Setup Workflow

Configure Android development environment including SDK, NDK, command-line tools, and gomobile for both traditional and NixOS setups.

Installation Methods

Choose based on your system:

Traditional Linux/Mac/Windows: Command-line tools or Android Studio
NixOS/Nix: Declarative configuration with androidenv
Android Studio: GUI-based (easiest for beginners)

Traditional Setup (Linux/Mac/Windows)

Option 1: Command-line Tools (Recommended)

Lightweight, scriptable setup without Android Studio.

1. Download Command-line Tools

# Create SDK directory
mkdir -p ~/Android/Sdk
cd ~/Android/Sdk

# Download latest cmdline-tools (Linux)
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-11076708_latest.zip

# Or for Mac
# wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-mac-11076708_latest.zip

# Extract
unzip commandlinetools-linux-*_latest.zip
rm commandlinetools-linux-*_latest.zip

# Move to correct location
mkdir -p cmdline-tools/latest
mv cmdline-tools/* cmdline-tools/latest/ 2>/dev/null || true

2. Set Environment Variables

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

# Android SDK
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Android/Sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator

Apply changes:

source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

3. Accept Licenses

sdkmanager --licenses

Type y and press Enter for each license.

4. Install SDK Components

# Platform tools (adb, fastboot)
sdkmanager "platform-tools"

# Latest Android platform (API 34 as of 2026)
sdkmanager "platforms;android-34"

# Build tools
sdkmanager "build-tools;34.0.0"

# NDK (required for gomobile)
sdkmanager "ndk;26.1.10909125"

# Emulator (optional)
sdkmanager "emulator"

# System image for emulator (optional)
sdkmanager "system-images;android-34;google_apis;x86_64"

5. Verify Installation

# Check SDK manager
sdkmanager --list

# Check adb
adb version

# Check environment
echo $ANDROID_HOME
ls $ANDROID_HOME

Option 2: Android Studio

Pros: GUI, automatic SDK management, emulator, IDE Cons: Large download (~1GB), more resources

Steps:

Download Android Studio
Install and launch
Follow setup wizard to install SDK and tools
SDK installed at: ~/Android/Sdk (Linux/Mac) or C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk (Windows)

NixOS / Nix Setup

Why Nix for Android?

Benefits:

Declarative configuration
Reproducible builds
Version pinning
No manual SDK management

Challenges:

More complex initial setup
Not all Android SDK versions available

System Configuration (NixOS)

systems/common/programs/android.nix:

{ config, pkgs, ... }:

{
  programs.adb.enable = true;
  users.users.youruser.extraGroups = [ "adbusers" ];

  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    android-tools  # adb, fastboot
  ];
}

Apply configuration:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Home Manager Configuration

home/common/dev/android.nix:

{ config, pkgs, ... }:

let
  androidSdk = pkgs.androidenv.composeAndroidPackages {
    platformVersions = [ "34" "33" ];
    buildToolsVersions = [ "34.0.0" ];
    includeNDK = true;
    ndkVersion = "26.1.10909125";
    includeEmulator = true;
    includeSystemImages = true;
    systemImageTypes = [ "google_apis" ];
    abiVersions = [ "x86_64" "arm64-v8a" ];
  };

in
{
  home.packages = with pkgs; [
    androidSdk.androidsdk
    jdk17
    go
  ];

  home.sessionVariables = {
    ANDROID_HOME = "${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk";
    ANDROID_SDK_ROOT = "${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk";
  };

  home.sessionPath = [
    "${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk/platform-tools"
    "${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk/tools"
    "${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk/emulator"
  ];
}

Apply configuration:

home-manager switch --flake .#youruser@hostname

Nix Development Shell (Project-specific)

Create flake.nix in your project:

{
  description = "Android development environment";

  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
    flake-utils.url = "github:numtide/flake-utils";
  };

  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, flake-utils }:
    flake-utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system:
      let
        pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};

        androidSdk = pkgs.androidenv.composeAndroidPackages {
          platformVersions = [ "34" ];
          buildToolsVersions = [ "34.0.0" ];
          includeNDK = true;
          ndkVersion = "26.1.10909125";
        };

      in
      {
        devShells.default = pkgs.mkShell {
          buildInputs = with pkgs; [
            androidSdk.androidsdk
            jdk17
            gradle
            go
          ];

          shellHook = ''
            export ANDROID_HOME="${androidSdk.androidsdk}/libexec/android-sdk"
            export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$ANDROID_HOME"
            export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/tools:$PATH"

            echo "Android development environment ready!"
            echo "ANDROID_HOME: $ANDROID_HOME"
          '';
        };
      }
    );
}

