adb-agent-bridge 0.1.0__tar.gz

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+ ADB Agent Bridge
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+ Copyright 2026 Kelvin Lee
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+
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+ Developed by Kelvin Lee (https://github.com/kelvincushman/adb-agent-bridge).
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+ Redistributions of this software must retain this attribution in accordance
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+ with the Apache License, Version 2.0.
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+
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+ The unicode text-input approach was inspired by ADBKeyboard
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+ (https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard). No ADBKeyboard source code is
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+ included in this project; it is used only as an optional on-device IME,
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+ driven via its documented broadcast intents.
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+ Metadata-Version: 2.4
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+ Name: adb-agent-bridge
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+ Version: 0.1.0
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+ Summary: Fast, accurate agent-to-Android control over plain ADB: semantic UI addressing via uiautomator, no on-device install
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+ Author: Kelvin Lee
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+ License: Apache-2.0
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+ Project-URL: Homepage, https://github.com/kelvincushman/adb-agent-bridge
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+ Requires-Python: >=3.9
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+ Description-Content-Type: text/markdown
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+ License-File: LICENSE
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+ License-File: NOTICE
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+ Requires-Dist: Pillow>=10.1
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+ Dynamic: license-file
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+
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+ # ADB Agent Bridge
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+
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+ Fast, accurate agent→Android control over plain ADB. Nothing to install on the
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+ device: the accessibility tree Android already exposes via `uiautomator dump`
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+ gives every element's text, resource-id, content-desc, and bounds — so an AI
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+ agent taps element centers instead of guessing pixels from screenshots.
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+
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+ **Developed by [Kelvin Lee](https://github.com/kelvincushman)** · Apache-2.0
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+
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+ ## Why this exists
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+
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+ This tool came out of running a real fleet of Android phones driven by AI
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+ agents — [ContentSwarm](https://github.com/kelvincushman/ContentSwarm), an
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+ open phone-agent framework for content automation, with
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+ [Orphus](https://github.com/kelvincushman/orphus) as the agent harness
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+ driving it. The stack we inherited was built the way most phone automation
31
+ is: **for humans watching a screen, not for agents**. Two things made it
32
+ slow and unreliable:
33
+
34
+ - **The blind pixel loop.** Every action meant: capture a 1–2 MB screenshot,
35
+ send it to a vision model, have the model guess an (x, y) coordinate, then
36
+ `input tap` and hope. 2–5 seconds per action, and vision models regress raw
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+ pixel coordinates poorly — taps missed, flows derailed, retries compounded.
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+ - **The text dance.** Typing one caption meant swapping the IME with four
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+ 1-second sleeps (~4s per field), and the on-screen keyboard hid the app's
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+ media picker at exactly the wrong moment.
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+
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+ The fix turned out to require almost nothing new. Android already ships the
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+ whole answer over plain ADB, on every device, with zero on-device install:
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+ `uiautomator dump` returns the full view hierarchy — the same tree an
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+ accessibility service sees — as XML. Parse it host-side, find the element by
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+ its text or id, tap its bounds center. **Element-center taps can't miss.**
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+ Text goes through a broadcast to [ADBKeyboard](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard)
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+ in ~100ms, with the IME switched once per session instead of once per field.
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+
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+ The guiding principle throughout: *the laziest solution that actually works*.
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+ No custom accessibility service, no signed APKs, no on-device daemon — until
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+ measured latency proves one is needed. Every dump is timed
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+ (`Bridge.device.last_dump_ms`) so that decision is made with data, not vibes.
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+
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+ ## The three addressing tiers
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+
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+ 1. **Semantic** (default): `find(text="Post")` → tap the element's center.
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+ Exact, layout-robust, no vision model in the loop.
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+ 2. **Set-of-Marks / grid** (vision fallback): when the tree is thin (games,
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+ canvas, some WebViews), `marks()` draws numbered boxes on a screenshot —
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+ the model picks a number, you tap that element. Or address a 10-column
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+ grid cell like `"C7"`.
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+ 3. **Raw coordinates**: `tap((x, y))` still works when you need it.
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+
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+ ## Install
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+
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+ ```sh
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+ pip install "adb-agent-bridge @ git+https://github.com/kelvincushman/adb-agent-bridge"
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+ # or from a checkout: pip install -e .
