Android Skills: Agent Instructions From the Android Team

TL;DR

TL;DR: android/skills is an Apache-2.0 repository run by the Android team that holds modular instruction files for coding agents. Each skill is a markdown SKILL.md that grounds a model in one specific Android workflow, and you install them with the Android CLI or as a Claude Code or Codex plugin. Your agent then loads the relevant one on its own.

What it is

The repository collects AI-optimized, modular instructions and resources so agents can understand and execute Android patterns that follow the published guidance on developer.android.com. Every skill is a markdown file named SKILL.md that gives a technical specification of a task, so the model starts from concrete written instructions rather than improvising.

It follows the open standard for agent skills at agentskills.io. That matters more than it sounds: because the format is standard rather than proprietary, the same files work across agents instead of being welded to a single tool. The repository is Kotlin, Apache-2.0 licensed, has 8,094 stars and 537 forks, and lives under the android organization account. It was created on 16 March 2026 and was last pushed on 16 October 2026, so it is being maintained actively.

The selection policy is the part worth understanding. Android does not spend its effort on ground models already cover. Basic Jetpack Compose best practices are explicitly not a priority. Focus goes to use cases and workflows where evaluations show LLMs underperform. The README’s own example skill is r8-analyzer, which fits that brief much better than a Compose basics walkthrough would.

How to try it

The Android CLI installs skills into a directory, either one at a time or the whole set:

# one skill into the current project
android skills add r8-analyzer --project=.

# every Android skill, for every agent the CLI can detect
android skills add --all

The flags control scope, and the README is specific about what happens when you leave them out:

Flag	Behavior when omitted
--all	Only the android-cli skill gets installed
--agent	Installs for all detected agents
--project	Not stated in the README

That first row catches people out. Run android skills add on its own and you get a single skill, not the library.

When there are no existing agent directories and you have not named an agent, the CLI falls back to installing for Gemini and Antigravity under ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills.

Keeping them current is a separate command:

android skills update --all
android skills update wear-compose-m3

Installing as a plugin

If your agent has a plugin system, the repository doubles as a marketplace entry. Claude Code:

/plugin install android-skills --marketplace android/skills

Codex takes the same repository through two steps:

codex plugin marketplace add android/skills
codex plugin add android-skills@android-skills

When to use it

Reach for this when an agent is already writing Android code and you are tired of correcting it on the parts the model handles badly. Because the selection targets known weak spots, you get guidance where it counts instead of a restatement of what you would have told it anyway.

It also helps when more than one person works with agents on the same codebase. The skills are versioned in a public repository under Apache-2.0, so you can pin them, review diffs, and upgrade deliberately with android skills update rather than hoping every agent invents its own approach.

When NOT to use it

Public contributions are not accepted at this time. The README routes feedback, bug reports, and new skill requests through a GitHub issue, so if your plan was to contribute a skill upstream, that door is closed.

The repository also carries a plain disclaimer that AI can make mistakes and that results should always be double-checked. Read an installed skill as documentation you review, not as an authority that removes the need for review.

Source and Accuracy Notes

• Project page: https://github.com/android/skills
• Source repository: android/skills (verified via GitHub API html_url)
• License: Apache-2.0 (verified via GitHub API license.spdx_id)
• Stars at time of writing: 8,094
• The repository’s GitHub description field is empty. Facts above come from the README and the GitHub API repository metadata, not from a fuller read of the skill files themselves.