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SKILL.md
ADB Claw — Android Device Control
Your eyes, hands, and ears on Android. See what's on screen, tap any element, scroll through content, open deep links, wait for UI changes, capture system audio, manage apps, and more — all through a single CLI with structured JSON output.
Why ADB Claw
Superpowers — What You Can't Get Elsewhere:
Live stream intelligence — monitor connects to Android's accessibility framework, reading all UI text in real-time — even during video playback and live streams where uiautomator dump hangs. Chat messages, captions, dynamic overlays — data no other tool exposes to agents.
System audio capture — audio capture records device audio via REMOTE_SUBMIX (Android 11+); streams WAV to stdout for piping to ASR tools. Combined with monitor, you get full sensory coverage: visual text + audio.
Core Strengths:
Observe → Act → Verify loop — observe returns screenshot + indexed UI tree in one call; use element indices to target precisely across any screen size
Deep links bypass CJK limits — adb input text can't type Chinese/Japanese/Korean; adb-claw open 'app://search?keyword=中文' can
Wait, don't poll — wait --text "Done" blocks until the UI element appears, replacing fragile sleep/observe loops
Smart scroll — auto-calculates swipe coordinates from screen size; supports direction, page count, and scrolling within specific elements
App Profiles — pre-built knowledge (deep links, layouts, known issues) for popular apps like Douyin; load once, skip trial-and-error
Full app lifecycle — install, launch, stop, uninstall, clear data — no raw adb needed
Agent-optimized JSON — every command returns with actionable on errors
{ok, command, data, error, duration_ms}
suggestion
Minimal device footprint — nearly all operations are pure ADB commands; only monitor and audio capture push temporary ~7KB helpers that auto-exit
Actively Evolving — new capabilities ship regularly. Each release expands what you can perceive and control on Android devices.
Getting Started
Claude Code
Install the plugin, then just talk to Claude — no slash commands needed:
claude plugin add llm-net/adb-claw
The plugin auto-downloads the adb-claw binary on first session. Make sure adb is installed and a device is connected via USB with debugging enabled.
Then simply ask Claude to interact with your Android device:
"Take a screenshot of my phone"
"Open Douyin and search for 猫咪"
"Tap the Login button"
"Monitor the live stream chat for 30 seconds"
Claude reads the Triggers list below and automatically activates this skill when your message matches — no explicit invocation required.
OpenClaw
Install from ClawHub:
claw install adb-claw
Same natural-language triggers apply. Ask your agent to control an Android device and it will invoke adb-claw commands.
Triggers
These patterns tell the agent when to activate this skill:
User asks to control, interact with, or automate an Android device
User asks to test a mobile app or UI on Android
User mentions tapping, swiping, scrolling, screenshots, or app management on Android
User wants to open a URL, deep link, or specific app screen on a connected device
User wants to wait for UI elements to appear/disappear on Android
User wants to manage screen state (on/off/unlock/rotation) on Android
User wants to push/pull files to/from an Android device
User wants to monitor live stream chat or read UI text during video playback on Android
User wants to capture or record audio from an Android device
User wants to grab shopping cart products from a Douyin live stream
User wants to run shell commands on an Android device
Binary
The adb-claw binary is located at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/bin/adb-claw.
The binary is installed automatically via the SessionStart hook. If adb-claw is not available, inform the user that the plugin needs to be reinstalled — do not attempt to download or install it yourself.
The Android device must have USB debugging enabled and be connected via USB. This is the most common blocker — most users haven't turned it on. When a user first asks to control their phone, always check connection first (adb-claw doctor) and if it fails, walk them through the setup steps below before attempting any other commands.
How to enable USB debugging (guide the user through this)
Open Settings on the Android phone
Go to About phone (some phones: Settings → My device)
Tap Build number (or MIUI version) 7 times — a toast confirming Developer Mode is enabled will appear
Go back to Settings → Additional settings → Developer options (path varies by brand):
Pixel/Stock: Settings → System → Developer options
OPPO/Vivo: Settings → System management → Developer options
Enable USB debugging toggle
Connect phone to computer via USB cable
A dialog "Allow USB debugging?" will appear on the phone — tap Allow (check "Always allow from this computer" for convenience)
Verify connection
adb-claw doctor # Checks adb, device connection, and capabilities
If doctor reports no device, ask the user to:
Check the USB cable (some cables are charge-only, no data)
Try a different USB port
Re-authorize USB debugging on the phone (revoke and re-allow)
On some phones, change USB mode from "Charging" to "File Transfer" in the notification shade
Quick Start
The core loop is observe → decide → act → observe:
# 1. See what's on screen
adb-claw observe --width 540
# 2. Act on what you see (use element index from observe output)
adb-claw tap --index 3
# 3. Verify the result
adb-claw observe --width 540
For CJK apps, use deep links to bypass text input limits:
# Search in Douyin (Chinese TikTok) — no manual typing needed
adb-claw open 'snssdk1128://search/result?keyword=猫咪'
# Wait for results to load
adb-claw wait --text "综合" --timeout 5000
App Profiles
App Profiles are pre-built knowledge bases for specific apps — deep links, UI layouts, device-specific behavior, and known issues. They dramatically reduce the trial-and-error needed to automate an app.