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+ ```
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+
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+ (Not yet on PyPI — install from git. Pin a commit SHA with `@<sha>` for
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+ reproducible installs.)
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+
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+ Requirements:
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+
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+ - `adb` on the host PATH, device with USB debugging enabled.
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+ - [ADBKeyboard](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard) on the device for fast
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+ and unicode text input (recommended). Without it, plain-ASCII text still
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+ works via `input text`.
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+
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+ ## Quick start
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+
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+ ```python
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+ from adb_agent_bridge import Bridge
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+
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+ b = Bridge() # or Bridge("SERIAL") with multiple devices
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+ b.ui() # -> [Element(text=..., id=..., bounds=...), ...]
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+ b.find(text="Post") # first element whose text matches
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+ b.tap(b.find(text="Post")) # taps the element's center — can't miss
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+ b.tap((540, 1200)) # raw coordinates
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+ b.tap("C7") # grid cell (10 square columns A-J, rows from 1)
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+ b.text("hello world") # ~100ms, no IME dance
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+ b.text("héllo 👋", clear=True) # unicode/emoji; clear empties the field first
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+ b.swipe(540, 1600, 540, 400) # scroll
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+ b.key(66) # keyevent (66 = ENTER)
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+ b.screenshot("screen.png")
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+
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+ path, legend = b.marks() # numbered Set-of-Marks screenshot; the
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+ b.tap(legend[3]) # vision model picks a number, you tap it
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+
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+ b.prefetch_ui() # start the next dump in the background
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+ # ... do other work (e.g. the model decides the next action) ...
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+ b.ui() # returns the prefetched result instantly
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+ ```
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+
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+ CLI (installed as `aab`):
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+
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+ ```sh
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+ aab ui # dump elements, one per line (dump latency on stderr)
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+ aab tap --text Post # tap by text / --id / --desc
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+ aab tap --grid C7 # or grid cell, or: aab tap 540 1200
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+ aab text "a caption" # --clear to empty the field first
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+ aab marks annotated.png # numbered overlay + legend for the vision fallback
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+ aab screenshot out.png
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+ aab swipe 540 1600 540 400
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+ aab key 66 # keyevent (66 = ENTER)
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+ aab -s SERIAL ... # pick a device when several are connected
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+ ```
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+
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+ After a session, restore the device's normal keyboard with
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+ `adb shell ime reset` (the bridge leaves ADBKeyboard active for speed).
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+
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+ ## Measured performance
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+
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+ All numbers measured live on a Samsung SM-S721B (Galaxy S24 FE), host on USB:
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+
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+ | Operation | Cost | Notes |
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+ |---|---|---|
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+ | `tap` / `swipe` / `key` | ~0.1s | `input` is cheap on modern Android |
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+ | `text()` via ADBKeyboard | ~0.1s | any length, any unicode |
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+ | first `text()` of a session | ~1.5s | one-time IME switch + settle wait |
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+ | `screenshot()` | ~0.8s | `screencap -p` over exec-out |
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+ | `ui()` — `uiautomator dump` | **2.1–3.0s** | the bottleneck: fresh uiautomator process per call |
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+ | `ui()` on very heavy screens | up to ~6s | seen on Facebook Marketplace's tree |
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+ | old vision loop (replaced) | 2–5s/action | plus missed taps and retries |
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+ | old IME text dance (replaced) | ~4s/field | now ~0.1s |
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+
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+ Two findings worth knowing:
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+
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+ - `input text` costs ~35ms **per character** (key events are injected one by
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+ one), so a 60-char caption takes ~2s. The ADBKeyboard broadcast commits the
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+ whole string at once — that's why it's the primary text path.
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+ - Switching the IME and broadcasting immediately drops the text: the IME
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+ hasn't bound to the field yet. One settle wait after the once-per-session
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+ switch fixes what the old stack worked around with four sleeps per field.
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+
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+ An agent action cycle (dump → find → tap) is therefore ~2.5s, ~95% of it the
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+ dump. Two ways to attack that, both built in:
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+
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+ - **Prefetch** (`prefetch_ui()`): start the next dump right after an action so
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+ it overlaps the caller's own work — in an agent loop the model's 1–3s of
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+ thinking hides most of the dump for free. Roughly 2× on real flows, no
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+ device changes.
