[msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on. #24542

rolfbjarne · 2026-01-22T11:06:19Z

This consists of two parts:

Add an MSBuild target that lists all the available devices (ComputeAvailableDevices), by returning them in a $(Devices) item group.
Add support for the $(Device) property to specify the device or simulator to use.

Regarding the device list, we'll filter the returned list by:

Platform (don't return an Apple TV simulator for an iOS app).
Minimum OS version (not return an iOS 18.0 device when the app's minimum OS version is 26.0).
Only devices that are actually available, as reported by devicectl or simctl.
Don't return an arm64 simulator on an x64 machine.
RuntimeIdentifier, if specified on the command-line.

References:

Fixes #23995.
Backport of #24279.

…mulators available to run on. This consists of two parts: * Add an MSBuild target that lists all the available devices (`ComputeAvailableDevices`), by returning them in a `$(Devices)` item group. * Add support for the `$(Device)` property to specify the device or simulator to use. Regarding the device list, we'll filter the returned list by: * Platform (don't return an Apple TV simulator for an iOS app). * Minimum OS version (not return an iOS 18.0 device when the app's minimum OS version is 26.0). * Only devices that are actually available, as reported by `devicectl` or `simctl`. References: * dotnet/android#10576 * https://github.com/dotnet/sdk/blob/2b9fc02a265c735f2132e4e3626e94962e48bdf5/documentation/specs/dotnet-run-for-maui.md Fixes #23995.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request adds support for listing available iOS and tvOS devices and simulators that can be used with dotnet run. It implements the ComputeAvailableDevices MSBuild target and adds support for the $(Device) property to specify which device or simulator to use when running applications.

Changes:

Adds new GetAvailableDevices MSBuild task that queries devicectl and simctl for available devices/simulators
Introduces JsonExtensions utility class for parsing JSON output from Apple command-line tools
Reorganizes targets into separate Mobile and Desktop target files for better modularity
Updates documentation to describe the new Device property and ComputeAvailableDevices target

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 16 out of 16 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
tools/common/JsonExtensions.cs	New JSON helper extension methods for parsing devicectl/simctl output
msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks/Tasks/GetAvailableDevices.cs	Main implementation that queries and filters devices based on platform, OS version, and runtime identifier
tests/msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks.Tests/TaskTests/GetAvailableDevicesTest.cs	Comprehensive unit tests with test JSON data
dotnet/targets/Microsoft.Sdk.Mobile.targets	Extracted mobile-specific targets including the new ComputeAvailableDevices target
dotnet/targets/Microsoft.Sdk.Desktop.targets	Extracted desktop-specific targets for macOS/MacCatalyst
dotnet/targets/Xamarin.Shared.Sdk.targets	Refactored to import mobile/desktop targets conditionally
msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks/Tasks/GetMlaunchArguments.cs	Refactored product family string constants for consistency
docs/building-apps/build-targets.md	Documents the new ComputeAvailableDevices target
docs/building-apps/build-properties.md	Documents the new Device property
tests/dotnet/MultiFrameworkApp/*	New multi-framework test application
tests/common/shared-dotnet.mk	Updated to use Device property instead of _DeviceName
msbuild/Xamarin.Shared/Xamarin.Shared.targets	Moved _AppBundleManifestPath property definition
msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks.csproj	Added JsonExtensions.cs to project
dotnet/Makefile	Added new target files to build

msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks/Tasks/GetAvailableDevices.cs

docs/building-apps/build-properties.md

tests/msbuild/Xamarin.MacDev.Tasks.Tests/TaskTests/GetAvailableDevicesTest.cs

docs/building-apps/build-properties.md

dalexsoto · 2026-01-22T14:54:00Z

dotnet/targets/Microsoft.Sdk.Mobile.targets

+		<_RelativeMlaunchPath Condition="'$(_RelativeMlaunchPath)' == ''">$(RelativeMlaunchPath)</_RelativeMlaunchPath>
+
+		<!-- Try to keep _DeviceName working for a while yet -->
+		<Device Condition="'$(Device)' == ''">$(_DeviceName)</Device>


…24279-main-2026-01-22

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T09:26:42Z

✅ [CI Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Build packages) ✅

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Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T09:28:26Z

✅ [PR Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Detect API changes) ✅

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Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:06:06Z