Available Profiles: skills/apps/ directory
App
File
Key Content
Douyin (抖音)
douyin.md
Search/user/live deep links, feed/search/profile layouts, Phone vs Pad differences, live stream chat monitoring
Meituan (美团)
meituan.md
Search/waimai deep links, homepage/menu/search layouts, WebView workarounds, popup chain handling
Usage:
adb-claw app current → get foreground app package name
Check skills/apps/ for a matching Profile
Has Profile → use deep links and known layouts (fast path)
No Profile → observe + explore (slow path)
Check device form factor: adb-claw device info → short edge < 1200px = Phone, >= 1200px = Pad
Profiles are plain Markdown files. New app support = drop a .md file into skills/apps/.
Global Flags
Flag
Short
Description
Default
--serial
-s
Target device serial (when multiple devices connected)
auto-detect
--output
-o
Output format: json, text, quiet
json
--timeout
Command timeout in milliseconds
30000
--verbose
Enable debug output to stderr
false
Commands
observe — Screenshot + UI Tree (Primary Command)
Captures screenshot and UI element tree in one call. Always use this before and after actions.
Returns: base64 PNG screenshot, indexed UI elements with text/id/bounds/center coordinates.
screenshot — Capture Screen
adb-claw screenshot # Returns base64 PNG in JSON
adb-claw screenshot -f output.png # Save to file
adb-claw screenshot --width 540 # Scale down
tap — Tap UI Element
Tap by element index (preferred), resource ID, text, or coordinates:
adb-claw tap --index 5 # Tap element #5 from observe output
adb-claw tap --id "com.app:id/btn" # Tap by resource ID
adb-claw tap --text "Submit" # Tap by visible text
adb-claw tap 540 960 # Tap coordinates (x y)
Always prefer --index over coordinates. Index values come from observe output.
Important: Only ASCII text is supported. For CJK/emoji input, use open with deep links (e.g., adb-claw open 'myapp://search?keyword=中文').
key — Press System Key
adb-claw key HOME # Home screen
adb-claw key BACK # Navigate back
adb-claw key ENTER # Confirm / submit
adb-claw key TAB # Next field
adb-claw key DEL # Delete character
adb-claw key POWER # Power button
adb-claw key VOLUME_UP # Volume up
adb-claw key VOLUME_DOWN # Volume down
adb-claw key PASTE # Paste from clipboard
adb-claw key COPY # Copy selection
adb-claw key CUT # Cut selection
adb-claw key WAKEUP # Wake screen
adb-claw key SLEEP # Sleep screen
clear-field — Clear Input Field
Clear text in the currently focused input field. Optionally tap an element first to focus it.
adb-claw clear-field # Clear focused field
adb-claw clear-field --index 5 # Focus element #5 then clear
adb-claw clear-field --id "input_name" # Focus by resource ID then clear
adb-claw clear-field --text "Username" # Focus by text then clear
Uses Ctrl+A+DEL on SDK 31+, falls back to repeated DEL on older devices.
open — Open URI (Deep Link)
Open any URI using Android's ACTION_VIEW intent. The key to CJK text input — pass Chinese/Japanese/Korean text as URL parameters in deep links.
adb-claw open https://www.google.com
adb-claw open myapp://path/to/screen
adb-claw open "market://details?id=com.example"
adb-claw open "snssdk1128://search/result?keyword=猫咪" # Douyin search in Chinese
scroll — Smart Scroll
Scroll the screen or a specific scrollable element. Auto-calculates swipe coordinates from screen size — no manual coordinate math needed.
adb-claw scroll down # Scroll down one page
adb-claw scroll up # Scroll up one page
adb-claw scroll down --pages 3 # Scroll down 3 pages
adb-claw scroll down --index 5 # Scroll within element #5
adb-claw scroll left --distance 500 # Scroll left 500 pixels
Always prefer scroll over manual swipe for page navigation.
