Phone Install

/phone-install — release-build + wireless-install on Android

You are building a release-signed Android APK from the current consumer repo and installing it on the developer's phone over wireless ADB. The flow is generic: any product whose mobile app exposes just mobile-build-apk (or accepts a --apk override) can use this skill.

The skill is the answer to "I want this branch on my phone right now" — typical run is ~5–10 minutes end-to-end with the cache warm.

Arguments

First positional arg — the ADB connect port from the phone's Wireless debugging screen. Always ask the developer for this if not provided; the connect port rotates every time Wireless debugging is toggled. Never assume a previously-used port.

Flags (any order, after the port):

• --prod — build against production config. This is the default unless the consumer recipe documents a different default.
• --staging — build against staging config by passing the consumer-documented env overrides.
• --dev — build against local/dev config by passing the consumer-documented env overrides.
• --apk — install an existing APK instead of building. Skips Phase 3 (pull) and Phase 4 (build).
• --no-launch — don't am start the app after install.
• --no-pull — skip the git pull --ff-only origin main step (use current working-tree state).

Required environment

The skill reads these once at start; surface anything missing as an actionable error rather than silently defaulting:

| Variable | Purpose | Default | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | PHONE_IP | LAN IP of the device. Set once per developer machine (e.g. in ~/.bashrc). | required — fail fast if unset | | ANDROID_HOME | Path to Android SDK. The consumer's just mobile-build-apk recipe normally exports this; respect it if set. | recipe-dependent | | APK_OUTPUT_DIR | Where to drop the built APK. The consumer's recipe should honor this; if not, the recipe's hardcoded path wins. | recipe-dependent (e.g. ~/builds) | | Build config | Whatever the consumer's just mobile-build-apk requires (e.g. app env, public client keys, API URL overrides). | consumer-specific — see consumer AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md |

If PHONE_IP is unset, ask the developer for it and suggest adding export PHONE_IP=… to their shell rc so they don't have to repeat themselves.

Never ask the developer for server-side secrets for this flow. Mobile sideload builds should use public client config or local env already documented by the consumer repo.

Prerequisites

• Wireless debugging ON on the phone (Settings → Developer options → Wireless debugging).
• adb in PATH (Linux / macOS / WSL2 all work — the flow is OS-agnostic once the SDK is reachable).
• Consumer repo defines just mobile-build-apk (or the developer is invoking with --apk ).
• Consumer repo defines apps/mobile/app.config.ts exposing both version and android.package (Expo convention). The skill derives both at runtime.

Consumer overrides

This upstream skill must stay public-safe and consumer-agnostic. Consumer-specific app names, package IDs, output paths, environment defaults, public client keys, and local path conventions belong in the consumer repo's AGENTS.md, mobile README, or justfile, not in this upstream repo.

When a consumer needs product-specific behavior, read its local instructions before building and apply only the documented overrides. Useful override fields:

• default APP_ENV or equivalent build profile,
• exact env vars for --dev, --staging, and --prod,
• APK output naming convention if stdout does not include APK: ,
• package ID or activity notes if Expo defaults do not apply,
• data-loss risks before uninstalling or clearing app storage.

Flow

1. Confirm pre-state

• Confirm cwd is the consumer repo root (presence of apps/mobile/app.config.ts is a sufficient signal).
• git status --short — note any unstaged changes; flag if surprising, but don't block. The release build comes from the working tree as-is, so committed + uncommitted edits both ship.
• git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD — capture the branch; you'll need it for the report and for the "skip pull on feature branch" rule.

2. Connect ADB

adb connect "$PHONE_IP:"
adb devices

Expected: one line showing : device. If it shows offline or you get No route to host:

• Phone may be asleep → ask developer to wake.
• Connect port may have rotated → ask for a fresh one (it changes every Wireless-debugging toggle).
• Wireless debugging may be off → ask developer to re-enable.
• Phone and host may be on different LAN segments → ask developer to verify Wi-Fi network.

Never guess a new port. The pair port (used once during initial pairing) is also separate from the connect port; don't conflate them.

3. Pull latest main (unless --no-pull or on a non-main branch)

git fetch origin main
git log HEAD..origin/main --oneline   # show what's new (if anything)
git pull --ff-only origin main        # only if HEAD is behind

If on a feature branch, skip the pull and flag: "On branch ` — not pulling main. Pass --no-pull to silence this." If --apk` was given, skip this phase entirely.

4. Build (unless --apk given)

The consumer repo owns the build recipe. Default invocation:

just mobile-build-apk

For --dev, --staging, and --prod: the consumer's recipe must accept the selected variant via env vars or documented build profiles. Reference the consumer's AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, mobile README, or justfile for the exact set. If a requested variant is not documented, ask the developer before guessing.

