app_wait_for

This tool on every surface: CLI · MCP · Python · JavaScript · Go · Java · .NET

Wait until an element appears, disappears, shows particular text, or reaches a state — enabled, checked, focused, holding a value — then return. Use this instead of sleeping after an action that takes time — a login, a network fetch, a screen transition. On success the screen is remapped, so the element it waited for already has a ref and can be tapped straight away. If the condition never holds the call fails, saying what the screen showed instead.

Read-only: readOnlyHint is true.

Arguments

Name	Type	Required	What it is
condition	string: visible, hidden, text, value, enabled, disabled, checked, unchecked, focused, count		"visible" (default) waits for it to be on screen, "hidden" waits for it to go away — a spinner, say — "text" waits until it contains the text given below, "value" until a field holds exactly that text ("" for empty; a password field is refused, since its value is never read), "enabled" or "disabled" waits for a control to be one or the other — a Submit the app enables once a form is valid — "checked" or "unchecked" for a checkbox, radio or switch, and "focused" for a field to have keyboard focus, and "count" until the locator matches count elements on screen. not inverts any of them.
count	integer		With condition "count", how many elements the locator must match on screen.
device	string		Device serial to target, e.g. "emulator-5554". Omit when only one device is running.
driver	string: uiautomator2, uiautomator, wda		Driver to use: "uiautomator2" (default for Android; fast, installs a server APK on first use), "uiautomator" (Android, installs nothing, slower, cannot type), or "wda" (WebDriverAgent: iOS simulators and iPhones).
exact	boolean		With condition "text", match the whole text rather than a part.
not	boolean		Wait for the opposite of the condition: with "text", for the text to change; with "checked", for it to come unchecked.
target	string	yes	A ref from app_map ("@e5") or a locator ("text=Welcome").
text	string		The text to wait for: required by condition "text", and by "value", where "" waits for an empty field. Unused otherwise.
timeout_ms	integer		How long to wait before failing, in milliseconds. Default 10000, maximum 120000.

Examples

Each is the arguments of a tools/call request; the first is shown whole.

Wait for text to appear

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "app_wait_for",
    "arguments": {
      "target": "text=Welcome back"
    }
  }
}

Wait for a spinner to go

{
  "target": "role=progressbar",
  "condition": "hidden"
}

Wait for a checkbox to be checked, for up to five seconds

{
  "target": "testid=termsCheck",
  "condition": "checked",
  "timeout_ms": 5000
}

On an Android 15 emulator the answer's text was:

testid=termsCheck is checked after 18ms — @e3 Accept terms (checkbox, checked)

On a device

mobium wait testid=loginError --for text --text 'Incorrect username or password.' on an Android 15 emulator