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Developer Device Platform Basics

GoogleOfficialPublished by Google

  • Skill
  • Workflow
  • Cloud and DevOps
  • Apache-2.0
  • Low risk
  • Has scripts

From the author

Provides guidance and instructions on managing remote devices on Developer Device Platform (DDP). Use when reserving remote Android devices, establishing connection tunnels, checking session status, or extending/cancelling leases. Don't use for iOS or local device/hardware inquiries.
— the description by Google

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured workflow for interacting with the Google Developer Device Platform (DDP). It guides users through the process of listing, reserving, and connecting to remote Android devices for testing purposes. The skill covers the full lifecycle of a device session, including authentication, availability checks, establishing connection tunnels via ADB, monitoring session status, and performing cleanup tasks like cancelling sessions or extending lease durations.

What it does

  • Authenticates and initializes the Google Cloud environment for DDP access.
  • Lists and describes available remote Android device models and OS versions.
  • Reserves remote Android devices with explicit user billing confirmation.
  • Monitors session provisioning and status until the device is active.
  • Establishes and manages ADB connection tunnels to remote devices.
  • Handles session termination and cleanup of cloud resources.

When to use it

  • When you need to reserve a remote Android device for testing or debugging.
  • When you need to check the availability or status of specific device models.
  • When you need to extend the duration of an active remote device session.
  • When you need to release or cancel a device session to stop billing.

Advantages

  • Provides a standardized, step-by-step procedure for complex cloud device operations.
  • Ensures proper usage attribution for all CLI and API interactions.
  • Includes mandatory safety checks for billing-related actions.
  • Automates the setup of ADB connection tunnels for seamless remote interaction.

Usage examples

“Reserve a Pixel 8 device for me.”
The agent will identify the correct catalog ID for the Pixel 8, check availability, warn you about billing costs, and upon your approval, reserve the device and set up an ADB tunnel.
“List all available Android devices.”
The agent will execute the necessary gcloud command to display a list of available device models and their IDs.
“Extend my current device session by one hour.”
The agent will calculate the new TTL, warn you of additional billing, and update the session expiration via the API before restarting the connection forwarder.
“Stop my current device session.”
The agent will identify the active session, cancel it via the API, terminate the local ADB forwarder process, and confirm that resources have been released.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/google/developer-device-platform-basics/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip developer-device-platform-basics.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Google

Developer Device Platform

Developer Device Platform (DDP) is a Google fully managed, global infrastructure providing access to a wide variety of physical and virtual devices.

[!WARNING] Developer Device Platform (DDP) is currently at Preview.

[!IMPORTANT] For all devicerun and devicestreaming API operations (reserving, status checking, stopping/canceling, updating, or listing a session), always verify and use the exact instructions and curl commands provided in the linked reference .md files.

Attribution

MUST READ: Before executing any gcloud, REST API, or MCP command, you MUST read Usage Attribution. For commands executed directly in the terminal (never in generated scripts, Terraform, or user code), prefix gcloud with CLOUDSDK_METRICS_REQUEST_ATTRIBUTION="agent-skills/1.0 (skill:developer-device-platform-basics)" and append agent-skills/1.0 (skill:developer-device-platform-basics) to User-Agent headers.

Authentication & Setup

CRITICAL: Before running any requests, you MUST ensure the environment is correctly initialized by following these steps:

Before running any requests, verify if the gcloud executable is present. If missing, refer to the official Google Cloud CLI Installation Guide to install it on the current platform (Linux, macOS, Windows, etc.).

  1. Google Cloud Authentication: Authenticate with your Google Cloud credentials and configure active Application Default Credentials (ADC) for the Developer Device Platform:

    gcloud auth login --no-browser
    gcloud auth application-default login --no-browser
  2. Enable APIs (if not already enabled):

    gcloud services enable devicerun.googleapis.com devicestreaming.googleapis.com testing.googleapis.com --quiet

[!NOTE] Cloud Testing API is needed for Device Streaming API during Preview.

  1. Enable gcloud beta component:

    gcloud components install beta
  2. Setup Environment Variables: Set up the required project variable and access token:

    export PROJECT_ID=$(gcloud config get project)
    export ACCESS_TOKEN=$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token 2>/dev/null)
  3. Python Environment: For instructions on setting up the python virtual environment, see start_adb_forwarder.md.