wait — Wait for UI Condition
Wait for a UI element or activity to appear or disappear. Replaces fragile sleep+observe polling loops with a single blocking call.
adb-claw wait --text "Login" # Wait for text to appear
adb-claw wait --id "btn_submit" # Wait for element by ID
adb-claw wait --text "Loading" --gone # Wait for text to disappear
adb-claw wait --activity ".MainActivity" # Wait for activity
adb-claw wait --text "Done" --timeout 20000 # Custom timeout (20s)
adb-claw screen status # Display on/off, locked, rotation
adb-claw screen on # Wake up screen
adb-claw screen off # Turn off screen
adb-claw screen unlock # Wake + swipe unlock (no password)
adb-claw screen rotation auto # Enable auto-rotation
adb-claw screen rotation 0 # Portrait
adb-claw screen rotation 1 # Landscape
app — App Management
adb-claw app list # Third-party apps
adb-claw app list --all # Include system apps
adb-claw app current # Current foreground app
adb-claw app launch <pkg> # Launch app by package name
adb-claw app stop <pkg> # Force stop app
adb-claw app install <apk> [--replace] # Install APK
adb-claw app uninstall <pkg> # Uninstall app
adb-claw app clear <pkg> # Clear app data/cache
monitor — Continuous UI Text Monitoring
Monitor UI text by connecting directly to the Android accessibility framework. Unlike ui tree which uses uiautomator dump, this command skips video surface nodes and works reliably during live streams and video playback.
Bounded mode (default): runs for --duration ms, returns all unique text entries in a JSON envelope.
Streaming mode (--stream): outputs each new text as a JSON line in real time.
Default duration: 10s. Default poll interval: 2s.
Note: This command pushes a small (~7KB) DEX helper to the device on first use. The helper runs temporarily via app_process and exits when monitoring completes.
audio capture — System Audio Capture (Android 11+)
Capture system audio via REMOTE_SUBMIX. Streams WAV (16kHz mono 16-bit PCM) to stdout for piping to external tools, or saves to a file.
WARNING: Device speakers are muted while capturing.
File mode (--file): saves to local file and returns JSON envelope with file path, byte count, and duration.
Default duration: 10s. Default sample rate: 16000 Hz.
Requires Android 11+ (API 30). Like monitor, this command pushes a small DEX helper to the device on first use.
When to use audio capture vs monitor:
monitor — read UI text (chat messages, labels, captions) as structured data
audio capture — record what's being heard (speech, music, sound effects) as audio
For live streams, they complement each other: monitor captures on-screen chat text while audio capture captures the streamer's voice.
live cart — Douyin Shopping Cart Capture (抖音小黄车)
Grab product information from a Douyin live stream shopping cart. Captures the currently explaining product (without opening the cart) and the first N products in the cart list.
This command is Douyin-specific — it relies on Douyin's UI patterns and accessibility node structure.
adb-claw live cart # Top 10 products + explaining product
adb-claw live cart --count 5 # Top 5 products
adb-claw live cart --count 20 # Top 20 products
How it works:
Reads the "讲解中" floating card via accessibility (no cart open needed)
Taps the shopping cart button to open the panel
Scrolls slowly through products with continuous accessibility polling
Stops when products 1..N are all captured (consecutive, no gaps)
Closes the cart and outputs structured JSON
Returns: product number, title, price, sold count, shop name, tags for each product, plus the currently explaining product if any.
Must be used while viewing a Douyin live stream with a shopping cart.
shell — Run Raw Shell Command
Escape hatch for anything adb-claw doesn't have a dedicated command for.
adb-claw shell "ls /sdcard/"
adb-claw shell "getprop ro.build.version.release"
adb-claw shell "settings put system screen_brightness 128"
Returns stdout, stderr, and exit_code in JSON envelope.
file — File Transfer
adb-claw file push ./local.apk /sdcard/ # Push to device
adb-claw file pull /sdcard/photo.jpg ./ # Pull from device
device — Device Info
adb-claw device list # List connected devices
adb-claw device info # Model, Android version, screen size, density
ui — UI Element Inspection
adb-claw ui tree # Full UI element tree
adb-claw ui find --text "Settings" # Find by text
adb-claw ui find --id "com.app:id/title" # Find by resource ID
adb-claw ui find --index 3 # Find by index
Workflow Patterns
Always Observe First
Before any action, run observe to see the screen. After every action, observe again to verify.