✅ API diff for current PR / commit

NET (empty diffs)

iOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
tvOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
MacCatalyst: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
macOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )

✅ API diff vs stable

NET (empty diffs)

iOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
tvOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
MacCatalyst: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )
macOS: vsdrops gist ( No breaking changes )

ℹ️ Generator diff

Generator Diff: vsdrops (html) vsdrops (raw diff) gist (raw diff) - Please review changes)

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:22:52Z

✅ [CI Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Build macOS tests) ✅

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:33:51Z

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS X64 - Mac Sonoma (14) passed 💻

✅ All tests on macOS X64 - Mac Sonoma (14) passed.

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:35:29Z

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS M1 - Mac Monterey (12) passed 💻

✅ All tests on macOS M1 - Mac Monterey (12) passed.

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:36:46Z

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS M1 - Mac Ventura (13) passed 💻

✅ All tests on macOS M1 - Mac Ventura (13) passed.

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:37:03Z

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Sequoia (15) passed 💻

✅ All tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Sequoia (15) passed.

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T10:38:31Z

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Tahoe (26) passed 💻

✅ All tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Tahoe (26) passed.

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 · 2026-01-23T15:44:01Z

🚀 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Test results 🚀

Test results

✅ All tests passed on VSTS: test results.

🎉 All 117 tests passed 🎉

Tests counts

✅ cecil: All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (iOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (MacCatalyst): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (macOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (Multiple platforms): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ dotnettests (tvOS): All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ framework: All 2 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ fsharp: All 4 tests passed. [attempt 2] Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ generator: All 5 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ interdependent-binding-projects: All 4 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ introspection: All 4 tests passed. [attempt 2] Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ linker: All 44 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (iOS): All 9 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (MacCatalyst): All 11 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (macOS): All 9 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ monotouch (tvOS): All 9 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ msbuild: All 2 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ windows: All 3 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ xcframework: All 4 tests passed. [attempt 2] Html Report (VSDrops) Download
✅ xtro: All 1 tests passed. Html Report (VSDrops) Download

Pipeline on Agent
Hash: 0a2ab671784564514ffd10d45c445dd8a0b974fb [PR build]

rolfbjarne added 5 commits January 22, 2026 12:03

Improve comment.

0f6ace4

review

c7dd965

skip on x64

d5dbb81

Reapply #24468.

bf3deae

rolfbjarne requested review from emaf and mauroa as code owners January 22, 2026 11:06

rolfbjarne requested a review from Copilot January 22, 2026 11:06

rolfbjarne changed the title ~~[main] [net11.0] [msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on.~~ [msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on. Jan 22, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of rolfbjarne January 22, 2026 11:06 View session

rolfbjarne mentioned this pull request Jan 22, 2026

[release/10.0.1xx] [msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on. #24543

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dalexsoto reviewed Jan 22, 2026

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rolfbjarne added 3 commits January 22, 2026 18:35

Fix assertion messages.

d44eb55

Fix asynx pattern.

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Improve docs.

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rolfbjarne enabled auto-merge (squash) January 22, 2026 17:37

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Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into dev/rolf/backport-pr-…

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rolfbjarne added 2 commits January 23, 2026 08:47

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into dev/rolf/backport-pr-…

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…24279-main-2026-01-22

Fix build.

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rolfbjarne merged commit 61fbbe9 into main Jan 23, 2026
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[msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on. #24542

[msbuild/dotnet] Add support for listing the devices and simulators available to run on. #24542

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented Jan 23, 2026

✅ [CI Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Build packages) ✅

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✅ [PR Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Detect API changes) ✅

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented Jan 23, 2026

✅ API diff for current PR / commit

✅ API diff vs stable

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented Jan 23, 2026

✅ [CI Build #0a2ab67] Build passed (Build macOS tests) ✅

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented Jan 23, 2026

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS X64 - Mac Sonoma (14) passed 💻

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💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS M1 - Mac Monterey (12) passed 💻

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vs-mobiletools-engineering-service2 commented Jan 23, 2026

💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS M1 - Mac Ventura (13) passed 💻

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💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Sequoia (15) passed 💻

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💻 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Tests on macOS arm64 - Mac Tahoe (26) passed 💻

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🚀 [CI Build #0a2ab67] Test results 🚀

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