Mobile testing

Mobile Testing Skill

Automated Android app testing on an emulator using the Android DevTools CLI. Drives an AVD over adb: connect, act on the UI, read the UI/accessibility tree, capture screenshots/recordings/logcat, and verify.

When to Use

This skill activates when:

• User asks to test an Android app or mobile UI flow
• User wants to automate taps/swipes/typing on an emulator
• User needs to verify Android app behavior (navigation, forms, login/checkout)
• User wants to capture logcat or app performance during a flow
• User wants to inspect, mock, or intercept the app's HTTP(S) requests, or correlate them to a backend by trace id
• User mentions an AVD, emulator, deep link, or adb

Emulator only — no physical devices, no iOS. For web pages use browser-testing; for server APIs use backend-testing.

Verification model

There is no assert tool. Trigger an action, then read raw observations and judge for yourself. Default to the UI tree (a11y take-ui-snapshot) — it is structured, gives stable refs, and is the cheap way to confirm state. Screenshot only for visual-only state or once after a screen change, not after every step.

Capabilities

Connect & app lifecycle

ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json device list-targets
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device connect --serial emulator-5554
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device connect --launch-mode managed --avd-name Pixel_7_API_34
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device launch-app --package-name com.example.app
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device terminate-app --package-name com.example.app
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device set-orientation --orientation landscape
ironbee-android-devtools-cli device disconnect

Read the UI

ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json a11y take-ui-snapshot
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json a11y find-element --text "Sign in"

Interact (prefer ref/selector over pixels)

ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction tap --ref e5
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction tap --text "Sign in"
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction input-text --resource-id "com.example.app:id/email" --text "[email protected]"
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction scroll --direction down
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction swipe --x1 540 --y1 1600 --x2 540 --y2 400
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction long-press --ref e9
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction press-key --key BACK
ironbee-android-devtools-cli interaction deep-link --uri "myapp://product/42"

Synchronize

ironbee-android-devtools-cli sync wait-for-network-idle

Capture & observe

ironbee-android-devtools-cli content take-screenshot --name after-login
ironbee-android-devtools-cli content start-recording
ironbee-android-devtools-cli content stop-recording --name checkout-flow
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json o11y log-read --tail 200 --level ERROR
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json o11y get-perf-metrics --package-name com.example.app --activity .MainActivity

Capture / mock app HTTP traffic (Frida OkHttp hook; rootable emulator)

Network capture is forward-looking — start it, trigger traffic, then read. The first get-http-requests call starts capture; OkHttp-based stacks only (React Native/Expo, Retrofit, HttpURLConnection); native/Flutter/Cronet are not covered.

ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json o11y new-trace-id                 # pin a trace id for backend correlation
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json o11y get-http-requests            # first call starts capture
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json o11y get-http-requests --url-pattern "*/api/*" --include-headers --include-bodies
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json stub mock-http-response --url-glob "https://api.example.com/me" --status 200 --body '{"name":"Alice"}'
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json stub intercept-http-request --url-glob "https://api.example.com/*" --set-headers '{"X-Test":"1"}'
ironbee-android-devtools-cli --json stub list
ironbee-android-devtools-cli stub clear

Basic Testing Workflow

1. Connect: device list-targets then device connect (attach by serial, or managed by AVD).
2. Launch: device launch-app --package-name.
3. Snapshot: a11y take-ui-snapshot to get refs (e1, e2) for stable targeting.
4. Interact: tap/input-text/scroll using --ref or a selector (--resource-id/--text/--content-desc).
5. Sync: sync wait-for-network-idle after actions that fetch data.
6. Verify: re-read the UI tree (or screenshot for visual-only state).
7. Document: report results.

End-to-End: login flow with logcat correlation

SESSION="--session-id login"

ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION device connect --serial emulator-5554
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION device launch-app --package-name com.example.app

# Stream logcat from now on; capture the followId from the output
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION --json o11y log-follow

# Find fields, type, submit
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION --json a11y take-ui-snapshot
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION interaction input-text --resource-id "com.example.app:id/username" --text "alice"
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION interaction input-text --resource-id "com.example.app:id/password" --text "secret"
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION interaction tap --text "Sign in"

# Let traffic settle, then verify UI + check for errors in the buffered logs
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION sync wait-for-network-idle
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION --json a11y take-ui-snapshot
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION --json o11y log-get-followed --follow-id <id> --level ERROR

# Cleanup
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION o11y log-stop-follow --follow-id <id>
ironbee-android-devtools-cli session delete login

End-to-End: deep link into a screen and verify

SESSION="--session-id deeplink"

ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION device connect --serial emulator-5554
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION interaction deep-link --uri "myapp://product/42" --package-name com.example.app
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION sync wait-for-network-idle
ironbee-android-devtools-cli $SESSION --json a11y find-element --text "Add to cart"

Best Practices

1. Use sessions (--session-id) for multi-step flows — the emulator connection is pinned to the session.
2. Prefer the UI tree over screenshots — it is structured, cheaper, and gives stable refs.
3. Target by ref or selector, not pixels — pixels break across screen sizes and layout changes.
4. Wait for network idle after actions that fetch data, before reading state.
5. Terminate the app (device terminate-app) to reset state between trigger-and-verify cycles.
6. Treat emulator perf as comparative only — o11y get-perf-metrics numbers are not real-device representative.
7. Disconnect: in managed mode device disconnect shuts the AVD down; in attach mode it leaves it running.
8. Batch long flows with run execute --code "..." and callTool() to cut round-trips (only callTool is available — no page).