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+ - **The optional fast backend** below: ~5–8× flat, one APK install per device.
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+
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+ ## Optional fast backend (fleet phones)
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+
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+ Plain devices need nothing and keep working unchanged. For sub-second action
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+ cycles, install [openatx/android-uiautomator-server](https://github.com/openatx/android-uiautomator-server)
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+ (MIT) on the device and keep its instrumentation running:
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+
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+ ```sh
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+ adb install app-uiautomator.apk
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+ adb install app-uiautomator-test.apk
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+ adb shell am instrument -w com.github.uiautomator.test/androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner
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+ ```
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+
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+ It keeps uiautomator alive and serves the same hierarchy XML over HTTP —
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+ Bridge probes for it once per session (`adb forward` + `/ping`) and uses it
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+ automatically; `aab ui` reports which backend served the dump, and if the
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+ server dies mid-session the bridge falls back to plain dumps. Expected dumps:
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+ ~0.1–0.3s instead of 2–3s. **Not yet verified against real hardware** — the
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+ plain-ADB path remains the default and the regression baseline.
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+
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+ ## Limitations
177
+
178
+ - Thin or absent view trees (games, canvas-drawn UIs, some WebViews) — use
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+ the Set-of-Marks / grid fallback tier.
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+ - `FLAG_SECURE` screens refuse screenshots (banking apps, private modes).
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+ - `uiautomator dump` can fail mid-animation; the bridge retries once, then
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+ raises so callers can fall back to the vision tier.
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+ - Unicode text, `clear=`, and fast typing need ADBKeyboard installed.
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+
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+ ## Roadmap
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+
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+ - **Fleet-phone verification of the fast backend** — the HTTP backend ships
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+ mock-tested; its first live run happens on a fleet device, not a personal
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+ phone.
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+ - **[ContentSwarm](https://github.com/kelvincushman/ContentSwarm)
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+ integration** — element-target taps, layout-robust flow recording with
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+ per-replay run reports, a `/ui` endpoint, and prefetch-during-model-thinking
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+ — lives downstream of this library, driven by
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+ [Orphus](https://github.com/kelvincushman/orphus) agents.
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+
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+ ## License & credits
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+
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+ Apache-2.0, © 2026 Kelvin Lee. See `LICENSE` and `NOTICE` — redistributions
199
+ must retain the attribution notice.
200
+
201
+ ADBKeyboard by [senzhk](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard) inspired the
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+ unicode input approach and is driven via its documented broadcast intents.
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+ This project contains no ADBKeyboard code.
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
1
+ # ADB Agent Bridge
2
+
3
+ Fast, accurate agent→Android control over plain ADB. Nothing to install on the
4
+ device: the accessibility tree Android already exposes via `uiautomator dump`
5
+ gives every element's text, resource-id, content-desc, and bounds — so an AI
6
+ agent taps element centers instead of guessing pixels from screenshots.
7
+
8
+ **Developed by [Kelvin Lee](https://github.com/kelvincushman)** · Apache-2.0
9
+
10
+ ## Why this exists
11
+
12
+ This tool came out of running a real fleet of Android phones driven by AI
13
+ agents — [ContentSwarm](https://github.com/kelvincushman/ContentSwarm), an
14
+ open phone-agent framework for content automation, with
15
+ [Orphus](https://github.com/kelvincushman/orphus) as the agent harness
16
+ driving it. The stack we inherited was built the way most phone automation
17
+ is: **for humans watching a screen, not for agents**. Two things made it
18
+ slow and unreliable:
19
+
20
+ - **The blind pixel loop.** Every action meant: capture a 1–2 MB screenshot,
21
+ send it to a vision model, have the model guess an (x, y) coordinate, then
22
+ `input tap` and hope. 2–5 seconds per action, and vision models regress raw
23
+ pixel coordinates poorly — taps missed, flows derailed, retries compounded.
24
+ - **The text dance.** Typing one caption meant swapping the IME with four
25
+ 1-second sleeps (~4s per field), and the on-screen keyboard hid the app's
26
+ media picker at exactly the wrong moment.
