adbkit is a pure Node.js client for the Android Debug Bridge server. It can be used either as a library in your own application, or simply as a convenient utility for playing with your device.
Most of the adb command line tool's functionality is supported (including pushing/pulling files, installing APKs and processing logs), with some added functionality such as being able to generate touch/key events and take screenshots. Some shims are provided for older devices, but we have not and will not test anything below Android 2.3.
Internally, we use this library to drive a multitude of Android devices from a variety of manufacturers, so we can say with a fairly high degree of confidence that it will most likely work with your device(s), too.
Previously, we made extensive use of callbacks in almost every feature. While this normally works okay, ADB connections can be quite fickle, and it was starting to become difficult to handle every possible error. For example, we'd often fail to properly clean up after ourselves when a connection suddenly died in an unexpected place, causing memory and resource leaks.
In version 2, we've replaced nearly all callbacks with Promises (using Bluebird), allowing for much more reliable error propagation and resource cleanup (thanks to .finally()). Additionally, many commands can now be cancelled on the fly, and although unimplemented at this point, we'll also be able to report progress on long-running commands without any changes to the API.
Unfortunately, some API changes were required for this change. client.framebuffer()'s callback, for example, previously accepted more than one argument, which doesn't translate into Promises so well. Thankfully, it made sense to combine the arguments anyway, and we were able to do it quite cleanly.
Furthermore, most API methods were returning the current instance for chaining purposes. While perhaps useful in some contexts, most of the time it probably didn't quite do what users expected, as chained calls were run in parallel rather than in serial fashion. Now every applicable API method returns a Promise, which is an incompatible but welcome change. This will also allow you to hook into yield and coroutines in Node 0.12.
However, all methods still accept (and will accept in the future) callbacks for those who prefer them.
Test coverage was also massively improved, although we've still got ways to go.
adb command line toolPlease note that although it may happen at some point, this project is NOT an implementation of the ADB server. The target host (where the devices are connected) must still have ADB installed and either already running (e.g. via adb start-server) or available in $PATH. An attempt will be made to start the server locally via the aforementioned command if the initial connection fails. This is the only case where we fall back to the adb binary.
When targeting a remote host, starting the server is entirely your responsibility.
Alternatively, you may want to consider using the Chrome ADB extension, as it includes the ADB server and can be started/stopped quite easily.
Install via NPM:
npm install --save adbkit
We use debug, and our debug namespace is adb. Some of the dependencies may provide debug output of their own. To see the debug output, set the DEBUG environment variable. For example, run your program with DEBUG=adb:* node app.js.
Note that even though the module is written in CoffeeScript, only the compiled JavaScript is published to NPM, which means that it can easily be used with pure JavaScript codebases, too.
The examples may be a bit verbose, but that's because we're trying to keep them as close to real-life code as possible, with flow control and error handling taken care of.
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
client.listDevices()
.then(function(devices) {
return Promise.filter(devices, function(device) {
return client.getFeatures(device.id)
.then(function(features) {
return features['android.hardware.nfc']
})
})
})
.then(function(supportedDevices) {
console.log('The following devices support NFC:', supportedDevices)
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
var apk = 'vendor/app.apk'
client.listDevices()
.then(function(devices) {
return Promise.map(devices, function(device) {
return client.install(device.id, apk)
})
})
.then(function() {
console.log('Installed %s on all connected devices', apk)
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
client.trackDevices()
.then(function(tracker) {
tracker.on('add', function(device) {
console.log('Device %s was plugged in', device.id)
})
tracker.on('remove', function(device) {
console.log('Device %s was unplugged', device.id)
})
tracker.on('end', function() {
console.log('Tracking stopped')
})
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var fs = require('fs')
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
client.listDevices()
.then(function(devices) {
return Promise.map(devices, function(device) {
return client.pull(device.id, '/system/build.prop')
.then(function(transfer) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
var fn = '/tmp/' + device.id + '.build.prop'
transfer.on('progress', function(stats) {
console.log('[%s] Pulled %d bytes so far',
device.id,
stats.bytesTransferred)
})
transfer.on('end', function() {
console.log('[%s] Pull complete', device.id)
resolve(device.id)
})
transfer.on('error', reject)
transfer.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(fn))
})
})
})
})
.then(function() {
console.log('Done pulling /system/build.prop from all connected devices')
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
client.listDevices()
.then(function(devices) {
return Promise.map(devices, function(device) {
return client.push(device.id, 'temp/foo.txt', '/data/local/tmp/foo.txt')
.then(function(transfer) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
transfer.on('progress', function(stats) {
console.log('[%s] Pushed %d bytes so far',
device.id,
stats.bytesTransferred)
})
transfer.on('end', function() {
console.log('[%s] Push complete', device.id)
resolve()
})
transfer.on('error', reject)
})
})
})
})
.then(function() {
console.log('Done pushing foo.txt to all connected devices')
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var adb = require('adbkit')
var client = adb.createClient()
client.listDevices()
.then(function(devices) {
return Promise.map(devices, function(device) {
return client.readdir(device.id, '/sdcard')
.then(function(files) {
// Synchronous, so we don't have to care about returning at the
// right time
files.forEach(function(file) {
if (file.isFile()) {
console.log('[%s] Found file "%s"', device.id, file.name)
}
})
})
})
})
.then(function() {
console.log('Done checking /sdcard files on connected devices')
})
.catch(function(err) {
console.error('Something went wrong:', err.stack)
})
Creates a client instance with the provided options. Note that this will not automatically establish a connection, it will only be done when necessary.
