Poki is an app that operates your iPhone. It reads the screen, taps, types and scrolls in real apps. You choose how it asks for approval; payments, deletions and actions in Wallet always ask.
The Poki app runs on the iPhone itself. You give it a task in a chat, and it works in your other apps. You install it once from a Mac or a Windows PC, and after that it runs tasks on the iPhone without the computer.
See what changed in each version in CHANGELOG.md.
Install Poki on your iPhone
You need a computer once, to install Poki: a Mac or a Windows PC.
- On a Mac, tell your agent to install Poki, or download Poki Setup for macOS and click through it.
- On Windows, download Poki Setup for Windows and follow its window. Install Apple Devices or iTunes first, so the PC can find the iPhone over USB. Your agent can also run Poki Setup's own command line tool.
- After that, Poki runs tasks on the iPhone without the computer. With a free Apple Account the signature lasts 7 days, and Poki Setup renews it while it stays open on the computer. See Common questions.
With your agent (recommended)
Tell your agent, such as Claude Code or Codex:
Install Poki on my iPhone from https://github.com/JosssphZhou/poki
The agent follows the install-poki skill and runs bin/install-iphone.mjs, which does every step it can by itself. You only do what iOS asks of you: type your Apple Account into a Poki Setup window on the Mac, tap Trust and turn on Developer Mode on the iPhone, trust the developer, and open Poki. When Poki first opens it asks for Automation Mode: tap Continue and enter the iPhone passcode. If you cancel, turn Poki on again to be asked again. The agent tells you each step in a sentence when it comes up. A free Apple Account works.
The installer uses the Alpha channel unless you ask your agent for another one, such as Beta. Alpha gets each build first and Beta gets the same build after more testing.
No Node.js 24, or on Windows? The same prompt works once Poki Setup is installed: the agent then uses the command line tool inside Poki Setup. Poki Setup's own menu also copies a prompt for your agent (Poki > Copy Prompt for Your Agent on a Mac, Settings > Use an agent on Windows).
If GitHub answers 403 or 429 while the installer reads Poki's releases, it is usually GitHub's hourly limit on anonymous requests, which everyone on your network shares. Switch to another network or proxy node and run it again, or wait an hour.
With Poki Setup
Prefer clicking through it yourself? Download Poki Setup for macOS (.dmg) or Windows (.exe, contributed by ZhehanZhang) from the Alpha release and follow its window. The Beta release carries the same Poki Setup files. Until you pick a channel in its Settings, Poki Setup installs the newest Stable release, or the Beta while there is no Stable release yet. What Poki Setup does, step by step, is in Poki Setup.
What you need
| Requirement |
|---|
| iPhone | iOS 18 or later, so iPhone XS, XR, SE (2nd generation) or newer. Poki has been tested on physical iPhones with iOS 27. |
| Computer | A Mac with macOS 14 or later, or a Windows PC (x64) with Apple Devices or iTunes installed. The agent install on a Mac also needs Node.js 24 or later. |
| Cable and account | A USB data cable and an Apple Account. With a free account the signature lasts 7 days, and Poki Setup can renew it for you. |
| Connection | A VPN app on the iPhone that routes 10.7.0.1 back to the iPhone. The free LocalDevVPN from the App Store works, and so do Karing and Shadowrocket set up through Poki's instructions. |
| Model account | Your own. Signing in with a ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan is the easiest start. You can also paste an API key from Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek or OpenRouter, or use your own OpenAI-compatible server. A Claude subscription cannot sign in, so use an Anthropic API key instead. |
On iOS 27 and later Poki controls the iPhone through its native services. On iOS 18 to 26 it uses an XCTest session instead, which needs UI Automation turned on in the iPhone's Developer settings. The app also installs on iPad with iPadOS 18 or later.
Common questions
Can I install Poki from Windows? Yes. Poki Setup for Windows installs, pairs and renews Poki like the Mac version. Install Apple Devices or iTunes first so the PC can find the iPhone. See Poki Setup.
Do I still need the computer after installing? Not to run tasks: Poki works on the iPhone alone. With a free Apple Account, keep Poki Setup open on the computer so it can renew the signature each week, or sign in to your Apple Account in Poki so the iPhone renews itself (if sign-in fails, use Poki Setup on the computer). See What to keep running.
Does a free Apple Account work, and what is the 7-day limit? A free account works, but Apple signs apps from it for 7 days only. While it is open, Poki Setup renews Poki every 6 hours once 2 days or fewer are left, as long as the computer is awake and the iPhone is reachable. Without a renewal, Poki stops opening when the signature ends, so it warns you in its last 2 days. See No paid developer account.
Which iPhone and iOS do I need? iOS 18 or later, so iPhone XS, XR, SE (2nd generation) or newer, and iPad with iPadOS 18 or later. Physical testing so far has been on iOS 27; iOS 18 to 26 use a different control path that has not been tested on a physical iPhone yet. See Verification and known limits.
This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗
