Let Claude Code or Codex control a real phone with Phone Harness
Phone Harness lets coding agents read a real phone screen, tap, swipe, type and check the result. iPhones are driven through iPhone Mirroring on a Mac, Android phones through ADB over USB or Wi-Fi.
Source
@jurlycat on X · 2026-10-15
Written in our own words. Credit to the original author. Link checked 2026-10-23.
What they did
Phone Harness lets coding agents read a real phone screen, tap, swipe, type and check the result. iPhones are driven through iPhone Mirroring on a Mac, Android phones through ADB over USB or Wi-Fi.
Result (as claimed)
Agents can test and use phone apps with no jailbreak, no Xcode and nothing installed on the phone.
Tools they used
Cost: Claude Code: from $17/mo; OpenAI Codex: free plan, paid from $8/mo.
Set it up
Pick a contained repo or task
Start on a branch or side project where mistakes are cheap.
Install and configure
Set up Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Phone Harness, iPhone, iPhone Mirroring, macOS, ADB, Android. Read what it can run on your machine and limit permissions where possible.
Run it on a real task
Give it a well-scoped issue and let it work. Review the diff like any pull request.
Add guardrails
Keep tests and CI in the loop, and never let an agent push to main or touch production secrets unattended.
Copy the full setup prompt
Paste into your agent and it will walk you through the setup, asking before anything that sends, posts or spends.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Claude Code. Goal: Let Claude Code or Codex control a real phone with Phone Harness What the original author did: Phone Harness lets coding agents read a real phone screen, tap, swipe, type and check the result. iPhones are driven through iPhone Mirroring on a Mac, Android phones through ADB over USB or Wi-Fi. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Agents can test and use phone apps with no jailbreak, no Xcode and nothing installed on the phone. Source: https://x.com/jurlycat/status/2110754689868525954 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Phone Harness, iPhone, iPhone Mirroring, macOS, ADB, Android Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Codex. Goal: Let Claude Code or Codex control a real phone with Phone Harness What the original author did: Phone Harness lets coding agents read a real phone screen, tap, swipe, type and check the result. iPhones are driven through iPhone Mirroring on a Mac, Android phones through ADB over USB or Wi-Fi. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Agents can test and use phone apps with no jailbreak, no Xcode and nothing installed on the phone. Source: https://x.com/jurlycat/status/2110754689868525954 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Phone Harness, iPhone, iPhone Mirroring, macOS, ADB, Android Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
You are helping me set up this AI use case end to end in Grok Bot. Goal: Let Claude Code or Codex control a real phone with Phone Harness What the original author did: Phone Harness lets coding agents read a real phone screen, tap, swipe, type and check the result. iPhones are driven through iPhone Mirroring on a Mac, Android phones through ADB over USB or Wi-Fi. Reported result (as claimed by the author): Agents can test and use phone apps with no jailbreak, no Xcode and nothing installed on the phone. Source: https://x.com/jurlycat/status/2110754689868525954 Tools they used: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Phone Harness, iPhone, iPhone Mirroring, macOS, ADB, Android Category: Dev & ops Please: 1. Ask me 3 short questions about my situation (accounts I have, budget, what I want the output to look like). 2. Propose a step-by-step plan using these tools or cheaper alternatives, with the time and cost of each step. Use official pricing pages; say "check pricing" if unsure. 3. Then do the setup with me one step at a time, waiting for my OK before anything that sends messages, posts publicly, spends money or deletes data. 4. Finish with a checklist to run it again next time.
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Guides for this use case
How to let an AI agent use your phone (iPhone and Android) · How to control coding agents from your phone · How to run multiple coding agents together · How to vibe code an app with Claude Code
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