5037.'localhost'.adb binary, used for starting the server locally if initial connection fails. Defaults to 'adb'.Deletes all data associated with a package from the device. This is roughly analogous to adb shell pm clear <pkg>.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueForwards socket connections from the ADB server host (local) to the device (remote). This is analogous to adb forward <local> <remote>. It's important to note that if you are connected to a remote ADB server, the forward will be created on that host.
client.listDevices().tcp:<port>localabstract:<unix domain socket name>localreserved:<unix domain socket name>localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>dev:<character device name>local argumentjdwp:<process pid>Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueFetches the current raw framebuffer (i.e. what is visible on the screen) from the device, and optionally converts it into something more usable by using GraphicsMagick's gm command, which must be available in $PATH if conversion is desired. Note that we don't bother supporting really old framebuffer formats such as RGB_565. If for some mysterious reason you happen to run into a >=2.3 device that uses RGB_565, let us know.
Note that high-resolution devices can have quite massive framebuffers. For example, a device with a resolution of 1920x1080 and 32 bit colors would have a roughly 8MB (1920*1080*4 byte) RGBA framebuffer. Empirical tests point to about 5MB/s bandwidth limit for the ADB USB connection, which means that it can take ~1.6 seconds for the raw data to arrive, or even more if the USB connection is already congested. Using a conversion will further slow down completion.
client.listDevices().'png') is supported. Defaults to 'raw' for raw framebuffer data.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.meta property with the following values:
0 when not available.'bgr', 'bgra', 'rgb', 'rgba'.Promiseframebuffer (see callback)Gets the device path of the device identified by the given serial number.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.client.listDevicesWithPaths().Promisepath (see callback)Retrieves the features of the device identified by the given serial number. This is analogous to adb shell pm list features. Useful for checking whether hardware features such as NFC are available (you'd check for 'android.hardware.nfc').
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.true for a boolean feature, or the feature value as a string (e.g. '0x20000' for reqGlEsVersion).Promisefeatures (see callback)Retrieves the list of packages present on the device. This is analogous to adb shell pm list packages. If you just want to see if something's installed, consider using client.isInstalled() instead.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promisepackages (see callback)Retrieves the properties of the device identified by the given serial number. This is analogous to adb shell getprop.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.'ro.product.model'.Promiseproperties (see callback)Gets the serial number of the device identified by the given serial number. With our API this doesn't really make much sense, but it has been implemented for completeness. FYI: in the raw ADB protocol you can specify a device in other ways, too.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promiseserial (see callback)Gets the state of the device identified by the given serial number.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.client.listDevices().Promisestate (see callback)Installs the APK on the device, replacing any previously installed version. This is roughly analogous to adb install -r <apk>.
Note that if the call seems to stall, you may have to accept a dialog on the phone first.
client.listDevices().String, interpreted as a path to an APK file. When Stream, installs directly from the stream, which must be a valid APK.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueTells you if the specific package is installed or not. This is analogous to adb shell pm path <pkg> and some output parsing.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.true if the package is installed, false otherwise.Promiseinstalled (see callback)This kills the ADB server. Note that the next connection will attempt to start the server again when it's unable to connect.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueGets the list of currently connected devices and emulators.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.id and type.
