android-emu-agent 0.1.6

CLI + daemon for LLM-driven Android UI control on emulators and rooted devices

Android Emu Agent

CLI + daemon for LLM-driven Android UI control — ships with ready-to-use coding agent skills.

Overview

Android Emu Agent automates Android apps using a fast observe-act-verify loop:

1. Observe: capture a compact UI snapshot (interactive elements only)
2. Act: issue commands using ephemeral element refs like ^a1
3. Verify: re-snapshot when needed

The CLI is a thin client. A long-running daemon handles all device I/O. All commands support --json for machine-readable output, making the tool ideal for agent consumption.

Highlights:

• Daemon-first architecture — persistent process handles device I/O over Unix socket
• Ephemeral refs — deterministic ^a1-style handles with locator bundle fallbacks
• Agent skills included — structured reference docs, workflow templates, and safety guardrails
• Machine-readable output — every command supports --json for agent pipelines

Inspiration

Inspired by agent-browser, a fast headless browser automation CLI for AI agents.

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• uv package manager
• Android SDK with adb on PATH
• Android emulator or rooted device (primary target)

Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/alehkot/android-emu-agent.git
cd android-emu-agent

# Install dependencies
uv sync

Inside this repo, prefer uv run android-emu-agent <command>.

Quick Start (2 minutes)

# 1. Start the daemon (optional, CLI will auto-start by default)
uv run android-emu-agent daemon start

# 2. List connected devices
uv run android-emu-agent device list

# 3. Start a session (prints the session id)
uv run android-emu-agent session start --device emulator-5554

# 4. Take a compact snapshot and read refs
uv run android-emu-agent ui snapshot s-abc123 --format text

# 5. Tap an element using a ref
uv run android-emu-agent action tap s-abc123 ^a1

# 6. Stop the session
uv run android-emu-agent session stop s-abc123

Most commands accept --json for machine-readable output.

Example --json output for session start:

{
  "status": "done",
  "session_id": "s-abc123",
  "device_serial": "emulator-5554",
  "generation": 0
}

Agent Skills

This repo ships a first-class android-emu-agent skill in skills/android-emu-agent/ for coding agents that support skills (Claude Code, Codex, and similar environments).

The skill provides:

• Structured reference docs — command reference, troubleshooting, error codes
• Workflow templates — login flows, navigation patterns, form filling
• Recovery protocols — handling stale refs, dialog blockers, idle waits
• Safety guardrails — root-required checks, emulator-only safeguards

Install via dev script (recommended)

./scripts/dev.sh skills          # Symlink to all supported agents
./scripts/dev.sh skills claude   # Claude Code only
./scripts/dev.sh skills codex    # Codex only

Manual install

Claude Code:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
ln -sfn "$(pwd)/skills/android-emu-agent" ~/.claude/skills/android-emu-agent

Codex:

export CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex"
mkdir -p "$CODEX_HOME/skills"
ln -sfn "$(pwd)/skills/android-emu-agent" "$CODEX_HOME/skills/android-emu-agent"

If symlinks are not an option, copy the directory instead.

Using the Skill

After installation, the agent should be primed to start a session with your connected device before you ask for specific actions. Begin with a direct initialization request, for example:

I want to interact with my connected Android emulator.

Once the agent has initialized the session, you can proceed with normal requests (snapshots, tap/type actions, app launches, waits, etc.).

Prerequisites you may need (if the agent reports it cannot connect):

1. Start the daemon: uv run android-emu-agent daemon start
2. Confirm a device is visible: uv run android-emu-agent device list
3. If needed, start a session explicitly: uv run android-emu-agent session start --device emulator-5554

Core Concepts

Sessions

• Sessions tie actions to a specific device. Most commands accept a session id.
• session start returns a session id. session stop releases it.

Snapshots and refs

• ui snapshot returns ^refs that are stable only for that snapshot.
• If you get ERR_STALE_REF, take a new snapshot and use fresh refs.

Selectors

• action tap accepts an ^ref or a selector.
• long-tap, set-text, and clear require an ^ref.

Selector examples:

^a1
text:"Sign in"
id:com.example:id/login_btn
desc:"Open navigation"
coords:120,450

Snapshot Format

Compact snapshot output includes context and interactive elements only:

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "session_id": "s-abc123",
  "generation": 42,
  "context": {
    "package": "com.example.app",
    "activity": ".MainActivity",
    "orientation": "PORTRAIT",
    "ime_visible": false
  },
  "elements": [
    {
      "ref": "^a1",
      "role": "button",
      "label": "Sign in",
      "resource_id": "com.example:id/login_btn",
      "bounds": [100, 200, 300, 250],
      "state": { "clickable": true, "enabled": true }
    }
  ]
}

Daemon and State

• Socket: /tmp/android-emu-agent.sock
• Logs: ~/.android-emu-agent/daemon.log
• PID file: ~/.android-emu-agent/daemon.pid

The CLI auto-starts the daemon on first request. Use these to debug:

uv run android-emu-agent daemon status --json
uv run android-emu-agent daemon stop
uv run android-emu-agent daemon start

Common Workflows

Login flow

uv run android-emu-agent app launch s-abc123 com.example.app
uv run android-emu-agent wait idle s-abc123 --timeout-ms 5000
uv run android-emu-agent ui snapshot s-abc123 --format text
uv run android-emu-agent action set-text s-abc123 ^a3 "[e-mail]"
uv run android-emu-agent action set-text s-abc123 ^a4 "hunter2"
uv run android-emu-agent action tap s-abc123 ^a5

When elements are missing

uv run android-emu-agent ui snapshot s-abc123 --full
uv run android-emu-agent wait idle s-abc123 --timeout-ms 3000
uv run android-emu-agent ui snapshot s-abc123

Visual debug

uv run android-emu-agent ui screenshot --device emulator-5554 --pull --output ./screen.png
uv run android-emu-agent artifact bundle s-abc123

Emulator snapshots

uv run android-emu-agent emulator snapshot save emulator-5554 clean
uv run android-emu-agent emulator snapshot restore emulator-5554 clean

These commands require an emulator serial (emulator-5554). If you pass a non-emulator serial, you will see ERR_NOT_EMULATOR.

