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jtube-tv/docs/agent-container.md
Jeena 40a9d1e2c6 docs: Agent container emulator workflow 
Document how the host emulator is driven over adb from the agent
container: the start script now boots headless by default and trusts
remote adb keys via ADB_VENDOR_KEYS at launch, since the TV system
image is a user build that blocks pushing keys to adb_keys after boot.
AGENTS.md points to the new doc and fixes the stale SDK path.
2026-10-12 09:42:08 +00:00

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Agent container ↔ host emulator setup

How the testing loop between the JTube TV agent container and the host emulator works, and what needs to exist again after a rebuild.

Topology

  • Emulator: runs on the host (/opt/android-sdk, launched by scripts/start-emulator.sh). Headless is the default; set JTUBE_EMU_MODE=windowed if you want the Qt window (e.g. for desktop interaction testing). View it via scrcpy either way.
  • Agent container: image agent-container:latest, container name pattern ac-<project>-<hash>, launched with --network host — it shares the host's network namespace. This is load-bearing: see below.

Why host networking makes adb trivial

With --network host, the container's localhost is the host's localhost. So inside the container:

  • adb connect 127.0.0.1:5556 → hits the host's socat bridge → emulator adbd.
  • The adb server running on 127.0.0.1:5037 is also shared with the host, so the container inherits whatever authorization the host adb server has. No separate RSA handshake is needed. (Caveat: whoever's adb server grabs port 5037 first owns it; all clients share it.)

What must be (re)installed after a container rebuild

  1. android-tools in the container (provides adb; installed into the running container with sudo pacman -S --noconfirm android-tools, but that is ephemeral). To make rebuilds self-sufficient, bake it into the agent-container image at build time.
  2. Nothing else is needed for adb: key handling is inherited from the shared host adb server (see above). If the container is ever switched to bridge networking, use adb connect rutherford:5556 — remote keys are handled by the emulator's ADB_VENDOR_KEYS (next section).

Emulator-side facts (host)

  • Ports: console 5600, adbd 5601 (-port 5600 ⇒ console+1), LAN bridge socat TCP-LISTEN:5556 → 127.0.0.1:5601 (0.0.0.0, so remote machines can adb connect rutherford:5556).
  • Remote key whitelisting: the TV system image is a user build — adb push/shell writes to /data/misc/adb/adb_keys are blocked. The script therefore builds /tmp/jtube-adbkeys-combined (host key + every /tmp/jtube-adbkeys/*.pub) and launches the emulator with ADB_VENDOR_KEYS pointing at it. To trust a new client: put its ~/.android/adbkey.pub into /tmp/jtube-adbkeys/ before launching.
  • Logs: /tmp/jtube-emu.log (QEMU) and /tmp/jtube-emu-run.log (script).
  • Viewing: scrcpy -s emulator-5600 on the host, or from any LAN machine: adb connect rutherford:5556 && scrcpy -s 127.0.0.1:5556.

Known quirks

  • Emulator Qt toolbar (back/home buttons) is a detached XWayland window that misbehaves on Hyprland — drive the emulator via scrcpy or adb instead.
  • The TV image is a user build: no adb root.
  • Under the Android TV AVD, keyboard input in the Qt window works, but the reliable inputs are scrcpy (b = back, h = home) or adb shell input keyevent.