Unix Socket API¶

✅ Implemented 🧪 Tested

The AutoMobile daemon exposes a Unix socket for IDE plugins and CLI clients to communicate with the daemon without going through MCP. See Daemon Overview for architecture context.

Socket Path¶

/tmp/auto-mobile-daemon-<uid>.sock

The path can be overridden via the AUTOMOBILE_DAEMON_SOCKET_PATH or AUTO_MOBILE_DAEMON_SOCKET_PATH environment variables.

Protocol¶

All messages are newline-delimited JSON sent over the Unix socket. Each request receives exactly one response.

Request

{
  "id": "unique-request-id",
  "type": "mcp_request",
  "method": "ide/ping",
  "params": {},
  "timeoutMs": 30000
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
`id`	`string`	Yes	Caller-assigned ID echoed back in the response
`type`	`"mcp_request" \\| "daemon_request"`	Yes	Request category
`method`	`string`	Yes	Endpoint name (e.g. `ide/ping`, `daemon/availableDevices`)
`params`	`object`	Yes	Method-specific parameters; pass `{}` when none are needed
`timeoutMs`	`number`	No	Per-request timeout in milliseconds (default: 30 000)

Response

{
  "id": "unique-request-id",
  "type": "mcp_response",
  "success": true,
  "result": { }
}

Field	Type	Description
`id`	`string`	Echoed from the request
`type`	`"mcp_response"`	Always this value
`success`	`boolean`	`true` on success, `false` on error
`result`	`object`	Present when `success` is `true`
`error`	`string`	Present when `success` is `false`

IDE Endpoints¶

These are handled directly by the daemon process without forwarding to the MCP server.

`ide/ping`¶

Liveness check. Returns immediately.

Params: none

Result

{ "ok": true, "timestamp": 1718000000000 }

`ide/status`¶

Returns daemon version and bundled service artifact information.

Params: none

Result

{
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "releaseVersion": "1.2.3",
  "android": {
    "accessibilityService": {
      "expectedSha256": "abc123...",
      "url": "https://..."
    }
  },
  "ios": {
    "xcTestService": {
      "expectedSha256": "def456...",
      "expectedAppHash": "ghi789...",
      "url": "https://..."
    }
  }
}

`ide/listFeatureFlags`¶

Lists all available feature flags and their current state. See Feature Flags for the full list of flags.

Params: none

Result

{
  "flags": [
    { "key": "debugMode", "enabled": false, "config": null }
  ]
}

`ide/setFeatureFlag`¶

Enables or disables a feature flag, with optional configuration.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`key`	`string`	Yes	Feature flag key
`enabled`	`boolean`	Yes	Enable or disable the flag
`config`	`object \\| null`	No	Optional flag-specific configuration

Result: the updated feature flag object.

`ide/updateService`¶

Updates the Android accessibility service APK or restarts the iOS CtrlProxy iOS on the target device.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`deviceId`	`string`	Yes	ADB device ID or simulator UDID
`platform`	`"android" \\| "ios"`	Yes	Target platform

Result

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Accessibility service upgraded",
  "status": { "status": "upgraded" }
}

For iOS, status is omitted and message is "CtrlProxy iOS restarted".

`ide/setKeyValue`¶

Writes a value into an Android app’s SharedPreferences file via the accessibility service. 🤖 Android Only

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`deviceId`	`string`	Yes	ADB device ID
`appId`	`string`	Yes	Application package name
`fileName`	`string`	Yes	SharedPreferences file name (without `.xml`)
`key`	`string`	Yes	Preference key
`value`	`string \\| null`	Yes	Value to write; `null` removes the key
`type`	`"STRING" \\| "INT" \\| "LONG" \\| "FLOAT" \\| "BOOLEAN" \\| "STRING_SET"`	Yes	Preference type

Result

{ "success": true }

`ide/removeKeyValue`¶

Removes a single key from an Android app’s SharedPreferences file. 🤖 Android Only

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`deviceId`	`string`	Yes	ADB device ID
`appId`	`string`	Yes	Application package name
`fileName`	`string`	Yes	SharedPreferences file name
`key`	`string`	Yes	Preference key to remove

Result

{ "success": true }

`ide/clearKeyValueFile`¶

Clears all keys from an Android app’s SharedPreferences file. 🤖 Android Only

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`deviceId`	`string`	Yes	ADB device ID
`appId`	`string`	Yes	Application package name
`fileName`	`string`	Yes	SharedPreferences file name

Result

{ "success": true }

MCP Proxy Endpoints¶

These are forwarded to the daemon’s internal MCP server. The response wraps whatever the MCP server returns.