Run the build in background (run_in_background: true) and tell the developer the time estimate up front: ~8–12 min cold, ~4–6 min with the Gradle cache warm.

After the build completes, parse the APK path from stdout first. Most consumer recipes echo APK: or ✓ APK: on success.

If stdout does not expose a path, derive it from the consumer's documented convention:

VERSION=$(grep -oP '"version":\s*"\K[^"]+' apps/mobile/package.json | head -1)
[ -n "$VERSION" ] || VERSION=$(grep -oP "version:\s*'\K[^']+" apps/mobile/app.config.ts | head -1)
GIT_SHA=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
APP_NAME=$(grep -oP "name:\s*'\K[^']+" apps/mobile/app.config.ts | head -1)
# Recipe-honored APK_OUTPUT_DIR wins when the consumer documents this convention.
APK="${APK_OUTPUT_DIR:?}/${VERSION}/${APP_NAME}-${VERSION}-${GIT_SHA}.apk"

Fail loudly if the APK is missing rather than guessing another path.

5. Install

Derive the package name from the consumer repo (don't hardcode):

APP_PACKAGE=$(grep -oP "package:\s*'\K[^']+" apps/mobile/app.config.ts | head -1)
adb -s "$PHONE_IP:" install -r "$APK"

Common failures:

• device '...' not found → ADB dropped during long build. Reconnect (developer may need to wake phone + supply fresh port).
• INSTALL_FAILED_UPDATE_INCOMPATIBLE → signature mismatch (e.g. switching between dev-signed and release-signed builds). Ask the developer before running adb uninstall "$APP_PACKAGE", because uninstall wipes app data including any unsubmitted entries.
• INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE → use adb install -d -r "$APK" to allow downgrade.
• INSTALL_FAILED_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE → device storage full; not something this skill should auto-clean.

6. Launch (unless --no-launch)

adb -s "$PHONE_IP:" shell am start -n "$APP_PACKAGE/.MainActivity"

Expo apps on RN ≥ 0.78 use .MainActivity; older Expo bare workflows used .MainApplication$MainActivity. If am start fails with Activity class … does not exist, fall back to monkey -p "$APP_PACKAGE" -c android.intent.category.LAUNCHER 1 which doesn't require knowing the activity name.

7. Report

Concise summary back to the developer:

• APK path + size
• Version + git SHA + branch
• Install status (success / what failed)
• Launch status
• Any notable build warnings (Gradle deprecations, deprecated plugins) — summarize, don't dump full logs

Hard rules

• Never commit secret values to skill docs, memory, or logs. Read build secrets (auth-provider keys, API tokens) from the consumer's env files at invocation time only. Public test/sandbox keys committed in the consumer's repo are OK to reference literally.
• Never push to remote during this flow. Build-and-install only; local state only.
• Never modify apps/mobile/android/ manually — Expo regenerates it on every expo prebuild --clean. If the consumer's recipe pins Gradle (e.g. RN 0.83 has a 9.0 ceiling), respect that pin; don't bump it as a side-effect of a phone-install run.
• Never uninstall the app without asking. Uninstall wipes local data; for products with offline / unsubmitted state, that data may be unrecoverable.
• Never silently fall back to a different build profile. If --dev, --staging, or --prod is passed and the consumer recipe doesn't support it, fail loudly with the recipe location for the developer to inspect.
• Never put private consumer repo names or consumer-specific operational details in this upstream skill. Keep those details in the consumer repo.

When NOT to use this skill

• Building an AAB for Play Store submission → use eas build --profile production --platform android (or the consumer's local AAB recipe). This skill produces an APK only.
• Testing on a physical iPhone → out of scope; iOS device installs go through Xcode or TestFlight.
• Running the consumer's mobile e2e suite (Maestro / Detox) — those are separate recipes (e.g. just maestro-smoke) and assume the APK is already installed.
• First-time pairing of a new device → use adb pair interactively with the pair port (different from connect port), then come back here.

Notes on consumer integration

This skill is synced from the upstream repo. Consumer repos using it should ensure:

1. just mobile-build-apk exists and emits the APK path on stdout.
2. apps/mobile/app.config.ts exposes version, name, and android.package.
3. Developer sets PHONE_IP in their shell rc.
4. Build env vars required by the recipe are documented in the consumer's AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, mobile README, or justfile (so this skill's "ask the developer" fallback has somewhere to point).

If your consumer repo deviates from these conventions, prefer fixing the recipe over forking this skill — the whole point of upstream sync is that one improvement to the flow lands in every consumer on the next sync run.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: loomantix
• Source: loomantix/claude-platform
• License: Apache-2.0
• Homepage: https://github.com/loomantix/claude-platform

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.