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The patrol devices command lists all available devices, simulators, and emulators that can be used for running integration tests.

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Synopsis

patrol devices

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Description

This command provides a simpler, Patrol-aware alternative to flutter devices. It discovers and lists all attached physical devices, running simulators (iOS), and emulators (Android) that are available for testing. The command is useful for:
  • Identifying which devices are available before running tests
  • Getting device IDs for use with patrol test --device
  • Verifying that your devices are properly connected and recognized

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Basic Usage

patrol devices
This will output a list of all available devices with their names and IDs: 
iPhone 15 Pro (A1B2C3D4-E5F6-7890-ABCD-EF1234567890)
Pixel 7 emulator (emulator-5554)
iPad Air (12345678-90AB-CDEF-1234-567890ABCDEF)

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Output Format

Each device is displayed on a separate line with the following format: 
<device_name> (<device_id>)
  • device_name: The human-readable name of the device
  • device_id: The unique identifier used to target this device

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Using Device IDs

Once you have a device ID from this command, you can use it with patrol test: 
# Get list of devices
patrol devices

# Use a specific device ID
patrol test --device emulator-5554
patrol test --device "iPhone 15 Pro"
You can specify devices by either their ID or name when using the --device flag.

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Examples

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Check available devices

patrol devices
Example output: 
iPhone 15 Pro (A1B2C3D4-E5F6-7890-ABCD-EF1234567890)
Pixel 7 API 34 (emulator-5554)

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No devices found

If no devices are available, you’ll see: 
No devices attached
Exit code: 1

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Device Types

The command detects various types of devices:

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Android

  • Physical Android devices connected via USB
  • Android emulators running on your machine
  • Remote Android devices (when properly configured)

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iOS

  • iOS Simulators running on macOS
  • Physical iOS devices connected to macOS
  • Remote iOS devices (when properly configured)

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macOS

  • macOS desktop (when available)

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Web

  • Chrome browser (for web testing)

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Troubleshooting

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No devices showing up

If expected devices don’t appear: For Android:
  1. Ensure adb is installed and in your PATH
  2. Check USB debugging is enabled on physical devices
  3. Verify emulators are running: adb devices
  4. Check ANDROID_HOME environment variable is set
For iOS:
  1. Ensure Xcode is installed on macOS
  2. Verify simulators are booted: xcrun simctl list devices
  3. For physical devices, check they’re trusted and connected
  4. Run patrol doctor to verify iOS tooling

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Checking your environment

Run patrol doctor to diagnose environment issues: 
patrol doctor

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Exit Codes

  • 0: Success - at least one device was found
  • 1: No devices found or error occurred

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Comparison with flutter devices

While flutter devices provides comprehensive device information, patrol devices offers:
  • Simpler, more focused output
  • Faster execution
  • Better integration with Patrol commands
  • Consistent formatting for automation
Both commands use the same underlying device detection mechanism, so they should show the same devices.

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