27
+
28
+ The fix turned out to require almost nothing new. Android already ships the
29
+ whole answer over plain ADB, on every device, with zero on-device install:
30
+ `uiautomator dump` returns the full view hierarchy — the same tree an
31
+ accessibility service sees — as XML. Parse it host-side, find the element by
32
+ its text or id, tap its bounds center. **Element-center taps can't miss.**
33
+ Text goes through a broadcast to [ADBKeyboard](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard)
34
+ in ~100ms, with the IME switched once per session instead of once per field.
35
+
36
+ The guiding principle throughout: *the laziest solution that actually works*.
37
+ No custom accessibility service, no signed APKs, no on-device daemon — until
38
+ measured latency proves one is needed. Every dump is timed
39
+ (`Bridge.device.last_dump_ms`) so that decision is made with data, not vibes.
40
+
41
+ ## The three addressing tiers
42
+
43
+ 1. **Semantic** (default): `find(text="Post")` → tap the element's center.
44
+ Exact, layout-robust, no vision model in the loop.
45
+ 2. **Set-of-Marks / grid** (vision fallback): when the tree is thin (games,
46
+ canvas, some WebViews), `marks()` draws numbered boxes on a screenshot —
47
+ the model picks a number, you tap that element. Or address a 10-column
48
+ grid cell like `"C7"`.
49
+ 3. **Raw coordinates**: `tap((x, y))` still works when you need it.
50
+
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+ ## Install
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+
53
+ ```sh
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+ pip install "adb-agent-bridge @ git+https://github.com/kelvincushman/adb-agent-bridge"
55
+ # or from a checkout: pip install -e .
56
+ ```
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+
58
+ (Not yet on PyPI — install from git. Pin a commit SHA with `@<sha>` for
59
+ reproducible installs.)
60
+
61
+ Requirements:
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+
63
+ - `adb` on the host PATH, device with USB debugging enabled.
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+ - [ADBKeyboard](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard) on the device for fast
65
+ and unicode text input (recommended). Without it, plain-ASCII text still
66
+ works via `input text`.
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+
68
+ ## Quick start
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+
70
+ ```python
71
+ from adb_agent_bridge import Bridge
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+
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+ b = Bridge() # or Bridge("SERIAL") with multiple devices
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+ b.ui() # -> [Element(text=..., id=..., bounds=...), ...]
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+ b.find(text="Post") # first element whose text matches
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+ b.tap(b.find(text="Post")) # taps the element's center — can't miss
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+ b.tap((540, 1200)) # raw coordinates
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+ b.tap("C7") # grid cell (10 square columns A-J, rows from 1)
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+ b.text("hello world") # ~100ms, no IME dance
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+ b.text("héllo 👋", clear=True) # unicode/emoji; clear empties the field first
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+ b.swipe(540, 1600, 540, 400) # scroll
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+ b.key(66) # keyevent (66 = ENTER)
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+ b.screenshot("screen.png")
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+
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+ path, legend = b.marks() # numbered Set-of-Marks screenshot; the
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+ b.tap(legend[3]) # vision model picks a number, you tap it
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+
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+ b.prefetch_ui() # start the next dump in the background
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+ # ... do other work (e.g. the model decides the next action) ...
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+ b.ui() # returns the prefetched result instantly
91
+ ```
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+
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+ CLI (installed as `aab`):
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+
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+ ```sh
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+ aab ui # dump elements, one per line (dump latency on stderr)
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+ aab tap --text Post # tap by text / --id / --desc
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+ aab tap --grid C7 # or grid cell, or: aab tap 540 1200
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+ aab text "a caption" # --clear to empty the field first
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+ aab marks annotated.png # numbered overlay + legend for the vision fallback
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+ aab screenshot out.png
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+ aab swipe 540 1600 540 400
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+ aab key 66 # keyevent (66 = ENTER)
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+ aab -s SERIAL ... # pick a device when several are connected
105
+ ```
106
+
107
+ After a session, restore the device's normal keyboard with
108
+ `adb shell ime reset` (the bridge leaves ADBKeyboard active for speed).
