Give Claude Code a Mac in five minutes

Connect Claude Code to a real macOS VM with Xcode, then let it build, run tests and boot a simulator while you work on Windows, Linux or a phone.

September 22, 2026 · 7 min read

Need a Mac for this? NoMac gives your agent full macOS with Xcode for $0.80 an hour, billed by the minute. Start now →

Claude Code is very good at Swift. On a Mac it can run xcodebuild, read the errors and fix them in a tight loop. On Windows, Linux or a server, it can write the same code but cannot prove any of it compiles. This guide connects Claude Code to a real macOS machine in about five minutes, so the loop works anywhere.

What you need

• ·Claude Code, on macOS, Linux or Windows with WSL.
• ·Node 20 or newer. For the terminal workflow, OpenSSH and rsync as well.
• ·NoMac credit: $10 buys 12.5 hours and never expires, and Claude can ask you to top up. No Apple Developer account is needed to start a Mac or run unsigned builds.

Step 1: sign in and add credit

Sign in at nomac.app/mac and add credit, from $10. If you would rather let Claude do it, it can request a checkout link with get_mac_checkout, but a human completes the payment.

Step 2: install the CLI and log in

npm install -g @nomac/cli
nomac login

Login prints a URL and a short code. Approve it in the browser. No API key is pasted into the terminal.

Step 3: add the MCP server to Claude Code

claude mcp add nomac -- npx @nomac/cli mcp

Restart Claude Code or run /mcp to confirm the server is connected. You should see tools such as start_mac, exec_mac and stop_mac.

Using Claude Code on the web instead

Hosted sessions cannot run a local stdio server, so use the hosted endpoint: https://mcp.nomac.app/mcp with an Authorization: Bearer nmk_... header, using an API key from your dashboard. The sandbox must be allowed to reach NoMac over HTTPS. See why cloud coding agents cannot run Xcode for the details.

Step 4: give Claude a first task

Use the nomac MCP tools.
1. Check my Mac credits.
2. Start a Mac (request_key "first-run-001") and wait until it is ready.
3. Run: xcodebuild -version && xcrun simctl list runtimes
4. Show me the output, then stop the Mac and confirm cleanup.

This costs about a cent and a half of credit and proves the whole path: credits, start, a command, output, stop.

Step 5: the real loop

For day-to-day work, the terminal flow is usually faster because it moves your working tree in one command. Claude can run these itself through its Bash tool:

nomac start --json
nomac sync .
nomac ssh -- xcodebuild -scheme MyApp \
  -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro' test
# edit locally, then
nomac sync .
nomac ssh -- xcodebuild -scheme MyApp build
nomac pull ./build --from build
nomac stop --json

sync uploads changes and skips dependency and build folders. pull brings a directory back. Stopping deletes the VM and everything on it, so pull first.

Put the rules in CLAUDE.md

A short project policy stops Claude guessing how to use the Mac:

## Mac work
- For anything needing Xcode, use NoMac. Start one session and reuse it.
- nomac sync . before each remote build; never edit files on the Mac directly.
- Run unit tests on the simulator before saying a change is done.
- Commands over 10 minutes: use nomac ssh, not exec.
- Pull artefacts you need, then nomac stop --json and confirm cleanup.
- Never send signing certificates or passwords unless I ask.

What to expect

• ·Startup: about a minute to ready. Queue and setup time are free. At busy times a start can queue briefly.
• ·First simulator boot: about 90 seconds. Later boots in the same session are faster. See running the simulator in the cloud.
• ·Limits: sessions default to two hours with a ten-minute idle timeout. One session at a time per account.
• ·Headless for Claude: Claude sees output, logs and screenshots, not a live screen. You can open the Mac’s desktop in your browser when you want to look.

Once a build works, shipping it is the next step: our Claude Code iOS guide covers signing and TestFlight.