Kobiton Automate

Claude Code plugin for the Kobiton mobile testing platform. Manage devices, upload apps, run automation sessions, and view test results directly from your AI coding assistant.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have:

• A Kobiton account — sign up at kobiton.com if you don't have one
• Claude Code installed and working — verify by running claude in your terminal (install guide)
• A workspace folder opened — Claude Code must be launched from a project directory (e.g. cd my-project && claude)

Installation

From Claude Code Marketplace

# add kobiton marketplace
/plugin marketplace add kobiton/automate

# then install the automate plugin
/plugin install automate@kobiton

Login

1. In Claude Code, type /mcp to open the MCP server list
2. Select the kobiton server — a browser window will open for Kobiton login
3. Sign in with your Kobiton credentials. Tokens are managed automatically.

The .mcp.json points to the Kobiton MCP server. Authentication is handled via OAuth 2.1 — when you connect to the server through /mcp, Claude Code opens a browser for login.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kobiton": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.kobiton.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

After installation and authentication, verify the plugin loaded by asking Claude: "List my Kobiton devices". If tools aren't recognized, see Troubleshooting.

API Key Authentication (Alternative)

For CI/CD pipelines or headless environments that cannot open a browser, use API key auth instead:

1. Copy .mcp.apikey-example.json to .mcp.json
2. Generate an API key at Kobiton Portal > Settings > API Keys
3. Set the environment variable:

# Add to ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.bash_profile
export KOBITON_AUTH="Basic $(echo -n 'username:apikey' | base64)"

1. Reload your shell and restart Claude Code.

Note: OAuth and API key auth cannot coexist in a single .mcp.json. The default config (no headers block) uses OAuth via browser login. The API key config uses a headers block with ${KOBITON_AUTH}. To switch, replace .mcp.json with the appropriate format.

What You Can Do

Ask Claude naturally:

• "List my available Android devices"
• "Upload my-app.apk and run tests on the Pixel 6"
• "Show me the results for session 502"
• "Run my Appium test script on the Pixel 6"

Tools (12)

Devices

Tool	Description
listDevices	List available devices filtered by platform, availability, or group
getDeviceStatus	Get real-time status of a specific device
reserveDevice	Reserve a device for exclusive testing
terminateReservation	Release a reserved device by terminating its reservation

Sessions

Tool	Description
listSessions	List test sessions with filters for status, device, platform
getSession	Get session details including commands, capabilities, metadata
getSessionArtifacts	Get download URLs for video, logs, screenshots, reports
terminateSession	Stop a running test session

Apps

Tool	Description
listApps	List uploaded app builds in your organization
uploadAppToStore	Upload an app to Kobiton Store (permanent, visible in portal)
confirmAppUpload	Confirm uploaded app for tracking record
getApp	Get app details and version history

Skills

• run-automation-suite -- Guided workflow that walks you through app upload, device selection, local Appium script execution (Node.js, Python, .NET, Java), and result collection.

Running Automation Tests

Use the run-automation-suite skill to run local Appium test scripts. Claude reads your script, extracts capabilities, confirms the target device, and executes the script locally. Supports Node.js (.js), Python (.py), .NET (.cs), and Java (.java) scripts.

Troubleshooting

Updating the Plugin

After the plugin is updated upstream, pull the latest version:

/plugin install automate@kobiton

To make sure Claude picks up the changes with no stale cache:

1. Run /reload-plugins to reload all plugins in the current session
2. If tools still behave unexpectedly, run /clear to reset the session context
3. As a last resort, quit Claude Code and start a new session

Common Issues

Plugin features not working or behaving unexpectedly

Some older versions of Claude Code don't support the plugin features this plugin relies on. Make sure you're on the latest version:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@latest

Then restart Claude Code and try again.

"It keeps asking me to open a folder"

Claude Code requires a working directory. Launch it from inside a project folder:

cd my-project
claude

If you see this prompt repeatedly, make sure you are not running claude from your home directory or root (/).

"Plugin not found in marketplace"

The Kobiton marketplace must be added before installing:

/plugin marketplace add kobiton/automate
/plugin install automate@kobiton

If it still isn't found, check your internet connection and ensure you're running the latest version of Claude Code (claude update).

"claude: command not found"

Claude Code is not installed or not in your PATH.

• Install: follow the official install guide

• PATH issue: if you installed via npm, make sure your npm global bin directory is in your PATH:

  npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

  Then open a new terminal window and try claude again.

"Nothing happens after install"

The plugin installed but tools don't appear or Claude doesn't recognize Kobiton commands.

1. Run /reload-plugins to force Claude to pick up the new plugin
2. Try asking: "List my Kobiton devices"
3. If still not working, quit Claude Code entirely and start a fresh session
4. Verify .mcp.json exists in the plugin directory — it tells Claude where the Kobiton MCP server lives

"Device not found"

The device may be offline, reserved by another user, or no longer in your device list. Use listDevices with available: true to find currently online devices.

"Upload timeout"

Large app files or slow connections can cause uploads to time out. Retry the upload — pre-signed URLs expire after 30 minutes, so a new URL will be generated automatically.

Still Stuck?

For additional help, open an issue at github.com/kobiton/automate/issues or ask in #general-discussion on Discord. Feel free to share feature requests. We welcome product feedback and will consider it as we continue to improve the platform.

Privacy & Data

This plugin connects to the Kobiton cloud API (api.kobiton.com) over HTTPS (TLS 1.2+).

Authentication:

• OAuth 2.1 (default): Claude Code opens a browser for Kobiton login. Short-lived access tokens are stored securely in the system keychain by Claude Code. No credentials are stored in the project.
• API Key (alternative): The KOBITON_AUTH environment variable is sent via the Authorization header on each request. The value is stored only in your shell profile, never committed to the repo.

Data handling:

• The plugin does not store any data locally beyond what Claude Code retains in its conversation context.
• Tool responses (device lists, session details, test results) pass through Claude Code's context window and are subject to Anthropic's Privacy Policy.
• App binaries uploaded via uploadAppToStore are sent directly to Kobiton's pre-signed S3 URLs, not through Claude Code.

For details on how Kobiton handles your data, see the Kobiton Privacy Policy and Trust Center.

Development

The tools/ directory contains reference YAML schemas that mirror the MCP server's tool definitions. They are published to S3 for the backend but are not consumed by the plugin at runtime.

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Validate manifests and schemas
pnpm run validate

# Run tests
pnpm test

# Build combined tool definitions (for S3 publishing)
pnpm run build

License

MIT