Listing Available Devices

To find the correct modelCode and osVersion to use when starting a session, you can list the available devices:

  1. List Models: Run the following command to list available Android device models:

    gcloud beta device-run devices list

    Use the ID column to find the value for the CATALOG_ID parameter to describe a specific device (e.g., shiba-36).

  2. Describe a Model: Run the API request to get more details about a specific model (e.g., supportedProducts, resolution). Always rely on the exact curl command and instructions provided in describe_device.md.

Starting a Device Session

When the user asks to reserve or connect to a device:

  1. Check Device Availability:

    Look up CATALOG_ID of the device using Listing Available Devices instructions. Check the device availability of the CATALOG_ID by using the exact curl command and instructions provided in describe_device.md. The device MUST contain "deviceStreaming" in "supportedProducts" to be reserved.

    If no specific device is specified, use CATALOG_ID=shiba-34 (Pixel 8 on SDK 34).

    If OS_VERSION was not specified by the user, ask the user to select a version from the device list (preferring the version with the highest availability {"available": "AVAILABILITY_HIGH" }).

    If OS_VERSION is unavailable for deviceStreaming, do not reserve one. Prompt the user for an alternative OS_VERSION.

  2. Extract Parameters:

    • model_id: modelCode from device details. Required.

    • version_id: osVersion from device details. Required.

  3. Reserve Device:

    Rule: Explicit User Confirmation Required. Reserving a device incurs billing charges and creates cloud resources. The agent MUST ALWAYS warn the user explicitly about the billing costs that will be incurred on the active Google Cloud project (e.g., ${PROJECT_ID}). You MUST STOP and ask for explicit approval before proceeding with any session creation commands.

    Then, run the API request with model_id and version_id to reserve the device. Always rely on the exact curl command and instructions provided in reserve_device.md.

    Parse the response to get session_name (the session name, e.g., projects/${PROJECT_ID}/deviceSessions/session-xxxxxx). If reservation fails, report the error.

  4. Wait for Session to be Active:

    While waiting for the device session to be provisioned, poll the session status until "state" is "ACTIVE". See session_status.md for the exact curl command.

    Repeat this check every 5 seconds to prevent hitting API rate limit. If it does not become active within 2 minutes (typically under 1 minute), report failure and cancel the session. Once active, extract expireTime from the session JSON response and convert it to the user's local time in a human-readable format (e.g., "June 9, 2026 at 2:44 PM PDT").

  5. Start Connection Forwarder: Start the ADB forwarder script to forward connection to the remote device. Always rely on the exact command and instructions provided in start_adb_forwarder.md. Ensure you record the Command ID.

  6. Wait for Online and Parse Port: Wait for the forwarder to be online and extract the listening port. Always rely on the exact logic and instructions provided in start_adb_forwarder.md.

  7. Provide Instructions to User:

    Once online, run adb -s localhost:{port} shell getprop ro.product.model to retrieve the device model name. Then, print a message directly to the user in the chat (do NOT create any artifact file) with the following instructions:

    Device is ready!
    Device Model: {device_model}
    OS Version: {version_id}
    ADB Address: localhost:{port}
    Session Expiration: {expire_time_human_readable_local}
  8. Save Session State: Save the {session_name} and {command_id} in your conversation memory/context so you can clean it up later.

Viewing the Device Screen of a Reserved Device

The coding agent can directly interact with the remote device using adb. Users may use a utility to display the screen and manually control the reserved device in DDP. See view_device.md for an example utility.

Stopping a Device Session

When the user asks to stop, cleanup, or release the device:

  1. Identify Session: Retrieve the active {session_name} and {command_id} from your context. If you don't have them, list active sessions first (see helper command below) to find the session name.

  2. Cancel Session via API: Cancel the session via the API. Always rely on the exact curl command and instructions provided in cancel_session.md.

  3. Terminate Connection Forwarder: Terminate the background process matching {command_id} using your environment's process management capability.

  4. Confirm: Confirm to the user that the session has been cancelled and resources released.

Change Device Session Expiration Time

When the user asks to change the expiration time of an active device session:

Rule: Explicit User Confirmation Required. Extending a device session incurs additional billing charges and creates cloud resources. The agent MUST ALWAYS warn the user explicitly about the extra billing costs that will be incurred on the active Google Cloud project (e.g., ${PROJECT_ID}). You MUST STOP and ask for explicit approval before proceeding with any session extension commands.

  1. Extract Parameters:

    • session_name: The active session name.

    • ttl: The new remaining duration (e.g., 3600s). Derive the ttl if it's provided in another format.

