android-cli

name	android-cli
description	Orchestrates Android development tasks including project creation, deployment, SDK management, and environment diagnostics using the `android` command-line tool.

Android CLI Specialist

This skill provides instructions for using the android CLI tool. The tool includes various commands for creating projects, running applications, interacting with devices, and managing the CLI environment.

Prerequisites

This skill assumes the android CLI is already installed and on PATH. If android --version fails, install the CLI first (consult its official documentation for the install method appropriate to your platform), then re-run the failing command.

SDK management

To manage the installation of Android SDKs and tools, use the sdk command. For example:

• android sdk install <package>[@<version>]...: Install specific packages. Multiple packages can be specified, separated by spaces. <version> defaults to latest. For example: android sdk install platforms/android-30@2 platforms/android-34
• android sdk update [<pkg-name>]: Update a specific package or all packages to the latest version.
• android sdk remove <pkg-name>: Remove a package from the local SDK.
• android sdk list --all: List installed and available SDK packages.

Project creation

Create projects from templates using the create command.

For example: android create empty-activity --name="My App" --output=./my-app

Interacting with devices

For inspecting on-screen UI and driving taps, swipes, and text input from element coordinates, use the verify-android-layout skill — it covers the JSON shape returned by android layout, --diff for iteration loops, and the full adb shell input workflow. Use verify-android-screen when a screenshot is required (WebView, animation, visual fidelity).

Running journey tests

For more information on running journeys, see here

Doc searching

The docs command searches authoritative, high-quality Android developer documentation in the Android Knowledge Base. By providing a few keywords, this tool will return high quality articles that contain examples or guidance on how to use Android APIs or libraries. Use this tool to obtain additional information on how to achieve Android-specific tasks or to know more about Android APIs, surfaces, libraries, or devices.

Always use this tool to get the most up-to-date information about Android concepts. Typical good use cases are:

• Finding migration guides for APIs.
• Finding examples for APIs.
• Finding up-to-date information about Android APIs.
• Finding best practices for Android concepts.

Running APKs

Use the run command to run Android apps.

Managing emulators

Manage Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) using the android emulator command

Verifying UI state

Two skills cover Android UI verification — pick based on what you need to check:

• verify-android-layout — default for almost everything. Uses android layout to get a structured JSON tree of the on-screen UI (text, resource ids, bounds, state, interactions). Cheaper and more precise than a screenshot. Use --diff in iteration loops to get only what changed.
• verify-android-screen — fallback for WebView content, animations, visual fidelity (colors, fonts, image content), or finding elements by appearance via android screen capture --annotate.

Reach for verify-android-layout first; only escalate to verify-android-screen when JSON can't answer the question.

Investigation / self-debug

When a change isn't behaving and final UI verification can't tell you why, reach for an investigation skill. The shape is always probe → run → observe → remove — every probe gets cleaned up before the task is done.

• android-probe-logging — default. Insert temporary Log.d with a unique sentinel tag to confirm a code path runs, see the actual values, and check execution order.
• android-reproduce-as-test — default for any non-trivial bug. Write a failing test that captures the bug, fix until green, leave the test as a regression guard.
• android-strictmode-probe — silent main-thread I/O, leaked closeables, activity leaks. Catches things that don't crash but cause jank or memory creep.
• android-snapshot-diff — capture state at A, act, capture at B, diff. The empirical answer to "did anything actually change?"
• android-regression-diff-scan — instead of git bisect, hand the full git diff <good> <bad> to a sub-agent. Faster than waiting on slow mobile builds.
• android-crash-repro-loop — script the trigger sequence and run it 50× to flush out intermittent crashes; inject stress (rotation, slow network, low memory) for races.
• android-trace-sections — wrap suspect code in Trace.beginSection / endSection (or the trace { } lambda) so the slices appear in a Perfetto trace. The source-side half of the perf loop.
• android-perfetto-capture — capture a .perfetto-trace from the device (one-shot host script, on-device long-running, or in-app SDK). The capture half of the perf loop.
• android-perfetto-analyze — run trace_processor SQL queries against a .perfetto-trace. Recipes for slice-by-thread, frame budget, main-thread breakdown, GC, binder, recompositions. The analysis half of the perf loop.
• android-runtime-flag-probe — flip framework debug flags via adb shell setprop (debug.layout, log.tag.X VERBOSE, hwui.profile) without code changes.
• android-coroutine-trace — DebugProbes snapshot of every active coroutine. Use when Log.d shows launch fired but collect never received.

