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The rules say
"An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it has only cover"
The question is how long does the condition of having only cover last?
In the game I just played, the GM interpreted this to mean that the only way of hitting it was to ready an action. Given that ready now goes off AFTER the effect you readied for this means that, effectively, the PCs only get to hit once every other round at a target that still has cover. This seems overly powerful to me.
It would mean, but would need an official clarification, that it only has cover in the event that you did ready an action to attack if you see it attacking a creature outside the object. Immediately after its attack is resolved it once again has total cover.
So, in a sense, yes you can only attack an incorporeal inhabiting an object directly when you ready an action to attack it once it attacks something outside of the object inhabited. Now, an AoE magic effect would still damage it.
Page 264 says "An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid objects but must remain adjacent to such an object’s exterior, and so it cannot pass through the center of an object whose space is larger than its own."
This would mean that it cannot pass through the center of, say, a console that is 15 ft. square so if you destroy the adjacent edge the incorporeal inhabiting that edge should be "visible" or downgraded to only having cover instead of total cover.