Public beta — under active development. Frequent releases for VS Code and Cursor, focused on Android workflow ergonomics, daemon hygiene, and Logcat fidelity. Marketplace reviews and repository feedback directly inform the roadmap.
One workspace for Gradle, devices, Logcat, and build output — stay inside the editor you already use instead of bouncing between terminals and external tools.
Install from the Marketplace — search Android Gradle Tools in the Extensions view.
Coexists with Android Studio. The extension uses a dedicated GRADLE_USER_HOME by default, so panel builds and Android Studio do not share a daemon pool. Idle daemons are terminated on a configurable interval via ./gradlew --stop, scoped to the extension's home only. Configure under Panel → Settings (⚙) — gradleIsolateUserHome, gradleUserHome, gradleDaemonIdleStopMinutes — or see Settings below.
Overview
Gradle, devices, and Logcat in a single side panel. Build output is parsed into a structured summary — result, duration, APK path, and extracted failure reasons — so day-to-day Android work stays inside the editor.
Highlights: 🧩 isolated Gradle + idle daemon stop · ⚡ one-panel Gradle · 🎯 variants & modules · 📱 device-aware installs · 📋 Logcat plus structured build output
Why install it
| Highlight |
What you get |
| Unified workflow |
Build, clean, install, and sync Gradle from a single side panel. Module, variant, and device selection sit adjacent to the action buttons, so a typical iteration is one click rather than a sequence of Command Palette entries. |
| Isolated Gradle, calmer daemons |
A dedicated GRADLE_USER_HOME keeps editor-side Gradle out of Studio's daemon pool by default. Idle daemons are terminated on a timer; Stop Gradle daemons in the panel performs an explicit cleanup. Stop on window close is available as an opt-in. The shared ~/.gradle remains a single-setting fallback. |
| Multi-root ready |
Manage multiple Gradle roots in one window with explicit project context, ideal for polyrepos and SDK-style workspaces. |
| Smarter device targeting |
The active emulator or device is shown in the Build card and switched with a single click. Auto-selection picks a sensible target whenever hardware connects or reconnects. An optional Android SDK path (or environment / local.properties) aligns adb and emulator with the SDK when the editor's PATH differs from the login shell. |
| Faster iteration |
Optional APK cache on compile / install keeps successful outputs handy for comparison, rollback, and sharing — without leaving the IDE. |
| Release signing in-panel |
A Sign chip in the Build card switches keystores per build. Generate via keytool, save passwords to OS keychain, and auto-inject signingConfigs into build.gradle.kts or build.gradle with diff preview. |
| Observable builds |
Android Build output ends with a structured summary — result, duration, APK path, and extracted failure reasons — alongside deprecation context and links to Gradle documentation. Discovery and validation route to a separate System Gradle Log, leaving the main build stream clean. A JVM CPU strip surfaces local Java processes (jps) with CPU% and a rolling sparkline while the panel is visible. |
| First-class Logcat |
A dedicated Logcat viewer with multi-select level, tag, and package filters — autocomplete is sourced from the live stream, and PIDs are re-resolved in the background so application restarts continue to match. Stack-trace links open File.kt:42 style references in the editor. Filtered output exports to .txt/.log, frequent filter combinations save as named presets, and shift-click row selection feeds Copy selected for sharing slices of the stream. Font size is adjustable. |
| Wireless Remote ADB |
Debug a remote Android device over the internet (or a VPN/mesh) from VS Code — no cable, no shared Wi-Fi required. The panel shows tabbed setup for Same Wi-Fi, Internet relay, and VPN/mesh modes. In Internet relay mode the IDE downloads and installs adb-relay-android on the phone directly, and the adb-relay-jvm process acts as the relay host. |
Capabilities
Build and deploy
- Gradle home & daemons — default isolated
GRADLE_USER_HOME, idle ./gradlew --stop, and the Stop Gradle daemons action; wire JDK for Gradle in the same Settings sheet. Isolation and timing are controlled with android-ide-extension.gradleIsolateUserHome, gradleUserHome, gradleDaemonIdleStopMinutes, and related options.
- Install, compile, and clean from one panel — progress, cancellation, and elapsed time where you need them.
- Gradle sync via Android: Sync Gradle project from the panel, editor toolbar, or Command Palette.
- Cached APK builds — successful install / compile flows can copy APKs into a workspace cache. Open Android: Open cached APK builds for history with timestamps and duration metadata.
Release signing
- Sign chip in the Build card header. Default = Gradle's own signing; saved signatures inject
-Pandroid.injected.signing.* at build time (same mechanism as Studio's Generate Signed Bundle/APK).
- Setup
<Variant> signature overlay: pick an existing keystore (with Detect aliases) or Generate new via keytool. Passwords go to OS keychain via SecretStorage.
- Auto-inject
signingConfigs into build.gradle.kts or build.gradle (Groovy DSL) with diff preview; idempotent. Credentials via SecretStorage, ~/.gradle/gradle.properties, or project local.properties.
- Commands: Android: Set up release signing, Android: New custom signature (local override).
Variants and modules
- The Android side panel exposes module and variant as a compact
module / variant breadcrumb pill in the Build card — click each half to open its picker (module picker / Build Variants picker). Discover variants and Clear variant sit in a ⋮ overflow menu next to the pill. Variant pick is scoped to the current module so it never overwrites your module selection.
- Searchable quick picks for Gradle root, module, and build variant (Android: Build Variants); selection is paused during active builds for consistent state.
- After Android: Discover variants (Gradle), variant names are cached per module with debounced validation (no surprise Gradle runs in the background). While discovery runs, the panel shows a circular progress indicator and a busy row.