'emulator' for emulators, 'device' for devices, and 'offline' for offline devices. 'offline' can occur for example during boot, in low-battery conditions or when the ADB connection has not yet been approved on the device.Promisedevices (see callback)Like client.listDevices(), but includes the "path" of every device.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.client.listDevices().client.listDevices().usb:FD120000 for real devices.Promisedevices (see callback)Lists forwarded connections on the device. This is analogous to adb forward --list.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.client.forward()'s local argument.client.forward()'s remote argument.Promiseforwards (see callback)Opens a direct connection to a binary log file, providing access to the raw log data. Note that it is usually much more convenient to use the client.openLogcat() method, described separately.
client.listDevices().'main', 'system', 'radio' and 'events'.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.log.end() when you wish to stop receiving data.Promiselog (see callback)Calls the logcat utility on the device and hands off the connection to adbkit-logcat, a pure Node.js Logcat client. This is analogous to adb logcat -B, but the event stream will be parsed for you and a separate event will be emitted for every log entry, allowing for easy processing.
For more information, check out the adbkit-logcat documentation.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promiselogcat (see callback)Starts the built-in monkey utility on the device, connects to it using client.openTcp() and hands the connection to adbkit-monkey, a pure Node.js Monkey client. This allows you to create touch and key events, among other things.
For more information, check out the adbkit-monkey documentation.
client.listDevices().1080.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promisemonkey (see callback)Tracks /proc/stat and emits useful information, such as CPU load. A single sync service instance is used to download the /proc/stat file for processing. While doing this does consume some resources, it is very light and should not be a problem.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise./proc/stat tracker, which is an EventEmitter. Call stat.end() to stop tracking. The following events are available:
'cpu0', 'cpu1') and the value an object with the following properties:
niced user programs.niced guest.Promisestats (see callback)Opens a direct TCP connection to a port on the device, without any port forwarding required.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.net.Socket). Read and write as you please. Call conn.end() to end the connection.Promiseconn (see callback)A convenience shortcut for sync.pull(), mainly for one-off use cases. The connection cannot be reused, resulting in poorer performance over multiple calls. However, the Sync client will be closed automatically for you, so that's one less thing to worry about.
client.listDevices().sync.pull() for details.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PullTransfer instance (see below)Promisetransfer (see callback)A convenience shortcut for sync.push(), mainly for one-off use cases. The connection cannot be reused, resulting in poorer performance over multiple calls. However, the Sync client will be closed automatically for you, so that's one less thing to worry about.
client.listDevices().sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PushTransfer instance (see below)Promisetransfer (see callback)A convenience shortcut for sync.readdir(), mainly for one-off use cases. The connection cannot be reused, resulting in poorer performance over multiple calls. However, the Sync client will be closed automatically for you, so that's one less thing to worry about.
client.listDevices().sync.readdir() for details.Promise. See sync.readdir() for details.Promisesync.readdir() for details.Attempts to remount the /system partition in read-write mode. This will usually only work on emulators and developer devices.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueTakes a screenshot in PNG format using the built-in screencap utility. This is analogous to adb shell screencap -p. Sadly, the utility is not available on most Android <=2.3 devices, but a silent fallback to the client.framebuffer() command in PNG mode is attempted, so you should have its dependencies installed just in case.
Generating the PNG on the device naturally requires considerably more processing time on that side. However, as the data transferred over USB easily decreases by ~95%, and no conversion being required on the host, this method is usually several times faster than using the framebuffer. Naturally, this benefit does not apply if we're forced to fall back to the framebuffer.
For convenience purposes, if the screencap command fails (e.g. because it doesn't exist on older Androids), we fall back to client.framebuffer(serial, 'png'), which is slower and has additional installation requirements.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promisescreencap (see callback)Runs a shell command on the device. Note that you'll be limited to the permissions of the shell user, which ADB uses.
client.listDevices().String, the command is run as-is. When Array, the elements will be rudimentarily escaped (for convenience, not security) and joined to form a command.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Stream in non-flowing mode. Unfortunately it is not possible to separate stdout and stderr, you'll get both of them in one stream. It is also not possible to access the exit code of the command. If access to any of these individual properties is needed, the command must be constructed in a way that allows you to parse the information from the output.Promiseoutput (see callback)Starts the configured activity on the device. Roughly analogous to adb shell am start <options>.
