expo-adb

expo-adb is an Expo module that runs Android ADB shell commands through a local ADB daemon exposed on 127.0.0.1:5555.

What it does

• generates and stores an app-local ADB RSA keypair,
• connects to local adbd over TCP,
• opens an ADB shell session,
• executes one command or a small script.

Requirements

• Android only (iOS / Web mocks)
• local ADB daemon reachable on 127.0.0.1:5555
• device configured to accept the generated ADB key

If the device does not expose local ADB or rejects the key, calls will fail.

Installation

yarn add expo-adb
npm install expo-adb

API

isAvailable(): Promise<boolean>
getAvailabilityDetails(): Promise<{
  available: boolean
  host: string
  port: number
  keyPairPresent: boolean
  errorCode: string | null
  errorClass: string | null
  errorMessage: string | null
  hint: string | null
}>
executeCommand(command: string): Promise<string>
executeCommands(commands: string[]): Promise<string>

Usage

import ExpoAdb from 'expo-adb';

const available = await ExpoAdb.isAvailable();
const details = await ExpoAdb.getAvailabilityDetails();

if (available) {
  const model = await ExpoAdb.executeCommand('getprop ro.product.model');

  const output = await ExpoAdb.executeCommands([
    'getprop ro.product.brand',
    'getprop ro.build.version.release',
  ]);
}

executeCommands() sends every command on a new line and appends exit automatically.

executeCommand() returns a cleaned command result for single-command use cases. It strips shell echo lines such as the input command itself and trailing exit.

Behavior notes

• executeCommand() returns cleaned output for a single command.
• executeCommands() returns raw shell output for the whole script. It does not parse command success or failure for you.
• The RSA keypair is stored in the app sandbox under a directory named expo-adb.
• isAvailable() only checks transport/auth connectivity to local ADB.
• getAvailabilityDetails() returns diagnostic information when local ADB is unreachable.
• On iOS and web, isAvailable() returns false and command methods throw an error.

Example commands

await ExpoAdb.executeCommand('getprop ro.product.model');
await ExpoAdb.executeCommand('pm list packages');
await ExpoAdb.executeCommands(['settings get global adb_enabled', 'getprop service.adb.tcp.port']);

Limitations

• This is not a replacement for desktop adb.
• It only talks to a local daemon already available on the Android device.
• Some commands may still fail because of Android version, OEM policy, shell privileges, or ADB authorization state.

Known issues

• On some devices, local ADB may not be reachable immediately even when Developer Options are already enabled.
• Observed on Samsung Galaxy S23: local ADB on 127.0.0.1:5555 initially returned connection_refused, then started working only after the Wireless debugging / pairing flow appeared in system UI.
• Because of that, isAvailable() and getAvailabilityDetails() can change from failing to working without any code change, depending on the current system ADB state.