VSCode Embedded AVD

This extension tries to embed android emulator within the editor in a webview similar to Android Studio's implementation.

Usage

Android Emulator installed and available in your PATH ie. emulator should be accesible by the terminal or you can update embeddedAvd.emulatorPath to point to the binary

• Open Command Palette and run Embedded AVD: Start
• Select one of the emulators

Prerequisites

• Node.js, pnpm, and VS Code

Setup

1. Install dependencies:

   pnpm install
   brew install protobuf (or your preferred way of installing packages)

2. Install gRPC and codegen tools:

   pnpm add -D ts-proto grpc-tools

3. Generate TypeScript types from proto:

    protoc \
    --plugin=./node_modules/.bin/protoc-gen-ts_proto \
    --ts_proto_out=./src/generated \
    --ts_proto_opt=esModuleInterop=true,outputServices=grpc-js \
    -I ./src/proto \
    ./src/proto/emulator_controller.proto

   This will create typed gRPC client code in src/generated.
4. Configure the extension:
   • Open Command Palette and run Embedded AVD: Start
   • Select one of the emulators
5. Run the extension in VS Code Extension Development Host.

Features

• Uses Android Emulator gRPC APIs for near-native performance
• Forwards touch, multi-touch, and keyboard events

Disclaimer

• This is WIP and may not work at all as it is not tested on multiple platforms.

TODO

[] - Multiple AVDs