Kobiton AI plugin and tools reference

The Kobiton automate plugin connects AI coding assistants - Claude Code, Claude Desktop, the GitHub Copilot CLI, the Gemini CLI, and the Codex CLI - to the Kobiton mobile testing platform. The plugin ships a set of MCP tools, skills, and commands that cover device management, app uploads, test execution, and session review.

For the latest updates on the plugin, refer to the automate GitHub repo.

MCP tools

The plugin exposes 13 MCP tools across 4 domains.

Devices

Tool Description

listDevices

List available devices filtered by platform, availability, device group, name, UDID, or group ID. Returns device name, UDID, platform, OS version, and availability.

getDeviceStatus

Get the real-time status of a specific device including availability, current session info, battery level, and connection state.

reserveDevice

Reserve a device for exclusive use during testing. Returns a reservation ID needed by terminateReservation.

terminateReservation

Release a reserved device by terminating its reservation.

Sessions

Tool Description

listSessions

List test sessions with filters for status, device, platform, and date range. Returns session ID, status, device info, duration, and timestamps.

getSession

Get session details including commands, capabilities, and metadata.

getSessionArtifacts

Get download URLs for the session’s video, logs, screenshots, and reports.

terminateSession

Stop a running test session.

Apps

Tool Description

listApps

List uploaded app builds in your organization.

getApp

Get app details and version history.

uploadAppToStore

Upload an app to the Kobiton Store. Uploaded apps are permanent and visible in the Kobiton Portal.

confirmAppUpload

Confirm an uploaded app to create a tracking record.

Account

Tool Description

getCredential

Return the OAuth-authenticated user’s username, API key (existing or newly generated), and portal URL. Backs the /automate:setup command - no manual file editing required.

Skills

The plugin ships two guided skills.

Using these skills in Claude Desktop requires a Claude Code subscription.
Skill Description

run-automation-suite

Guided workflow for running local Appium test scripts against Kobiton devices. Walks through app upload, device selection, capability parsing, local execution, and result collection. Supports Node.js, Python, .NET, and Java.

run-interactive-test

Guided workflow for interactive testing using natural language. Translates user intent into CLI commands - WebDriver actions (find elements, type, click, swipe), device operations (adb shell, screen capture, port forwarding), file management (push/pull), app management, and test execution.

All MCP tools and the run-automation-suite skill work on every platform the host CLI supports. The run-interactive-test skill ships a CLI binary for macOS Apple Silicon only. On other platforms, use run-automation-suite or the MCP tools directly.

Commands

Command Description

/automate:setup

Fetch credentials from the authenticated MCP server and write them to ~/.kobiton/.credentials. Also installs the ~/.kobiton/bin/kobiton CLI wrapper used by run-interactive-test.

/automate:doctor

Read-only diagnostic for the CLI installation, credentials file, active profile, and required fields. Prints actionable remediation hints for any failures.

  • Claude Code and the Codex CLI automatically recreate the symlink to Kobiton CLI wrapper everytime a new session starts. On the Codex CLI, the first session prompts you to trust the hook once via /hooks.

  • For GitHub Copilot CLI and the Gemini CLI, the symlink is not automatically recreated . Run /automate:setup once after install to create the wrapper, and re-run it if the symlink ever goes missing.

Test execution

The run-automation-suite workflow guides you through the full test lifecycle:

  • Upload or select an app

  • Select a device

  • Parse capabilities from your script

  • Run the test in the background

  • Surface the live session URL and collect artifacts (video, logs, screenshots, reports)

Supported languages:

Language Extension Command

Node.js

.js

node <script> <udid>

Python

.py

python <script> <udid>

.NET

.cs / .csproj

dotnet test

Java

.java

mvn test or java -cp …​

Example prompts

Device management

Show available Android devices
Check if Galaxy S23 is available
Reserve Pixel 6 for 60 minutes
Release my reserved Pixel 6

App management

Show uploaded Android apps
Upload resources/apps/GS.apk
Get details for app version 12345

Test execution

Run tests/smoke_test.js on a Pixel device
Run my Appium suite under tests/ on an iPhone 15

Interactive testing

Tap the Login button on the current session
Type "hello" in the search field
Swipe down to refresh
Pull /sdcard/Download/report.txt from the device
Run adb shell pm list packages on the current device

Session management

Show running sessions
Get details for session 12345
Download logs from the last failed session
Stop session 12345