  2. Change Session via API: Change the session via the API using updateMask=ttl. Always rely on the exact curl commands and instructions provided in update_session_expiration.md.

  3. Restart Connection Forwarder:

    • Run adb disconnect localhost:{port} to ensure the old forwarder connection is closed.

    • Stop the old connection forwarder corresponding to {command_id}.

    • Start a new connection forwarder by following Step 5 in "Starting a Device Session" (calculating the new --ttl duration in seconds and storing the newly returned Command ID).

  4. Confirm: Confirm to the user that the session duration has been updated and the connection forwarder has been restarted with the new TTL.

Helper: List Active Sessions

To find active sessions if you lost context, always rely on the curl command and instructions provided in list_sessions.md.

References

Files

scripts/demo_adb_forwarder.py

"""Demo client that forwards ADB traffic to/from remote device sessions.

This script uses the Devicestreaming API's `adb_connect` method to set up
a bidirectional gRPC stream for forwarding ADB traffic.

For the API definition, see:
https://docs.cloud.google.com/python/docs/reference/google-cloud-devicestreaming/latest/google.cloud.devicestreaming_v1.services.direct_access_service.DirectAccessServiceAsyncClient#google_cloud_devicestreaming_v1_services_direct_access_service_DirectAccessServiceAsyncClient_adb_connect
"""

import asyncio
from collections.abc import AsyncIterator, Sequence
import struct
import sys
from typing import Any

from absl import app
from absl import flags
from absl import logging
from google.api_core import client_options
from google.cloud import devicestreaming_v1
from google.oauth2 import credentials
import grpc

# https://android.googlesource.com/platform/system/adb/+/refs/heads/main/protocol.txt
CNXN = 0x4E584E43
OPEN = 0x4E45504F
OKAY = 0x59414B4F
CLSE = 0x45534C43
WRTE = 0x45545257

_DEFAULT_STREAM_ID = 1000
_TIMEOUT_BUFFER_SECONDS = 10


async def send_packet(
    writer: asyncio.StreamWriter,
    cmd: int,
    arg0: int,
    arg1: int,
    payload: bytes = b"",
) -> None:
  """Sends an ADB packet over the writer.

  Args:
    writer: The stream writer to send the packet to.
    cmd: The ADB command constant (e.g., CNXN, OPEN).
    arg0: The first argument of the ADB command.
    arg1: The second argument of the ADB command.
    payload: The optional payload data.
  """
  magic = cmd ^ 0xFFFFFFFF
  header = struct.pack("<6I", cmd, arg0, arg1, len(payload), 0, magic)
  writer.write(header + payload)
  await writer.drain()


class AdbForwarder:
  """Forwarder that forwards ADB traffic to/from a remote device session."""

  def __init__(
      self,
      resource_name: str,
      access_token: str | None = None,
      endpoint: str = "devicestreaming.googleapis.com",
      timeout: float | None = None,
  ):
    """Initializes the AdbForwarder instance."""
    self.resource_name = resource_name
    self.access_token = access_token
    self.endpoint = endpoint
    self.requests_queue: asyncio.Queue[devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage | None] = (
        asyncio.Queue(maxsize=128)
    )
    self.active_writer: asyncio.StreamWriter | None = None
    self.features = "cmd,stat,shell_v2"
    self.server: asyncio.AbstractServer | None = None
    self.port: int | None = None
    self.stream_writers: dict[int, asyncio.StreamWriter] = {}
    self.grpc_client: (
        devicestreaming_v1.DirectAccessServiceAsyncClient | None
    ) = None
    self.grpc_call: Any | None = None
    self.timeout = timeout
    self.running = True
    self.receive_task: asyncio.Task[None] | None = None

    # Parse project and session_id from resource_name
    parts = resource_name.split("/")
    if (
        len(parts) != 4
        or parts[0] != "projects"
        or parts[2] != "deviceSessions"
    ):
      raise ValueError(
          "Invalid resource_name format. Expected"
          " projects/<project>/deviceSessions/<session-id>"
      )
    _, self.project, _, self.session_id = parts

  async def start(self) -> None:
    """Starts the ADB forwarder."""
    self.server = await asyncio.start_server(
        self.client_connected, "127.0.0.1", 0
    )
    self.port = self.server.sockets[0].getsockname()[1]
    logging.info("Connecting to device session %s...", self.session_id)
    logging.info("Waiting for device...")