`tools/list`¶

Lists all registered MCP tools. Equivalent to the MCP tools/list protocol message.

Params: none

Result: standard MCP ListToolsResult.

`tools/call`¶

Calls a registered MCP tool by name.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	`string`	Yes	MCP tool name (e.g. `observe`, `tapOn`)
`arguments`	`object`	Yes	Tool-specific arguments

Result: standard MCP CallToolResult.

`resources/list`¶

Lists all registered MCP resources.

Params: none

Result: standard MCP ListResourcesResult.

`resources/read`¶

Reads a single MCP resource by URI.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`uri`	`string`	Yes	Resource URI (e.g. `automobile:devices/booted`)

Result: standard MCP ReadResourceResult.

`resources/list-templates`¶

Lists available MCP resource templates.

Params: none

Result: standard MCP ListResourceTemplatesResult.

`ide/getNavigationGraph`¶

Convenience wrapper that calls the getNavigationGraph MCP tool and returns its result directly. Accepts the same arguments as the MCP tool.

Params: same as the getNavigationGraph MCP tool (all optional).

Result: navigation graph tool result.

Daemon Management Endpoints¶

These manage the device pool and session lifecycle. See Daemon Overview for pool architecture details.

`daemon/availableDevices`¶

Returns current device pool statistics.

Params: none

Result

{
  "availableDevices": 3,
  "totalDevices": 4,
  "assignedDevices": 1,
  "errorDevices": 0,
  "stats": {
    "total": 4,
    "idle": 3,
    "assigned": 1,
    "error": 0
  }
}

`daemon/refreshDevices`¶

Re-discovers connected devices and updates the pool.

Params: none

Result

{
  "addedDevices": 1,
  "totalDevices": 4,
  "availableDevices": 3,
  "stats": { "total": 4, "idle": 3, "assigned": 1, "error": 0 }
}

`daemon/sessionInfo`¶

Returns metadata for an active session.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`sessionId`	`string`	Yes	Session ID to query

Result

{
  "sessionId": "abc-123",
  "assignedDevice": "emulator-5554",
  "platform": "android",
  "createdAt": 1718000000000,
  "lastUsedAt": 1718000010000,
  "expiresAt": 1718003600000,
  "cacheSize": 4096
}

Returns an error if the session does not exist.

`daemon/releaseSession`¶

Releases a session and returns its device to the idle pool. Idempotent — safe to call even if the session was already released.

Params

Field	Type	Required	Description
`sessionId`	`string`	Yes	Session to release

Result

{
  "message": "Session abc-123 released",
  "device": "emulator-5554",
  "alreadyReleased": false
}

When the session was already released (or never existed):

{
  "message": "Session abc-123 already released or never existed",
  "alreadyReleased": true
}

Unix Socket API¶

Socket Path¶

Protocol¶

IDE Endpoints¶

ide/ping¶

ide/status¶

ide/listFeatureFlags¶

ide/setFeatureFlag¶

ide/updateService¶

ide/setKeyValue¶

ide/removeKeyValue¶

ide/clearKeyValueFile¶

MCP Proxy Endpoints¶

tools/list¶

tools/call¶

resources/list¶

resources/read¶

resources/list-templates¶

ide/getNavigationGraph¶

Daemon Management Endpoints¶

daemon/availableDevices¶

daemon/refreshDevices¶

daemon/sessionInfo¶

daemon/releaseSession¶

`ide/ping`¶

`ide/status`¶

`ide/listFeatureFlags`¶

`ide/setFeatureFlag`¶

`ide/updateService`¶

`ide/setKeyValue`¶

`ide/removeKeyValue`¶

`ide/clearKeyValueFile`¶

`tools/list`¶

`tools/call`¶

`resources/list`¶

`resources/read`¶

`resources/list-templates`¶

`ide/getNavigationGraph`¶

`daemon/availableDevices`¶

`daemon/refreshDevices`¶

`daemon/sessionInfo`¶

`daemon/releaseSession`¶