A robust automation skill for controlling Android devices through the Android Debug Bridge using a precision-based observe-locate-act-verify loop.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install adb-phone-control
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install adb-phone-control using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is ADB Phone Control?
The ADB Phone Control skill enables AI agents to interact directly with Android devices through a series of structured commands. By utilizing Openclaw Skills, this tool moves beyond simple coordinate guessing by analyzing the underlying UI hierarchy to find exact pixel bounds for elements. This ensures that actions like tapping, swiping, and typing are executed with high reliability across different screen resolutions and device models.
This skill is particularly valuable for developers and QA engineers who need to automate mobile workflows without manually identifying coordinates for every interaction. It bridges the gap between high-level intent and low-level device communication, providing a developer-friendly interface for mobile device orchestration.
ADB Phone Control Use Cases
- Automated UI testing and regression suites for Android applications
- Mobile app data entry and batch processing from a desktop environment
- Remote device troubleshooting and screen capture for technical support
- Navigating complex mobile app flows to extract data or verify states
- Automating routine mobile tasks such as clearing caches or launching specific app activities
How ADB Phone Control Works
- The skill initializes by sourcing helper scripts and verifying a connection to the device via the Android Debug Bridge.
- It performs an initial observation by dumping the UI hierarchy XML and capturing a screenshot to establish the current state.
- The agent parses the XML to locate target elements by text content or resource IDs, calculating precise center coordinates.
- An action is executed, such as a tap, long press, or swipe, using physical pixel coordinates to ensure accuracy.
- The skill performs a mandatory verification step by re-dumping the UI state to confirm the action was successful before proceeding.
ADB Phone Control Setup
To use this skill, ensure that adb and python3 are installed and available in your system PATH. Connect your Android device via USB with Debugging enabled, or connect over the network. Verify the connection with:
adb devices
Before running commands, source the provided helper script to load the necessary automation functions:
source "./adb-helpers.sh"
You can optionally set the ADB_OUTPUT_DIR environment variable to define where screenshots and UI dumps are stored.
ADB Phone Control Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes its operational data and metadata as follows:
| Data Type | Format | Default Location | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI Hierarchy | XML | /tmp/ui_dump.xml |
Full view tree including IDs, text, and bounds |
| Screen Capture | PNG | /tmp/adb_screen.png |
Visual snapshot for human-readable verification |
| Device Metadata | Text | Console Output | Screen resolution and package information |
| Logic Flow | Bash Helpers | adb-helpers.sh |
Core functions for parsing and acting on data |
ADB Phone Control Advanced Features
- Smart CJK text input handling using ADBKeyboard or clipboard fallback for non-ASCII characters
- Automatic keyboard detection and dismissal to prevent UI layout shifts during automation
- Element targeting via resource-id and text matching with built-in center-point calculation
- Integrated wait strategies that account for app animations and page transition times
- Package discovery and direct activity launching to bypass manual home screen navigation
SKILL.md
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