphone 13promax
• iOS version reported by mobilecli: 26.3.1

Preconditions

• iPhone is connected, unlocked, trusted, and visible to Mobilewright
• Xcode can successfully build and run a sample app on the same iPhone
• Provisioning profile used:

/Users/admin/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles/ba8a0a93-edb0-44b0-9184-4c2a6e2dafb0.mobileprovision

Reproduction

1. Verify device is visible:

cd /Users/admin/Documents/itech/mobilewright-first-login
./node_modules/.bin/mobilecli devices --include-offline --platform ios

2. Verify app listing works:

./node_modules/.bin/mobilecli apps list --device 00008110-0016518621E2401E

3. Run install:

DEBUG='mw:*' npx mobilewright install \
  --device 00008110-0016518621E2401E \
  --provisioning-profile "/Users/admin/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles/ba8a0a93-edb0-44b0-9184-4c2a6e2dafb0.mobileprovision"

Actual behavior

Observed Behavior

The command outputs only the connection/tunnel logs and then never completes:

2026/05/04 16:06:33.005024 INFO connect to lockdown tunnel endpoint on device
2026/05/04 16:06:33.129939 INFO Received connection request from=127.0.0.1:55333 to=127.0.0.1:60106
2026/05/04 16:06:33.129955 INFO Received connection request to device  ip=fd30:654b:a194::1 port=63711
2026/05/04 16:06:33.132355 INFO Connected to  remoteAddr=fd30:654b:a194::1 remotePort=63711

The process continues running and holds the tunnel port:

mobilecli-darwin-arm64 agent install --device 00008110-0016518621E2401E --provisioning-profile ...
LISTEN TCP 127.0.0.1:60106

If another iOS command is run while install is active, it warns:

failed to start tunnel
error="could not setup listener. listen tcp 127.0.0.1:60106: bind: address already in use"

After interrupting the install and checking agent status:

./node_modules/.bin/mobilecli agent status --device 00008110-0016518621E2401E

the result is:

{
  "status": "fail",
  "data": {
    "message": "Agent is not installed on the device"
  }
}

Also, no Mobilewright/mobilecli agent app appears on the iPhone.

Expected behavior

Expected Behavior

mobilewright install --device ... --provisioning-profile ... should:

• complete successfully
• install the Mobilewright agent on the real iPhone
• allow mobilecli agent status to report installed/ok

Why this appears to be a framework issue

• Device tunnel/connect works
• mobilecli devices works
• mobilecli apps list works
• Xcode signing/deployment to the same iPhone works
• Provisioning profile path is valid and readable
• Only the Mobilewright iOS agent installation path fails to complete

Additional context

Additional Notes

Do not run agent status or apps list in parallel with install; they conflict on the tunnel port:

127.0.0.1:60106

Even after waiting several minutes, install does not complete and the agent remains not installed.

[gmegidish]

Hey @chikhanh123 , thanks for the detailed bug report. That's the most complicated thing with mobile, iOS adhoc certs :). but this should have worked, so let's debug this together, and we will add information to knowledge how to fix it, whatever cannot be automated.

First, let's try two different things. Let's try using mobilecli to install the agent. Mobilecli comes with Mobilewright, but maybe we'll get better logs.

1. npx mobilecli agent install --device ... --provisioning-profie ... --verbose
2. can you please verify that you have access to download files from https://github.com/mobile-next/devicekit-ios/releases/tag/0.0.18

I'll try to answer as soon as possible.

[chikhanh123]

Hi @gmegidish, I ran the command you suggested:

npx mobilecli agent install \
  --device 00008110-0016518621E2401E \
  --provisioning-profile "/Users/admin/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles/ba8a0a93-edb0-44b0-9184-4c2a6e2dafb0.mobileprovision" \
  --verbose

The agent download worked after waiting for the GitHub asset download to finish:

2026/05/05 10:36:47.797854 [VERBOSE] downloading agent from https://github.com/mobile-next/devicekit-ios/releases/download/0.0.18/devicekit-ios-runner.ipa
2026/05/05 10:43:12.494785 [VERBOSE] downloaded agent to /var/folders/_k/2cb8f3n16fqb4b07rhlj8sz80000gn/T/mobilecli-agent-678727108/devicekit-ios-runner.ipa
2026/05/05 10:43:12.508020 [VERBOSE] checksum verified for devicekit-ios-runner.ipa

Then mobilecli re-signed the agent:

2026/05/05 10:43:12.508058 [VERBOSE] re-signing agent with provisioning profile /Users/admin/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/Provisioning Profiles/ba8a0a93-edb0-44b0-9184-4c2a6e2dafb0.mobileprovision
2026/05/05 10:43:12.691910 [VERBOSE] Found app bundle: /var/folders/_k/2cb8f3n16fqb4b07rhlj8sz80000gn/T/resign_351666888/Payload/devicekit-iosUITests-Runner.app
2026/05/05 10:43:12.692182 [VERBOSE] App bundle ID: com.mobilenext.devicekit-iosUITests.xctrunner
2026/05/05 10:43:13.230231 [VERBOSE] Team ID: CAMXTQG2WK
2026/05/05 10:43:13.295361 [VERBOSE] Found signing identity via certificate OU: Apple Development: huynhchikhanh0807@gmail.com (R3SAQ2YU2A) (hash: D6A554F6501D5AD3ADAF98089DF88BCC6D2DF6FD)
2026/05/05 10:43:13.295404 [VERBOSE] Using signing identity: D6A554F6501D5AD3ADAF98089DF88BCC6D2DF6FD
2026/05/05 10:43:13.859687 [VERBOSE] Signing main app bundle
2026/05/05 10:43:13.922338 [VERBOSE] Repackaging IPA to /var/folders/_k/2cb8f3n16fqb4b07rhlj8sz80000gn/T/resigned_2083541746.ipa

The install failed with this error:

2026/05/05 10:43:14.702528 [VERBOSE] installing agent on device 00008110-0016518621E2401E

failed to install agent: failed to install app: your app is not properly signed for this device, check your codesigning and provisioningprofile. original error: 'ApplicationVerificationFailed' errorDescription:'Failed to verify code signature of /var/installd/Library/Caches/com.apple.mobile.installd.staging/temp.H3lYFb/extracted/Payload/devicekit-iosUITests-Runner.app : 0xe8008016 (The executable was signed with invalid entitlements.)'

I checked the provisioning profile I used. It was generated by Xcode for my own bundle id:

Profile name: iOS Team Provisioning Profile: com.windhck.AgentSigner
Team ID: CAMXTQG2WK
application-identifier: CAMXTQG2WK.com.windhck.AgentSigner
Provisioned device: 00008110-0016518621E2401E

But the agent bundle id from the verbose log is:

com.mobilenext.devicekit-iosUITests.xctrunner

I then tried to create a new Xcode managed profile for this exact bundle id:

com.mobilenext.devicekit-iosUITests.xctrunner

But Xcode cannot register it with my Apple Personal Team:

Failed Registering Bundle Identifier

The app identifier "com.mobilenext.devicekit-iosUITests.xctrunner" cannot be registered to your development team because it is not available.
Change your bundle identifier to a unique string to try again.

So it looks like mobilecli re-signs the agent but keeps the original bundle id:

com.mobilenext.devicekit-iosUITests.xctrunner

Since I cannot create a provisioning profile for that bundle id under my team, the install fails with invalid entitlements.

Is there a way to override the iOS agent bundle id during mobilecli agent install, similar to how WebDriverAgent bundle id in Appium can be customized?