109
+
110
+ ## Measured performance
111
+
112
+ All numbers measured live on a Samsung SM-S721B (Galaxy S24 FE), host on USB:
113
+
114
+ | Operation | Cost | Notes |
115
+ |---|---|---|
116
+ | `tap` / `swipe` / `key` | ~0.1s | `input` is cheap on modern Android |
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+ | `text()` via ADBKeyboard | ~0.1s | any length, any unicode |
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+ | first `text()` of a session | ~1.5s | one-time IME switch + settle wait |
119
+ | `screenshot()` | ~0.8s | `screencap -p` over exec-out |
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+ | `ui()` — `uiautomator dump` | **2.1–3.0s** | the bottleneck: fresh uiautomator process per call |
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+ | `ui()` on very heavy screens | up to ~6s | seen on Facebook Marketplace's tree |
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+ | old vision loop (replaced) | 2–5s/action | plus missed taps and retries |
123
+ | old IME text dance (replaced) | ~4s/field | now ~0.1s |
124
+
125
+ Two findings worth knowing:
126
+
127
+ - `input text` costs ~35ms **per character** (key events are injected one by
128
+ one), so a 60-char caption takes ~2s. The ADBKeyboard broadcast commits the
129
+ whole string at once — that's why it's the primary text path.
130
+ - Switching the IME and broadcasting immediately drops the text: the IME
131
+ hasn't bound to the field yet. One settle wait after the once-per-session
132
+ switch fixes what the old stack worked around with four sleeps per field.
133
+
134
+ An agent action cycle (dump → find → tap) is therefore ~2.5s, ~95% of it the
135
+ dump. Two ways to attack that, both built in:
136
+
137
+ - **Prefetch** (`prefetch_ui()`): start the next dump right after an action so
138
+ it overlaps the caller's own work — in an agent loop the model's 1–3s of
139
+ thinking hides most of the dump for free. Roughly 2× on real flows, no
140
+ device changes.
141
+ - **The optional fast backend** below: ~5–8× flat, one APK install per device.
142
+
143
+ ## Optional fast backend (fleet phones)
144
+
145
+ Plain devices need nothing and keep working unchanged. For sub-second action
146
+ cycles, install [openatx/android-uiautomator-server](https://github.com/openatx/android-uiautomator-server)
147
+ (MIT) on the device and keep its instrumentation running:
148
+
149
+ ```sh
150
+ adb install app-uiautomator.apk
151
+ adb install app-uiautomator-test.apk
152
+ adb shell am instrument -w com.github.uiautomator.test/androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner
153
+ ```
154
+
155
+ It keeps uiautomator alive and serves the same hierarchy XML over HTTP —
156
+ Bridge probes for it once per session (`adb forward` + `/ping`) and uses it
157
+ automatically; `aab ui` reports which backend served the dump, and if the
158
+ server dies mid-session the bridge falls back to plain dumps. Expected dumps:
159
+ ~0.1–0.3s instead of 2–3s. **Not yet verified against real hardware** — the
160
+ plain-ADB path remains the default and the regression baseline.
161
+
162
+ ## Limitations
163
+
164
+ - Thin or absent view trees (games, canvas-drawn UIs, some WebViews) — use
165
+ the Set-of-Marks / grid fallback tier.
166
+ - `FLAG_SECURE` screens refuse screenshots (banking apps, private modes).
167
+ - `uiautomator dump` can fail mid-animation; the bridge retries once, then
168
+ raises so callers can fall back to the vision tier.
169
+ - Unicode text, `clear=`, and fast typing need ADBKeyboard installed.
170
+
171
+ ## Roadmap
172
+
173
+ - **Fleet-phone verification of the fast backend** — the HTTP backend ships
174
+ mock-tested; its first live run happens on a fleet device, not a personal
175
+ phone.
176
+ - **[ContentSwarm](https://github.com/kelvincushman/ContentSwarm)
177
+ integration** — element-target taps, layout-robust flow recording with
178
+ per-replay run reports, a `/ui` endpoint, and prefetch-during-model-thinking
179
+ — lives downstream of this library, driven by
180
+ [Orphus](https://github.com/kelvincushman/orphus) agents.
181
+
182
+ ## License & credits
183
+
184
+ Apache-2.0, © 2026 Kelvin Lee. See `LICENSE` and `NOTICE` — redistributions
185
+ must retain the attribution notice.
186
+
187
+ ADBKeyboard by [senzhk](https://github.com/senzhk/ADBKeyBoard) inspired the
188
+ unicode input approach and is driven via its documented broadcast intents.
189
+ This project contains no ADBKeyboard code.