pyaxml 0.1.1

Manipulate AXML file and create one from scratch

README

GENERAL INFO

Project: Library to parse and modify AXML files (Rust implementation) Author: Benoît Forgette alias MadSquirrel License: GNU General Public License v3.0 and later

GOAL

pyaxml-rs is a full Rust rewrite of PyAxml to parse and write AXML (Android XML) binary files. It exposes the same functionality as the original Python library through three interfaces:

• A native Rust library crate (pyaxml_rs) for use in Rust projects.
• A Python package (pyaxml) built with maturin and PyO3, providing the same API as the original pyaxml Python package.
• Two CLI entry-points with identical commands:
  • pyaxml-rs: native Rust binary, no Python required.

Runtime dependencies (minimal by design):

• quick-xml: XML parsing for the xml2axml direction
• zip: APK/ZIP file support in the CLI
• pyo3: (optional, only when building the Python extension)

PyAxml is a Rust tool with python wrapper to play with AXML (Android XML) files. This tool is useful to decode and encode AXML files and manipulate AXML files over a Protocol Buffers object. It is designed to work with Python 3 only. Some examples of the use of the tool is provided with the project:

• copymanifest.py that allow to decode and reencode the original file
• replace_activity_name.py to change the name an activity and replace by an other

If you want to see more example you can dig more on the project apkpatcher that use this library to add some useful permission and inject a library inside the target application.

BUILD & INSTALL

Prerequisites

• Rust toolchain (rustup): https://rustup.rs/
• Python 3.8+ with a virtual environment (for the Python extension)

Build the Python extension

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install maturin
maturin develop           # debug build (fast)
maturin develop --release # release build

This installs both the pyaxml Python package and the pyaxml-rs CLI entry-point.

Build the Rust CLI binary

cargo build --release
# Binary at: target/release/pyaxml-rs

Install the Rust CLI system-wide

cargo install --path .

Or use the Makefile:

make build     # compile release binary
make install   # cargo install

CLI USAGE

pyaxml-rs [-h] [-i INPUT] [-o OUTPUT] [-p PATH] [-v]
          [--stringblocks-file STRINGBLOCKS_FILE]
          {axml2xml,xml2axml,arsc2xml,axml2proto}

Commands

Command	Description
axml2xml	Decode a binary AXML file (or AndroidManifest.xml from an APK) to plain XML
xml2axml	Encode a plain XML file back to binary AXML
arsc2xml	Parse a resources.arsc file to XML grouped by locale
arsc2proto	Decode a resources.arsc file to protobuf text format
axml2proto	Decode a binary AXML file to protobuf text format

Options

Flag	Description
-i FILE / --input FILE	Input file (AXML, XML, or APK/ZIP)
-o FILE / --output FILE	Output file (default: stdout)
-p PATH / --path PATH	Path of a specific file inside a ZIP/APK
-v / --version	Print version
--stringblocks-file FILE	Export or import the string pool as JSON (axml2xml / xml2axml)
--pretty	Pretty-print protobuf output (arsc2proto / axml2proto)

Examples

# Decode AndroidManifest.xml from a binary AXML file
pyaxml-rs axml2xml -i AndroidManifest.xml

# Decode from an APK
pyaxml-rs axml2xml -i app.apk -o manifest.xml

# Decode a specific file from an APK
pyaxml-rs axml2xml -i app.apk -p res/xml/network_security_config.xml

# Encode XML back to binary AXML
pyaxml-rs xml2axml -i manifest.xml -o AndroidManifest.xml

# Dump the intermediate protobuf text representation
pyaxml-rs axml2proto -i AndroidManifest.xml

# Export string pool alongside the XML
pyaxml-rs axml2xml -i AndroidManifest.xml --stringblocks-file strings.json

# Re-encode using a previously exported string pool
pyaxml-rs xml2axml -i manifest.xml -o out.axml --stringblocks-file strings.json

# Same commands work with the Python CLI
pyaxml axml2xml -i AndroidManifest.xml

PYTHON API

import pyaxml

# Parse binary AXML
with open("AndroidManifest.xml", "rb") as f:
    data = f.read()

axml = pyaxml.AXML.from_axml(data)

# Convert to an XML Element (lxml or stdlib ET)
element = axml.to_xml()

# Re-pack to binary
binary = axml.pack()

# Build from XML
axml2 = pyaxml.AXML()
axml2.from_xml(element)
binary2 = axml2.pack()

# String pool access
print(axml.string_count())
print(axml.get_string(0))

# Parse binary ARSC
arsc = pyaxml.ARSC.from_axml(data)
xml_str = arsc.list_packages()

# Auto-detect AXML vs ARSC
obj = pyaxml.AXMLGuess.from_axml(data)

TESTS

# Rust integration tests
cargo test

# Python tests (requires maturin develop first)
python3 -m pytest tests-py/ -v

Or use the Makefile:

make test       # both Rust and Python tests
make test-rs    # Rust only
make test-py    # Python only

MAKEFILE TARGETS

Target	Description
make build	Compile the release binary (pyaxml-rs)
make develop	Build and install the Python extension (maturin develop)
make lint	Run all linters (Rust + Python)
make test	Run all tests (Rust + Python)
make test-rs	Run Rust integration tests only
make test-py	Run Python tests only
make install	Install pyaxml-rs binary via cargo install
make bump VERSION=x.y.z	Bump the version in Cargo.toml
make clean	Remove build artefacts
make help	Show available targets