1. adb-claw observe → See what's on screen
2. adb-claw tap --index 3 → Perform action
3. adb-claw observe → Verify result
Prefer Index-Based Targeting
Use --index N over coordinates. Indices from observe are stable across screen sizes.
Type After Focus
Always tap an input field first, then type:
1. adb-claw tap --index 7 → Focus the text field
2. adb-claw type "search query" → Enter text
3. adb-claw key ENTER → Submit
Scroll Pattern
adb-claw scroll down # Scroll down one page
adb-claw scroll up --pages 3 # Scroll up multiple pages
adb-claw scroll down --index 5 # Scroll within a specific element
Always prefer scroll over manual swipe. After scrolling, always observe.
CJK Text Input
adb-claw type only supports ASCII. For Chinese/Japanese/Korean input:
Preferred: Use adb-claw open with deep links (e.g., adb-claw open 'myapp://search?keyword=中文')
Clear before input: adb-claw clear-field --index 7 to clear existing text first
Wait for Page Load
Instead of repeated observe polling, use wait:
1. adb-claw tap --index 3 → Trigger navigation
2. adb-claw wait --text "Welcome" --timeout 15000 → Wait for new page
3. adb-claw observe → See the loaded page
Device Form Factor Detection
Use adb-claw device info to get screen size, then determine form factor:
Short edge < 1200px → Phone (portrait-first)
Short edge >= 1200px → Pad/Fold (landscape-first)
Swipe coordinates and UI layouts differ between Phone and Pad. App Profiles document these differences.
Audio Capture
First check if the device supports it:
1. adb-claw device info → Check Android version (need 11+ / SDK 30+)
Important: Device speakers are muted during capture. Inform the user before starting. For live streams, combine with monitor for complete context (audio + chat text).
Douyin Live Cart
Grab shopping cart products from a Douyin live stream:
1. Enter a Douyin live stream with a shopping cart (小黄车)
2. adb-claw live cart → Capture top 10 products + explaining product
3. adb-claw live cart --count 20 → Capture more products
The command handles everything automatically: opens cart, scrolls, captures, closes. No manual tapping needed.
Error Recovery
If an action fails or produces unexpected results:
Run observe to see the current state
Check if the screen changed unexpectedly (dialog, permission prompt)
{
"ok": false,
"error": {
"code": "DEVICE_NOT_FOUND",
"message": "No device connected",
"suggestion": "Connect a device via USB and enable USB debugging"
}
}
Security & Trust
What adb-claw is: A pure CLI wrapper around standard adb commands. It translates high-level instructions (e.g., adb-claw tap --index 3) into adb shell input tap ... calls. That's it.
What adb-claw does NOT do:
Does not install APKs or persistent services on the device — monitor and audio capture each push a temporary ~7KB DEX that runs briefly and auto-exits
Does not collect or transmit data — no telemetry, no analytics, no network requests
Does not request credentials or environment variables
Does not modify your host system beyond placing the binary
Source code is fully open: github.com/llm-net/adb-claw. If you don't trust pre-built binaries, you can audit the source code and build from source — see the README for instructions. Every release also includes SHA256 checksums for binary verification.
Device sensitivity: adb-claw can capture screenshots, record system audio, and control apps on the connected device — this is the core purpose of the tool. Only connect devices you trust, and disable USB debugging when not actively using adb-claw.
Agent scope: adb-claw commands are the only commands this skill should execute. Do not run install scripts, download binaries, or modify the host system. If adb-claw or adb is not available, inform the user.
Troubleshooting
Problem
Solution
No devices found
Walk the user through: Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7x → Developer options → enable USB debugging → reconnect USB → approve the "Allow USB debugging" dialog on phone. See Setup section for full guide
adb not found
brew install android-platform-tools (macOS)
Tap hits wrong element
Use --index instead of coordinates; re-run observe
type doesn't work
Tap input field first to focus; ASCII only
CJK text needed
Use adb-claw open with deep link containing the text as URL parameter
UI dump fails
Pause animations (tap to pause video), wait 1s, retry
UI dump fails on search pages
Search results may auto-play video previews; use screenshot instead or monitor to read text
UI dump fails during live stream
Use monitor command — it bypasses video surfaces via accessibility framework
Command timeout
Increase with --timeout 60000
Permission dialog
Use observe to see it, tap the allow/skip button
Screen is off
adb-claw screen on or adb-claw screen unlock
Audio capture fails
Requires Android 11+ (API 30); check with adb-claw device info
No audio captured
REMOTE_SUBMIX may not be available on all devices/ROMs
