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Native Android with Kotlin + Compose - CLI Development

Complete guide to develop Android apps without opening Android Studio, using only VS Code and command line tools.

Index

  1. Prerequisites and installation
  2. Environment setup
  3. Project bootstrap
  4. Emulator management
  5. Build and run
  6. Testing
  7. VS Code setup
  8. Useful commands
  9. Troubleshooting

1. Prerequisites and Installation

macOS

# 1) Install Homebrew (if needed)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# 2) Install SDKMAN (Java version manager)
curl -s "https://get.sdkman.io" | bash
source "$HOME/.sdkman/bin/sdkman-init.sh"

# 3) Install Java 21
sdk install java 21.0.3-tem
sdk default java 21.0.3-tem

# 4) Install Android command line tools
brew install --cask android-commandlinetools

# 5) Verify
java -version
sdkmanager --version

Why SDKMAN

  • Manage multiple Java versions safely.
  • Switch versions per project with .sdkmanrc.
  • Avoid conflicts between unrelated projects.

Useful SDKMAN commands:

sdk list java
sdk install java 17.0.11-tem
sdk use java 17.0.11-tem
echo "java=21.0.3-tem" > .sdkmanrc
sdk env

AGP 8.x requires JDK 17+; Java 21 is fully compatible.

2. Environment Setup

2.1 Shell Variables

Add to your ~/.zshrc:

export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/Library/Android/sdk"
export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$ANDROID_HOME"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$PATH"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/emulator:$PATH"

Reload shell:

source ~/.zshrc

2.2 Install Android SDK Components

yes | sdkmanager --licenses
sdkmanager "platforms;android-34"
sdkmanager "build-tools;35.0.1"
sdkmanager "platform-tools"
sdkmanager "emulator"

# Intel/AMD Macs
sdkmanager "system-images;android-34;google_apis;x86_64"

# Apple Silicon
sdkmanager "system-images;android-34;google_apis;arm64-v8a"

sdkmanager --list_installed

2.3 Verify Tooling

adb version
emulator -version
sdkmanager --version

3. Project Bootstrap

Create project structure:

mkdir -p app/src/main/java/com/woliveiras/petit
mkdir -p app/src/main/java/com/woliveiras/petit
mkdir -p app/src/main/res/values
mkdir -p app/src/test/java/com/woliveiras/petit
mkdir -p app/src/androidTest/java/com/woliveiras/petit
mkdir -p gradle/wrapper

Core files to create:

  • settings.gradle.kts
  • build.gradle.kts (root)
  • gradle/libs.versions.toml
  • app/build.gradle.kts
  • gradle.properties

Recommended Android config baseline:

  • compileSdk = 36
  • targetSdk = 34
  • minSdk = 26
  • Java/Kotlin target = 17

4. Emulator Management

List AVDs:

emulator -list-avds

Start AVD:

emulator -avd Pixel_7_API_34 &

Verify connected device:

adb devices

5. Build and Run

From the project root:

./gradlew assembleDebug
./gradlew installDebug
adb shell am start -n com.woliveiras.petit.debug/com.woliveiras.petit.MainActivity

6. Testing

Unit tests:

./gradlew test

Instrumented tests (requires device/emulator):

./gradlew connectedAndroidTest

7. VS Code Setup

Recommended extensions:

  • Kotlin language support
  • EditorConfig
  • Markdown support

Recommended workflow:

  • Use Gradle commands for build/test/format.
  • Avoid relying on editor auto-format for large modules.

8. Useful Commands

./gradlew assembleDebug
./gradlew installDebug
./gradlew test
./gradlew connectedAndroidTest
./gradlew clean
./gradlew dependencies
./gradlew spotlessApply
./gradlew spotlessCheck

9. Troubleshooting

Cannot find AVD system path

Check ANDROID_SDK_ROOT:

echo $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT

Gradle wrapper class not found

Regenerate wrapper:

brew install gradle
gradle wrapper --gradle-version=8.11.1

Build fails with compileSdk mismatch

Ensure compileSdk = 36 in app/build.gradle.kts.

Device not detected

  • Re-run adb devices.
  • Restart ADB:
adb kill-server
adb start-server

References