Real Devices (Non-Root)

The project targets emulators and rooted devices, but many commands do not enforce root and can work on real devices as long as adb is connected and uiautomator2 can attach (ATX server on port 7912). In practice, these are usually safe on non-root devices:

• UI snapshots and screenshots
• Actions (tap, set-text, swipe, scroll, back/home/recents)
• Wait commands
• App list/launch/force-stop/reset/deeplink
• File push and pull to shared storage

Emulator-only commands are emulator snapshot save|restore. Root-required commands are listed below.

Root-Required Operations

The following require a rooted device or emulator with root access:

• reliability oom-adj
• reliability pull anr
• reliability pull tombstones
• reliability pull dropbox
• file find
• file list
• file app push
• file app pull

If root is missing, you will see ERR_PERMISSION.

Artifacts

Artifacts are written to ~/.android-emu-agent/artifacts by default.

• Reliability outputs: ~/.android-emu-agent/artifacts/reliability
• File transfers: ~/.android-emu-agent/artifacts/files

Troubleshooting

Quick checks

uv run android-emu-agent device list
adb devices
uv run android-emu-agent daemon status --json

Common errors

Error Code	Meaning	Fix
ERR_STALE_REF	Ref from an old snapshot	Take a new snapshot
ERR_NOT_FOUND	Element not found	Verify screen, use --full or a selector
ERR_BLOCKED_INPUT	Dialog/IME blocking	wait idle or back
ERR_TIMEOUT	Wait condition not met	Increase --timeout-ms or check condition
ERR_DEVICE_OFFLINE	Device disconnected	Reconnect and re-run device list
ERR_SESSION_EXPIRED	Session is gone	Start a new session
ERR_PERMISSION	Root required	Use a rooted device/emulator
ERR_ADB_NOT_FOUND	adb not on PATH	Install Android SDK and ensure adb is on PATH
ERR_ADB_COMMAND	ADB command failed	Check device connectivity and retry

For deeper guidance, see skills/android-emu-agent/references/troubleshooting.md.

CLI Reference

Full auto-generated CLI reference is available at docs/reference.md.

To regenerate or browse the docs locally:

./scripts/dev.sh docs-gen      # Regenerate docs/reference.md from CLI
./scripts/dev.sh docs          # Build to site/
./scripts/dev.sh docs-serve    # Serve at http://127.0.0.1:8000

A concise command list also lives at skills/android-emu-agent/references/command-reference.md.

If you prefer an interactive guide:

uv run android-emu-agent --help
uv run android-emu-agent <group> --help

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     Unix Socket      ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│                 │  ◄────────────────►  │            Daemon                │
│   CLI Client    │                      │  ┌────────────────────────────┐  │
│                 │                      │  │     Device Manager         │  │
└─────────────────┘                      │  │  (adbutils, uiautomator2)  │  │
                                         │  └────────────────────────────┘  │
                                         │  ┌────────────────────────────┐  │
                                         │  │    Session Manager         │  │
                                         │  │  (refs, state, SQLite)     │  │
                                         │  └────────────────────────────┘  │
                                         │  ┌────────────────────────────┐  │
                                         │  │    UI Snapshotter          │  │
                                         │  │  (lxml, filtering)         │  │
                                         │  └────────────────────────────┘  │
                                         └──────────────────────────────────┘
                                                         │
                                                         ▼
                                         ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
                                         │     Android Device/Emulator      │
                                         │  (ATX Server on port 7912)       │
                                         └──────────────────────────────────┘

Development Scripts

The ./scripts/dev.sh helper centralizes common development tasks. Make it executable with chmod +x scripts/dev.sh if needed.

Command	Description
./scripts/dev.sh setup	Install dependencies
./scripts/dev.sh check	Run all checks (lint + typecheck + unit tests + docs)
./scripts/dev.sh test	Run all tests
./scripts/dev.sh test-unit	Run unit tests only
./scripts/dev.sh test-integration	Run integration tests (requires emulator)
./scripts/dev.sh lint	Run linter
./scripts/dev.sh format	Format code
./scripts/dev.sh format-md	Format Markdown
./scripts/dev.sh lint-md	Lint Markdown
./scripts/dev.sh md	Format + lint Markdown
./scripts/dev.sh hooks	Install git hooks
./scripts/dev.sh typecheck	Run type checkers (mypy + pyright)
./scripts/dev.sh daemon	Start the daemon server
./scripts/dev.sh bump-version	Interactively bump version, refresh lock, optionally tag
./scripts/dev.sh docs	Build documentation (mkdocs)
./scripts/dev.sh docs-serve	Serve documentation locally
./scripts/dev.sh docs-gen	Regenerate CLI reference from Typer app
./scripts/dev.sh skills [target]	Symlink skills into agent directories (codex/claude/all)
./scripts/dev.sh skills-codex	Symlink skills into Codex agent directory
./scripts/dev.sh skills-claude	Symlink skills into Claude agent directory

Raw uv run commands

# Install with dev dependencies
uv sync --all-extras

# Run tests
uv run pytest tests/unit -v

# Run linter
uv run ruff check .

# Format code
uv run ruff format .

# Type check
uv run mypy src/

License

MIT. See LICENSE.