Connect your app for live inspection

Connect local development builds automatically or pair a physical device once to start inspecting your app and capturing sessions.

Connect an SDK-enabled development app for live inspection and session replay. Simulators, emulators, Mac Catalyst, and desktop apps on the host computer connect automatically. For a physical device, scan a pairing QR once; the app remembers its enrollment and reconnects on later launches while that enrollment remains active.

The resident host groups enrollment invites, connected installations, sessions, tests, and Trends history under a stable app ID. Open Apps in the local player to inspect registered apps and their current session state.

For an app without the SDK, use Apps → Monitoring to register its bundle or package ID for automatic capture on booted iOS simulators and Android emulators. Explicitly selected physical phones can also be monitored without an SDK. This needs no app pairing. Follow External App Monitoring for setup and available capabilities.

Automatic local connection

Start the host with ansight host run --open, then launch the SDK-enabled development build on the same computer. The app finds the host through loopback and appears as a live session. It can also start first and connect when the host becomes available. No pairing QR is required for this local connection.

Scan-once flow

For a physical device on your trusted development network:

  1. Install and initialize the Ansight SDK in a development or QA build.
  2. Register the app with ansight app register or the guided setup workflow.
  3. Start the resident host and open the local player.
  4. Use the QR action in the player, or run ansight pairing issue <app-id> --qr.
  5. Open the SDK scanner in the app and scan the one-use invite.
  6. The SDK stores its enrollment state privately and reconnects on later launches while the enrollment remains active.

The player can issue a general pairing QR from its header. Use the CLI when you need to pin the invite to a specific app, duration, or host address. Ordinary host-issued invites use a read tool-policy ceiling. See Enrollment model for automatic local enrollment, unattended test provisioning, and their policy defaults.

What an invite contains

An enrollment invite contains:

  • the target app ID and display name when one is selected;
  • reachable addresses for the local host;
  • an unguessable, one-use access token;
  • invite and enrollment expiry times;
  • the maximum remote-tool policy (read, write, or critical).

The first installation consumes the invite. That installation can reconnect with its stored enrollment; a different installation needs a fresh QR. The bearer secret remains the installation’s reconnect credential after consumption, so protect copied QRs and codes until the associated registration is no longer valid. See Revoke and disconnect when retiring a registration or responding to a leaked invite.

Trust boundary

Treat the QR as a bearer credential and issue it only on a trusted development or QA network. App registration and pairing do not grant unrestricted access to the app: the SDK tool guard and per-tool policy continue to decide which reads or mutations are allowed.

Use ansight app list --json, ansight app register, ansight pairing issue, and ansight pairing list for structured app and enrollment management. See CLI Commands.