skills.rest
google
googleOFFICIAL
Explore all skills by this author →
Website𝕏@GoogleOSSGitHub

developer-device-platform-basics

Reserve and manage remote Android devices on Developer Device Platform via ADB tunnels.

19.1k|1.5k|Updated Mar 31, 2026
Search Tags:#mobile testing#android#Google Cloud#gRPC#adb#remote device#device streaming
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/google/skills --skill developer-device-platform-basics
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: developer-device-platform-basics
Source: https://github.com/google/skills/tree/main/skills/cloud/developer-device-platform-basics
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/google/skills --skill developer-device-platform-basics

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill requires google-cloud-devicestreaming, google-auth, absl-py, and includes scripts (resource) and references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

Accessing physical Android devices for testing requires owning hardware or maintaining a device lab. This Skill lets you reserve remote Android devices on Google's Developer Device Platform (DDP), establish ADB connection tunnels, and manage session lifecycles directly from your workflow.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Device Reservation: List available Android device models, check availability, and reserve devices through the Device Streaming API with explicit billing confirmation.
  • ADB Connection Forwarding: Start a Python-based forwarder that tunnels ADB traffic to the remote device over gRPC, enabling standard adb commands against localhost.
  • Session Lifecycle Management: Check session status, extend expiration times, list active sessions, and cancel sessions to release resources.
  • Use Case: You need to test an app on a Pixel 8 running Android 14 but don't have the device. Reserve a remote device, connect via ADB on localhost, run your tests, then cancel the session to stop billing.

Quick Start

Ask the agent to reserve a remote Android device on Developer Device Platform and connect to it via ADB.

Frequently Asked Questions about developer-device-platform-basics

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I reserve a remote Android device on Developer Device Platform?▼

Authenticate with gcloud, enable the devicerun and devicestreaming APIs, then send a POST request to the Device Streaming API with the androidModelId and androidVersionId. The Skill requires explicit user confirmation first because reservations incur billing charges.

How to connect ADB to a remote device session?▼

Run the demo_adb_forwarder.py script with the device session name and a TTL in seconds. It opens a gRPC stream to the Device Streaming API and listens on a localhost port, which you connect to using adb connect localhost:{port}.

Does Developer Device Platform support iOS devices?▼

No, this Skill is explicitly scoped to Android devices only. The description states it should not be used for iOS or local device and hardware inquiries.

Can I view the screen of a reserved remote Android device?▼

Yes, you can use the open-source scrcpy utility with the forwarded ADB port, for example scrcpy -s localhost:{port} --force-adb-forward. The Skill instructs agents to always prompt the user before installing scrcpy.

What happens when a device session expires?▼

Sessions have an expireTime returned at reservation. You can extend it with a PATCH request using updateMask=ttl, but this requires restarting the ADB forwarder with the new duration and explicit user approval since it incurs additional billing.

Related Skills

Explore More Software Engineering Skills→
rhpdsrhpds

01-vertex-setup

Configure Claude Code to use Google Cloud Vertex AI as the backend provider.

Official
Advanced
hungson175hungson175

android-app-testing

Automate Android UI tests with Appium and the Espresso driver.

Community
Advanced
n0ann0an
103

start-logs-device-structured

Record a start timestamp and device UDID to llmtemp for iOS log collection.

Community
Intermediate
powdreampowdream

start-emulator

Launch a specified Android Virtual Device via command line with JSON output.

Community
Advanced