    # Set up credentials and client options for public devicestreaming client
    creds = (
        credentials.Credentials(self.access_token)
        if self.access_token
        else None
    )
    options = client_options.ClientOptions(api_endpoint=self.endpoint)
    self.grpc_client = devicestreaming_v1.DirectAccessServiceAsyncClient(
        credentials=creds,
        client_options=options,
    )

    metadata = [
        ("x-omnilab-session-name", self.resource_name),
        ("x-goog-user-project", self.project),
    ]

    initial_msg = devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage(
        # Set default stream_id to avoid conflict ADB channels.
        open_=devicestreaming_v1.Open(
            stream_id=_DEFAULT_STREAM_ID,
            service="shell:echo 'Establishing a connection'",
        )
    )
    await self.requests_queue.put(initial_msg)

    self.grpc_call = await self.grpc_client.adb_connect(
        requests=self.request_generator(),
        metadata=metadata,
        timeout=self.timeout,
    )
    self.receive_task = asyncio.create_task(self.receive_grpc_messages())

    logging.info(
        "Device connected successfully! ADB forwarding listening on"
        " localhost:%s",
        self.port,
    )
    logging.info("Press Ctrl+C to disconnect and exit.")

    try:
      proc = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
          "adb",
          "connect",
          f"localhost:{self.port}",
      )
      await proc.wait()
    except OSError as e:
      logging.warning("Failed to run adb connect: %s", e)

  async def request_generator(
      self,
  ) -> AsyncIterator[devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage]:
    """Generates requests for the gRPC stream."""
    while self.running:
      if (msg := await self.requests_queue.get()) is None:
        break
      yield msg

  async def client_connected(
      self, reader: asyncio.StreamReader, writer: asyncio.StreamWriter
  ) -> None:
    """Handles a new local ADB client connection.

    Args:
      reader: The stream reader for the local client.
      writer: The stream writer for the local client.
    """
    peer = writer.get_extra_info("peername")
    logging.info("[AdbForwarder] Client connected: %s", peer)
    self.active_writer = writer
    try:
      while self.running:
        header = await reader.readexactly(24)
        cmd, arg0, arg1, length, _, _ = struct.unpack("<6I", header)
        payload = await reader.readexactly(length) if length > 0 else b""

        if cmd == CNXN:
          feat = self.features.encode("utf-8")
          payload = b"device::features=" + feat
          await send_packet(writer, CNXN, 0x01000001, 1024 * 1024, payload)
        elif cmd == OPEN:
          local_id = arg0
          service = payload.decode("utf-8", errors="ignore")
          logging.info(
              "[AdbForwarder] OPEN request for service: %s",
              service.replace(chr(0), ""),
          )
          if service.startswith("reverse:"):
            await self.reject_reverse(writer, local_id)
            continue

          msg = devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage(
              open_=devicestreaming_v1.Open(stream_id=local_id, service=service)
          )
          self.stream_writers[local_id] = writer
          await self.requests_queue.put(msg)

        elif cmd == WRTE:
          local_id = arg0
          remote_id = arg1
          self.stream_writers[remote_id] = writer
          msg = devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage(
              stream_data=devicestreaming_v1.StreamData(
                  stream_id=remote_id, data=payload
              )
          )
          await self.requests_queue.put(msg)
          await send_packet(writer, OKAY, remote_id, local_id)
        elif cmd == OKAY:
          pass
        elif cmd == CLSE:
          remote_id = arg1
          msg = devicestreaming_v1.AdbMessage(
              stream_data=devicestreaming_v1.StreamData(
                  stream_id=remote_id, close=devicestreaming_v1.Close()
              )
          )
          await self.requests_queue.put(msg)
    except asyncio.IncompleteReadError:
      pass
    except OSError:
      logging.exception("Client connection error")
    finally:
      logging.info("[AdbForwarder] Client disconnected: %s", peer)
      writer.close()
      await writer.wait_closed()

  async def receive_grpc_messages(self) -> None:
    """Receives messages from the gRPC stream and forwards them to clients."""
    logging.info("[AdbForwarder] Starting receive_grpc_messages")
    grpc_call = self.grpc_call
    if not grpc_call:
      logging.error("[AdbForwarder] grpc_call is None")
      return
    try:
      async for msg in grpc_call:
        device_msg = msg
        assert device_msg is not None
        content_type = type(device_msg).pb(device_msg).WhichOneof("contents")

