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Building from source

Prerequisites

  • JDK 17, the Android SDK with platform 35 and build-tools 35.0.0, and NDK 27.2.12479018
  • Rust nightly with rust-src (rustup component add rust-src), because build-std and JSON target specs are nightly features
  • An Aster checkout beside this repo; ASTER_REPO points somewhere else if it is not

Build and install

./build-agent.sh     # cross-compiles aster-cli to app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libaster.so
./build-client.sh    # cross-compiles asterctl to libclient.so
./gradlew assembleDebug
adb install -r app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

grant.sh grants everything the app cannot ask for itself:

./grant.sh

The script grants runtime permissions, app-op access, notification access, Do Not Disturb access and battery exemptions. It also enables and selects the keyboard and enables the accessibility service, then reports any denied grants.

Check that the accessibility service is enabled. The agent needs it to read and control the screen.

Releases

release.sh builds a signed release. It rebuilds both native binaries, runs the Gradle release task, verifies the signature and writes the artifact to dist/.

./release.sh apk                  # signed release APK
./release.sh aab                  # signed release App Bundle
./release.sh apk -v 0.2.0 -c 2    # set the version, then build
./release.sh apk -s -i            # reuse jniLibs, install over adb

Signing uses keystore.properties and the key it names, both outside git. ./release.sh check reports the SDK, NDK, build-tools, Aster checkout and signing setup without building anything. ./release.sh version prints the current version, and ./release.sh notes prints the matching file from docs/release-notes/.

Releases from CI

.github/workflows/release.yml runs the same release.sh on GitHub's runners. It checks out Aster beside this repository, installs the NDK, platform 35 and build-tools, cross-compiles both native binaries, then builds and uploads the signed artifacts.

Trigger it by pushing a tag, or by hand from Actions → release → Run workflow, where you can pick apk, aab or both, set the version, and publish a GitHub Release.

git tag v0.2.0
git push origin v0.2.0

A tag push builds both artifacts and publishes a Release, using docs/release-notes/v0.2.0.md as the body when that file exists. Add these repository secrets first:

secret what it is
ANDROID_KEYSTORE_BASE64 base64 -i aster-release.jks
ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD storePassword
ANDROID_KEY_ALIAS keyAlias
ANDROID_KEY_PASSWORD keyPassword

The keystore is written to a file and removed with the runner, so the key never leaves the secrets store. The native build is cached on target/android-tls and target/android-client, which is what keeps a run under the 90 minute timeout after the first one.

Permissions

The app requests broad device permissions. Runtime permissions are requested at launch, with foreground permissions before background location. Other grants require grant.sh or a Settings toggle.

The accessibility service requests interactive windows, view IDs, not-important views, key-event filtering and screenshots. It declares isAccessibilityTool and sets notificationTimeout to 0 to avoid event coalescing.

Touch exploration is disabled because it changes normal tap behaviour and interferes with manual use.

Repository layout

app/src/main/
  AndroidManifest.xml            permissions, services and receivers
  assets/                        AGENTS.md, the flattened skills, providers.json (generated)
  jniLibs/arm64-v8a/             libaster.so (the agent), libclient.so (asterctl)
  kotlin/dev/aster/probe/
    AsterA11yService.kt          capture, gestures, OCR, the socket, the verbs
    AsterAgentService.kt         the supervised agent process
    AsterIme.kt                  the invisible keyboard
    AsterNotifications.kt        the notification listener
    Mirror*.kt                   MediaProjection, the encoder, consent, viewers
    Grid.kt, Vision.kt           lettered cells, blobs, changed regions, the aim read
    MarksOverlay.kt              the map's indices drawn on the live screen
    Shortcuts.kt                 apps, settings, intents, alarms, the store
    Install.kt                   bins, skills, instructions and .env on every start
    Env.kt                       the .env, read and written from the phone
    Models.kt                    the provider catalog, model lists, the child's env
    Sessions.kt, Feed.kt         transcripts and the live feed
    WakeReceiver.kt              `later`, as an alarm and a wakeup file
    MainActivity.kt, ui/         the app
  res/xml/a11y_config.xml        what the accessibility service may do
client/
  src/main.rs                    the CLI, and serve's detached re-exec
  src/socket.rs                  the abstract socket, one line in
  src/server.rs                  the mirror: axum, the websocket, Annex-B to AVCC
  viewer.html                    the mirror page, served from the binary
skills/<name>/SKILL.md           task instructions, shipped into assets
device-AGENTS.md                 device instructions, shipped as AGENTS.md
docs/ANDROID.md                  the longer architecture write-up
target-spec/                     the custom Android target that turns TLS on
build-agent.sh, build-client.sh  the two cross-builds
grant.sh                         every permission and toggle, over adb