# Task: replace blind coordinate tapping with element-targeted Android UI automation > **STATUS 2026-11-02: PARTIAL.** The CLI (`dump`/`find`/`tap`/`type`/`wait`/ > `scroll-to`/`focus`) exists at `~/src/testsAndMisc/python_pkg/android_ui/` (see > its README). Remaining: (1) the optional MCP wrapper over the same driver; > (2) rolling it out to `~/src/todo` and `~/src/dufs-cloud/app` (other repos, > needs their own sessions); (3) the `## done` run on the physical Pixel 6a: > needs kuhy, phone not connected. Everything after this line is the original > brief, kept because it records WHY each guarantee exists. ## what Every Flutter/Android app in these repos is currently driven by an agent the same bad way: screenshot -> read pixel positions by eye -> `adb shell input tap `. Replace that with a reusable tool that finds elements by _identity_ (text, content-desc, resource-id) and taps their real bounds, and that can report what is on screen as structured text instead of an image. ## why this is not a nicety Observed in one session (2026-08-10, workout_app Firebase verification): - **Silent mis-taps.** A tap at `(540, 1705)` intended for the password field landed with the field unfocused. The typed password went nowhere. Nothing errored — the next screenshot just showed an empty box. A no-op and a hit are indistinguishable without dumping the tree and diffing. - **Layout shift invalidates every coordinate.** Opening the soft keyboard moved the email field from y=1572 to y=1319. Coordinates captured one step earlier were already wrong. - **Screenshot scaling is a manual multiply.** The harness renders 1080x2400 at 900x2000, so every read coordinate needs `* 1.20`. One forgotten multiply is an off-screen tap. - **Screenshots are expensive.** A full-page PNG per step burns far more context than the equivalent element list, and can't be grepped or asserted on. `uiautomator dump` already solves this and is on every device — no new dependency: ```bash adb shell uiautomator dump /sdcard/ui.xml adb pull /sdcard/ui.xml # -> ``` This is how the same session recovered: dumping the tree found both `EditText` nodes by class and gave exact centers, and the retry worked first time. ## where New shared tool, not a per-repo copy. Two options, pick one: - `~/src/testsAndMisc/python_pkg/android_ui/` — a CLI (`android-ui find "Connect Firebase"`, `android-ui tap "Connect Firebase"`, `android-ui dump`), matching how `app_icons` is already shared across repos. - An MCP server exposing the same as tools, which is what makes it available to the agent without shelling out. Preferred if MCP is acceptable — the user asked for "some tool ... (mcp?) which also translates to UI". Consumers (every repo with an Android surface): - `~/src/screen-locker/stronglift_replacement/workout_app` - `~/src/todo` - `~/src/dufs-cloud/app` - any future Flutter app (this should be part of the app scaffold) ## must - `find(query)` -> matching elements with class, text/content-desc, bounds, center, and enabled/focused state. Match on text, content-desc, or resource-id; substring and exact. - `tap(query)` -> resolves the query, taps the center of the _current_ bounds (re-dump before every tap; never reuse a stale coordinate), and **fails loudly with a non-zero exit when the query matches zero or >1 elements**. Ambiguity must be an error, not a silent first-match. - `type(query, text)` -> focus the field, type, then **verify the field's text actually changed** and fail if not. This is the specific bug that cost this session a round trip. - `dump()` -> flat, greppable text list of visible elements. This replaces the screenshot for most steps. - Waits: `wait_for(query, timeout)` that polls the tree, so no more blind `sleep 14`. - must not: require root, an emulator, a running Flutter debug connection, or any change to app source. It must work against a plain release APK on a physical device over adb. - optional: `flutter drive` / integration_test as a second backend when a debug build IS available — richer (widget keys, no dump latency), but it cannot drive a release APK, so it can't be the only path. - optional: screenshot fallback for genuinely visual checks (theming, icon rendering) — where a picture is the point, not a workaround. ## done A verification script that drives workout_app's "connect Firebase" flow end-to-end with **zero hardcoded pixel coordinates** in it, and: - passes on the current layout; - still passes after the SYNC and OFFLINE BACKUP sections are reordered in `settings_screen.dart` (the test that coordinate-based automation fails); - exits non-zero, naming the query, when an element is missing. ## verify On the physical Pixel 6a over adb, against an installed release APK — not an emulator and not a debug-only Flutter driver session. ## read first - This session's working recovery: `uiautomator dump` + the bounds-parsing python in the screen-locker scratchpad (`ui.xml`, `ui2.xml`). - `~/src/screen-locker/CLAUDE.md` — "You are NOT done until you install the new version on the phone itself", which is why agent-driven UI is on the critical path for every task in this repo. - Note `uiautomator dump` returns an empty/partial tree while an animation is in flight; retry-with-backoff belongs in the tool, not in each caller. - **Observed 2026-08-10, must be handled:** while a Flutter `TextField` holds focus, the dump returns ONLY the `EditText` nodes — the rest of the tree (including the button you are about to tap) is missing, and it stays missing across retries, so a naive retry loop never converges. Worse, `KEYCODE_BACK` to dismiss the keyboard is treated by Flutter as a route pop: it navigated out of Settings and discarded the typed credentials, twice. The tool must unfocus without popping the route (tap dead space, or `dumpsys input_method` to check `mInputShown` first) and must distinguish "tree is partial" from "element is genuinely absent" rather than reporting a false negative. REMOVE ME AFTER FINISH