client.listDevices().Array, each item must be an Object the following properties:
'string', 'null', 'bool', 'int', 'long', 'float', 'uri', 'component'.'null'. If an Array, type is automatically set to be an array of <type>.Object, each key is treated as the key name. Simple values like null, String, Boolean and Number are type-mapped automatically (Number maps to 'int') and can be used as-is. For more complex types, like arrays and URIs, set the value to be an Object like in the Array syntax (see above), but leave out the key property.Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueA convenience shortcut for sync.stat(), mainly for one-off use cases. The connection cannot be reused, resulting in poorer performance over multiple calls. However, the Sync client will be closed automatically for you, so that's one less thing to worry about.
client.listDevices().sync.stat() for details.Promise. See sync.stat() for details.Promisesync.stat() for details.Establishes a new Sync connection that can be used to push and pull files. This method provides the most freedom and the best performance for repeated use, but can be a bit cumbersome to use. For simple use cases, consider using client.stat(), client.push() and client.pull().
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.sync.end() when done.Promisesync (see callback)Gets a device tracker. Events will be emitted when devices are added, removed, or their type changes (i.e. to/from offline). Note that the same events will be emitted for the initially connected devices also, so that you don't need to use both client.listDevices() and client.trackDevices().
Note that as the tracker will keep a connection open, you must call tracker.end() if you wish to stop tracking devices.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.EventEmitter. The following events are available:
client.listDevices() for details on the device object.offline devices, those devices are connected but unavailable to ADB. See client.listDevices() for details on the device object.type property of a device changes, once per device. The current value of type is the new value. This event usually occurs the type changes from 'device' to 'offline' or the other way around. See client.listDevices() for details on the device object and the 'offline' type.add event. Empty if none.remove event. Empty if none.change event. Empty if none.Promisetracker (see callback)Uninstalls the package from the device. This is roughly analogous to adb uninstall <pkg>.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.PromisetrueQueries the ADB server for its version. This is mainly useful for backwards-compatibility purposes.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Promiseversion (see callback)Waits until the device has finished booting. Note that the device must already be seen by ADB. This is roughly analogous to periodically checking adb shell getprop sys.boot_completed.
client.listDevices().Promise.
null if the device has completed booting, Error otherwise (can occur if the connection dies while checking).PromisetrueCloses the Sync connection, allowing Node to quit (assuming nothing else is keeping it alive, of course).
Pulls a file from the device as a PullTransfer Stream.
PullTransfer instance. See below for details.Attempts to identify contents and calls the appropriate push* method for it.
String, treated as a local file path and forwarded to sync.pushFile(). Otherwise, treated as a Stream and forwarded to sync.pushStream().0644.PushTransfer instance. See below for details.Pushes a local file to the given path. Note that the path must be writable by the ADB user (usually shell). When in doubt, use '/data/local/tmp' with an appropriate filename.
sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.Pushes a Stream to the given path. Note that the path must be writable by the ADB user (usually shell). When in doubt, use '/data/local/tmp' with an appropriate filename.
sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.sync.push() for details.Retrieves a list of directory entries (e.g. files) in the given path, not including the . and .. entries, just like fs.readdir. If given a non-directory path, no entries are returned.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.Array of fs.Stats-compatible instances. While the stats.is* methods are available, only the following properties are supported (in addition to the name field which contains the filename):
Date.Promisefiles (see callback)Retrieves information about the given path.
Promise.
null when successful, Error otherwise.fs.Stats instance. While the stats.is* methods are available, only the following properties are supported:
Date.Promisestats (see callback)A simple helper method for creating appropriate temporary filenames for pushing files. This is essentially the same as taking the basename of the file and appending it to '/data/local/tmp/'.
A simple EventEmitter, mainly for keeping track of the progress.
List of events:
Error.Cancels the transfer by ending both the stream that is being pushed and the sync connection. This will most likely end up creating a broken file on your device. Use at your own risk. Also note that you must create a new sync connection if you wish to continue using the sync service.
PullTransfer is a Stream. Use fs.createWriteStream() to pipe the stream to a file if necessary.
List of events:
Error.Cancels the transfer by ending the connection. Can be useful for reading endless streams of data, such as /dev/urandom or /dev/zero, perhaps for benchmarking use. Note that you must create a new sync connection if you wish to continue using the sync service.
See CONTRIBUTING.md.
See LICENSE.
Copyright © CyberAgent, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
FAQs
A pure Node.js client for the Android Debug Bridge.
The npm package adbkit receives a total of 16,241 weekly downloads. As such, adbkit popularity was classified as popular.
We found that adbkit demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 2 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
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