Managing skills

Manage antigravity agent skills for Android using the android skills command.

Updating the CLI

Update the Android CLI using the android update command.

android help output

Usage: android [-hV] [--sdk=PARAM] [COMMAND] -h, --help Show this help message and exit. --sdk=PARAM Path to the Android SDK -V, --version Print version information and exit. Commands: create Create a new Android project describe Analyzes an Android project to generate descriptive metadata. docs Android documentation commands emulator Emulator commands help Shows the help of all commands info Print environment information (SDK Location, etc.) init Initializes the environment (eg. skills) for Android CLI. layout Returns the layout tree of an application run Deploy an Android Application screen Commands to view the device sdk Download and list SDK packages skills Manage skills update Update the Android CLI

create Usage: android create [-h] [--verbose] [--list] [--minSdk=api] --name=applicationName [-o=dest-path] [template-name] Create a new Android project [template-name] The template name -h, --help Show this help message and exit. --minSdk=api The 'minSdk' supported by the application (default is defined in the template) --name=applicationName The name of the application (e.g. 'My Application') -o, --output=dest-path The destination project directory path (default is '.') --verbose Enables verbose output --list List all available templates

describe Usage: android describe [-hV] [--project_dir=PARAM] Analyzes an Android project to generate descriptive metadata. This command identifies and outputs the paths to JSON files that detail the project's structure, including build targets and their corresponding output artifact locations (e.g., APKs). This information enables other tools and commands to locate build artifacts efficiently. -h, --help Show this help message and exit. --project_dir=PARAM The project directory to describe -V, --version Print version information and exit.

docs Usage: android docs [-h] [COMMAND] Android documentation commands -h, --help Show this help message and exit. Commands: search Search Android documentation fetch Fetch Android documentation

emulator Usage: android emulator [-h] [COMMAND] Emulator commands -h, --help Show this help message and exit. Commands: create Creates a virtual device start Launches the specified virtual device. This command will return when the emulator is fully started and ready to use. stop Stops the specified virtual device list Lists available virtual devices remove Delete a virtual device

help Usage: android help [COMMAND] Shows the help of all commands [COMMAND] The command to show help for

info Usage: android info Print environment information (SDK Location, etc.) The specific field to print the value of. If omitted print all.

init Usage: android init Initializes the environment (eg. skills) for Android CLI.

layout Usage: android layout [-dhp] [--device=PARAM] [-o=PARAM] Returns the layout tree of an application -d, --diff Returns a flat list of the layout elements that have changed since the last invocation of ui-dump --device=PARAM The device serial number -h, --help Show this help message and exit. -o, --output=PARAM Writes the layout tree to the specified file or directory. If omitted, prints the tree to standard output -p, --pretty Pretty-prints the returned JSON

run Usage: android run [-h] [--debug] [--activity=PARAM] [--device=PARAM] [--type=PARAM] [--apks=PARAM[,PARAM...]]... Deploy an Android Application --activity=PARAM The activity name --apks=PARAM[,PARAM...] The paths to the APKs --debug Run in debug mode --device=PARAM The device serial number -h, --help Show this help message and exit. --type=PARAM The component type (ACTIVITY, SERVICE, etc.)

screen Usage: android screen [-h] [COMMAND] Commands to view the device -h, --help Show this help message and exit. Commands: capture Outputs the device screen to a PNG resolve Target UI elements visually

sdk Usage: android sdk [COMMAND] Download and list SDK packages Commands: install Install SDK packages update Update one or all packages to the latest version remove Remove a package from the SDK list List installed and available SDK packages

skills Usage: android skills [COMMAND] Manage skills Commands: add Install a skill remove Remove a skill list List available skills find Find skills by keyword

update Usage: android update [--url=PARAM] Update the Android CLI --url=PARAM The URL to download the update from