        if not self.active_writer:
          logging.warning(
              "[AdbForwarder] gRPC msg %s received but no active writer",
              content_type,
          )
          continue
        if content_type == "status_update":
          self.features = device_msg.status_update.features
        elif content_type == "stream_status":
          stream_id = device_msg.stream_status.stream_id
          writer = self.stream_writers.get(stream_id, self.active_writer)
          await send_packet(writer, OKAY, stream_id, stream_id)
        elif content_type == "stream_data":
          stream_data = device_msg.stream_data
          stream_id = stream_data.stream_id
          data_type = type(stream_data).pb(stream_data).WhichOneof("contents")
          writer = self.stream_writers.get(stream_id, self.active_writer)
          if data_type == "data":
            data = stream_data.data
            await send_packet(writer, WRTE, stream_id, stream_id, data)
          elif data_type == "close":
            await send_packet(writer, CLSE, stream_id, stream_id)
    except asyncio.CancelledError:
      pass
    except grpc.RpcError:
      logging.exception("gRPC receiving error")

  async def reject_reverse(
      self, writer: asyncio.StreamWriter, local_id: int
  ) -> None:
    """Rejects a reverse port forwarding request from the client.

    Args:
      writer: The stream writer to send the rejection packet to.
      local_id: The local ID of the stream requesting reverse forwarding.
    """
    await send_packet(writer, OKAY, local_id, local_id)
    reason = "reverse forwarding not supported"
    fail_str = f"FAIL{len(reason):04X}{reason}".encode()
    await send_packet(writer, WRTE, local_id, local_id, fail_str)
    await send_packet(writer, CLSE, local_id, local_id)

  async def stop(self) -> None:
    """Stops the ADB forwarder and cleans up resources."""
    logging.info("[AdbForwarder] Stopping...")
    self.running = False
    if self.port:
      try:
        proc = await asyncio.create_subprocess_exec(
            "adb",
            "disconnect",
            f"localhost:{self.port}",
        )
        await proc.wait()
      except OSError as e:
        logging.warning("Failed to run adb disconnect: %s", e)
    await self.requests_queue.put(None)
    if self.server:
      self.server.close()
      await self.server.wait_closed()
    if self.grpc_client:
      try:
        await self.grpc_client.transport.close()
      except (grpc.RpcError, RuntimeError):
        pass
    logging.info("[AdbForwarder] Stopped")


_DEVICE_SESSION = flags.DEFINE_string(
    "device_session", None, "Full resource name of the device session"
)
_ACCESS_TOKEN = flags.DEFINE_string("access_token", None, "OAuth2 access token")
_TTL = flags.DEFINE_integer(
    "ttl",
    900,
    "Time to live (in seconds) for the forwarder.",
)


def main(argv: Sequence[str]) -> None:
  """Main entry point."""
  del argv
  if not _DEVICE_SESSION.value:
    logging.error("Missing --device_session flag.")
    sys.exit(1)

  if _TTL.value is None or _TTL.value <= 0:
    logging.error("The --ttl flag must be a positive integer.")
    sys.exit(1)

  async def run_forwarder():
    # Set timeout to TTL + buffer for client side cleanup
    forwarder = AdbForwarder(
        _DEVICE_SESSION.value,
        _ACCESS_TOKEN.value,
        timeout=float(_TTL.value + _TIMEOUT_BUFFER_SECONDS),
    )
    await forwarder.start()
    try:
      logging.info("Forwarding will stop after %d seconds.", _TTL.value)

      assert forwarder.receive_task is not None
      await asyncio.wait_for(forwarder.receive_task, timeout=_TTL.value)
      logging.info("gRPC stream stopped. Stopping forwarder...")

    except asyncio.TimeoutError:
      logging.info(
          "Time to live of %d seconds reached. Stopping forwarder...",
          _TTL.value,
      )
    except (KeyboardInterrupt, asyncio.CancelledError):
      logging.info("Disconnecting...")
    finally:
      await forwarder.stop()

  try:
    asyncio.run(run_forwarder())
  except KeyboardInterrupt:
    pass


if __name__ == "__main__":
  app.run(main)

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs a command-line tool, Needs Python

Security

What our scanner noticed· Low risk

  • Instructions that use the network
  • Scripts that your agent may run

This skill includes scripts that your agent may run. Read them before you use it.

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
Google
Publisher
Google (Official)
Source
google/skills · skills/cloud/developer-device-platform-basics · commit 2194d3b
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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