android-automation

What This Skill Does

The android-automation skill provides a powerful interface for controlling Android devices through the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). It acts as a bridge between the OpenClaw AI agent and hardware devices, allowing for automated UI interaction, application testing, and device management. By leveraging uiautomator for hierarchy analysis and the screencap utility for visual feedback, the agent can inspect the state of an application, determine the precise coordinates of UI elements, and perform complex input sequences like taps, swipes, and text entry. This skill is essential for users needing to perform repetitive mobile tasks, verify application behavior, or manage device settings programmatically.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, use the OpenClaw CLI tool. Run the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/staticai/android-adb. Ensure that your local machine has the Android SDK Platform-Tools installed and that your target device is configured with Developer Options and USB Debugging (or Wireless Debugging) enabled to establish a reliable connection.

Use Cases

• Automated App Testing: Execute a suite of interactions to verify app functionality across different screen states.
• Content Scraping: Pull UI layout hierarchies to extract text or data displayed within native Android apps.
• Device Management: Perform bulk actions such as launching specific apps, navigating menus, or clearing cache without touching the device physically.
• Visual Monitoring: Capture periodic screenshots to ensure that the Android system or specific applications remain in the expected state.

Example Prompts

1. "Check the current screen, find the 'Settings' icon, and tap it to open the configuration menu."
2. "Launch the Instagram app, wait for it to load, and then perform a swipe-up gesture to scroll through the feed."
3. "Dump the current UI hierarchy and tell me what text is displayed inside the main search bar element."

Tips & Limitations

For best results, always implement a short delay (sleep) between interactions to ensure the Android UI has finished rendering animations. When dealing with coordinates, target the center point of the bounds provided by uiautomator to ensure high click accuracy. Be aware that system overlays or dynamic dialogs can change UI IDs, so your automation scripts should include logic to handle unexpected pop-ups. Finally, ensure your ADB version is compatible with the target device's Android OS version to avoid connection dropouts or command failures.