Devices
- The Build card shows the active target as a device pill (glyph + name + chevron) — click it to open the device / AVD picker. The wireless ADB entry button sits next to it.
- Target physical devices or emulators without memorizing
adb flags.
- Cold AVD + Install (panel): if you pick an AVD that is not running, assemble runs while the emulator starts and finishes booting, then install runs — see System Gradle Log for emulator output (no dedicated terminal tab).
- Auto-selection polls
adb and picks a sensible default; if the current device disconnects, the extension falls back to the most recently active target. An explicit offline AVD choice stays selected until that emulator is up or you pick another target.
Console and logs
- Logcat —
adb logcat rendered in a webview with multi-select level, tag, and package filters (autocomplete from the live stream; PIDs re-resolve so application restarts continue to match), plus dedicated Crash and Stack trace category filters and text / regex message search with inline regex-error feedback. The workspace's Android applicationId is auto-filled as the package filter on open. Stack-trace links open File.kt:42 style references in the editor. Filtered output exports to .txt / .log; filter combinations save as named presets (up to 10). The Timeline toggle adds millisecond timestamps, second-boundary separators, and dedups consecutive rows sharing the same tag for cleaner reading. Shift-click row selection with Copy selected, plus per-line copy. Font size is adjustable. Open from the panel or Android: Logcat.
- Build output with summary — every run can end with a structured BUILD SUMMARY: result, duration, APK path, and extracted failure reasons.
- Full build errors — use View Full Errors on the notification or Android: Show Full Build Errors for a read-only tab with compilation errors and Gradle details in context.
Wireless Remote ADB (experimental)
- Android: Start / Stop Remote ADB Bridge — starts a local WebSocket mux bridge that exposes the connected device to a remote relay host. Settings:
remoteAdbRelayUrl, remoteAdbSessionToken, remoteAdbListenHost, remoteAdbLocalPort.
- Panel — Wireless Remote ADB: tabbed guide for Same Wi-Fi, Internet relay, and VPN/mesh setups with a live ● status indicator.
- Internet relay: in relay mode the IDE lets you pick a connected device, then downloads and installs adb-relay-android on the phone with live progress. The relay host must run adb-relay-jvm (standalone process, not bundled).
Debug (experimental)
- Android: Attach Debugger to Process lists processes, forwards JDWP over
adb, and starts an Android JDWP Debugger attach session; Android: Detach Debugger ends it. The panel exposes attach / disconnect and shortcuts to VS Code stepping and breakpoints for Java and Kotlin. Behavior is still maturing — see CHANGELOG.md.
Polish
- JVM CPU (bottom of the Android panel): polls local JVMs with
jps, shows PID, CPU % (from ps on macOS/Linux or Windows perf counters), and a rolling total CPU sparkline with layout tuned for the webview. Uses the same JDK resolution as Gradle (JDK for Gradle / JAVA_HOME); install a JDK if you see “jps not found”.
- Optional status bar device label, editor title actions, and open app after install via
MAIN/LAUNCHER (with monkey fallback). Application id resolution follows applicationId / namespace from Gradle, including suffix rules when applicable.
- Shortcuts from the editor keep the Gradle webview aligned with your latest module, variant, and device choices.
Crash reporting
- Optional one-click bug reporting with strong privacy — payload is sanitized locally and shown to you on a webpage; nothing is sent until you press Submit. Disable with
android-ide-extension.crashReportEnabled = false.
Get started
- Open the folder that contains your Gradle wrapper (
gradlew / gradlew.bat).
- Open the Android side panel — activity bar icon, or Android: Open side panel (⇧⌘P / Ctrl+Shift+P).
- Choose a device, then Install, Compile, Clean, or Sync Gradle as needed.
- Open Logcat from the panel or run Android: Logcat.
- Optional: Android: Open cached APK builds after a successful flow to inspect cached artifacts and timings.
Before you install
Built for standard Android Gradle projects.
- Workspace includes Gradle Wrapper (
gradlew / gradlew.bat).
- adb on
PATH for devices, install, Logcat, and optional post-install launch.
- Android Emulator is optional; the device picker can start AVDs when configured.
Settings
Search Android Gradle Tools in Settings to configure defaults such as:
- install / assemble tasks when no variant is picked
- spawn vs task Gradle runner and Android Build output channel behavior
- JDK for Gradle / JAVA_HOME and the panel Settings (gear) quick editor
- Isolated
GRADLE_USER_HOME: gradleIsolateUserHome (default on), optional gradleUserHome override — keeps extension daemons separate from ~/.gradle and Studio unless you disable isolation
- Daemon shutdown: Stop Gradle daemons command;
gradleDaemonIdleStopMinutes (automatic ./gradlew --stop after idle); optional stopGradleDaemonsOnDeactivate when the window closes; optional log/toast via gradleDaemonIdleStopLog / gradleDaemonIdleStopNotify
- Android SDK path (optional): absolute path to the SDK root so
platform-tools/adb and emulator resolve when PATH in the IDE differs from your terminal
- extra Gradle arguments for every invocation
- status bar device visibility and launch after install (plus optional application id override); launch uses
aapt dump badging to read the real applicationId from the installed APK when available
- Wireless Remote ADB:
remoteAdbRelayUrl, remoteAdbSessionToken, remoteAdbListenHost, remoteAdbLocalPort
- Crash reporting:
crashReportEnabled (default on) — when off, no notifications and nothing is logged to the Android Errors channel
Sensible defaults work for typical debug workflows — no configuration required to start.
Changelog
See CHANGELOG.md for release notes.
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