Enter development shell:

nix develop

# Or use direnv for automatic activation
echo "use flake" > .envrc
direnv allow

Nix androidenv Options

pkgs.androidenv.composeAndroidPackages {
  # Platform versions (Android API levels)
  platformVersions = [ "34" "33" "31" ];

  # Build tools versions
  buildToolsVersions = [ "34.0.0" ];

  # Include NDK
  includeNDK = true;
  ndkVersion = "26.1.10909125";

  # Include Android Emulator
  includeEmulator = true;

  # Include system images for emulator
  includeSystemImages = true;
  systemImageTypes = [ "google_apis" "google_apis_playstore" ];
  abiVersions = [ "x86_64" "arm64-v8a" ];

  # Include CMake (for C++ projects)
  cmakeVersions = [ "3.22.1" ];
}

Post-Installation (All Methods)

Install Gomobile

go install golang.org/x/mobile/cmd/gomobile@latest
gomobile init

This downloads additional toolchains for cross-compilation.

Configure Gradle

Create ~/.gradle/gradle.properties:

# Use more memory for Gradle
org.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4096m

# Enable Gradle daemon
org.gradle.daemon=true

# Enable parallel execution
org.gradle.parallel=true

# Enable build cache
org.gradle.caching=true

# Use AndroidX
android.useAndroidX=true
android.enableJetifier=true

Setup Device for Development

Enable Developer Options

Go to Settings → About phone
Tap Build number 7 times
Go back to Settings → System → Developer options
Enable USB debugging

Connect Device

# Connect via USB
adb devices

# Should show:
# List of devices attached
# 1234567890ABCDEF    device

# If shows "unauthorized", check phone for authorization prompt

Connect via WiFi (optional)

# First connect via USB
adb tcpip 5555

# Find device IP (Settings → About → Status → IP address)
# Then connect wirelessly
adb connect 192.168.1.100:5555

# Disconnect USB cable
# Verify wireless connection
adb devices

Directory Structure

After setup, your SDK should look like:

~/Android/Sdk/
├── build-tools/
│   └── 34.0.0/
│       ├── aapt
│       ├── aapt2
│       ├── apksigner
│       └── ...
├── cmdline-tools/
│   └── latest/
│       └── bin/
│           ├── sdkmanager
│           ├── avdmanager
│           └── ...
├── emulator/
│   ├── emulator
│   └── ...
├── ndk/
│   └── 26.1.10909125/
├── platform-tools/
│   ├── adb
│   ├── fastboot
│   └── ...
├── platforms/
│   └── android-34/
└── system-images/
    └── android-34/

Troubleshooting

sdkmanager: command not found

# Check ANDROID_HOME
echo $ANDROID_HOME

# Check PATH
echo $PATH | grep Android

# Reload shell configuration
source ~/.bashrc

adb: command not found

# Install platform-tools
sdkmanager "platform-tools"

# Add to PATH
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

gomobile init fails

# Make sure NDK is installed
sdkmanager "ndk;26.1.10909125"

# Check ANDROID_HOME
echo $ANDROID_HOME

# Retry
gomobile init -v

Device not detected

# Check USB debugging is enabled
adb devices

# Restart adb
adb kill-server
adb start-server

# Check USB connection/cable
# Try different USB port

NixOS: adb permission denied

# Add user to adbusers group (in configuration.nix)
programs.adb.enable = true;
users.users.youruser.extraGroups = [ "adbusers" ];

# Rebuild and log out/in
sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Nix: Gradle can’t find Android SDK

# Create local.properties
echo "sdk.dir=$ANDROID_HOME" > local.properties

Updating Components

Traditional Setup

# List installed and available packages
sdkmanager --list

# Update all installed packages
sdkmanager --update

# Install specific version
sdkmanager "platforms;android-35"
sdkmanager "build-tools;35.0.0"

Nix Setup

# Update flake inputs
nix flake update

# Rebuild configuration
nixos-rebuild switch  # or home-manager switch

Update Gomobile

go install golang.org/x/mobile/cmd/gomobile@latest
gomobile init

Next Steps

After successful setup:

Build Android app - Use the Build workflow
Debug app - Use the Debug workflow
Create emulator - See emulator section in Debug workflow