Capture from Xcode Simulator

Check the specific simulator and app you intend to investigate.

Use this guide when the app runs inside Xcode Simulator. The simulator uses the Mac’s proxy route, but certificate trust belongs to the simulated device. Installing a certificate on the Mac or on yesterday’s simulator won’t establish trust in today’s test target.

Select the right simulator

Boot the simulator and open your test app. If two simulators have similar names, use the manual option in Simulator Setup to identify the booted device by UDID. Generate the install and verification commands for that same identifier. Note the Mac’s current proxy settings before enabling routing: other Mac apps may also start appearing in the capture.

Route the simulator

  1. Start capture in the Mac app. Enable Mac system proxy routing for the active service. The simulator guide uses that route; there is no separate simulator Wi-Fi proxy to configure.
  2. From the intended simulator app, trigger an identifiable test request and locate it in Table. Compare host, path and time. Do not count a request made by Mac Safari as a simulator check.
  3. If it is an HTTPS tunnel and your investigation needs the response body, open Simulator Setup. Install the reviewed public test certificate into the selected booted simulator, either by dragging it into the simulator window or using the command the guide generates for that device. On iOS-family runtimes, review trust in Settings → General → About → Certificate Trust Settings.
  4. Use the guide’s target verification, then repeat the actual app action for the permitted host. Inspect the response’s availability separately from whether routing worked.

First investigation: separate the simulator check from the app check

With routing shown as Active, use the guide to open its test page on the selected simulator. If you use the manual flow, use that simulator’s identifier and the verification command shown for it. A matching browser request is a useful baseline: the simulator reached the listener.

Now switch to your app in that same simulator and refresh a known test screen. Find the new host in Explorer. If the verification request appears but the app request doesn’t, check caching and whether the app uses the system proxy. If neither appears, revisit Mac routing first. Starting MCP or enrolling the CLI cannot switch that route on for you.

Restore and verify

Remove the temporary trust/profile inside the test simulator, restore the previous Mac proxy configuration and stop capture. Test ordinary connectivity again. Erasing the simulator or resetting other simulators is not required.

FAQ: the Mac request appears, but the simulator request doesn’t

Confirm which simulator was selected, whether the running app fetched fresh data and whether the Mac route is active. A previously booted simulator may take time to pick up a routing change; relaunch that test client before changing trust. MCP enrollment is unrelated to simulator system routing.