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A tool that runs xcodebuild reports its exit code. Appium logs xcodebuild exited with code '65' and signal 'null' and then xcodebuild failed with code 65. A CI job ends with Process completed with exit code 65. In a terminal, echo $? prints 65 right after xcodebuild stops. Mobster runs xcodebuild to build the helper app (WebDriverAgent) for your iPhone. When that build fails, Mobster for Mac shows The helper app didn't install and the fix for the error Xcode printed. For an error it doesn’t know, it shows Xcode’s last error: line. Details shows what Xcode said. mobster test --xctest runs your XCTest targets on a simulator. When xcodebuild exits with 65 and leaves a result bundle, Mobster reads each failure from the bundle. With any other code, or no bundle, it reports The tests didn't run.

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What 65 means

man xcodebuild says it exits with the codes of sysexits(3). 65 is EX_DATAERR:
Output
In practice, xcodebuild exits 65 when the action it ran failed. The summary line near the end of the output identifies the action. Xcode 26.4 uses these summary lines: For WebDriverAgent on an iPhone, Appium’s provisioning guide says 65 means code signing isn’t set up correctly. Its troubleshooting guide adds a cause on CI machines: xcodebuild couldn’t read the signing key from the keychain.

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Fix

  1. Save the whole output, then find the first errors in it:
    Start with the first error: line. Later errors often follow from it. Run set -o pipefail first if you want $? to keep xcodebuild’s code through the pipe.
  2. For tests, keep a result bundle and read its summary:
  3. Match the first error to its fix:
  4. On a CI machine where signing fails with no clearer error, look at the keychain that holds the signing key. Appium’s troubleshooting guide names it as one cause of 65 and suggests a separate keychain for the key.
  5. Fix the first error and run the same command again.

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Check it worked

xcodebuild ends with ** BUILD SUCCEEDED ** or ** TEST SUCCEEDED **, and echo $? prints 0. Checked 5 Nov 2026 against Mobster 0.4.0. The commands were checked with Xcode 26.4. Back to Troubleshooting.