avd manager

List every AVD with its name, path, target API, ABI, and skin.

-c compact; --force silent

List device profiles available for new AVDs (`pixel_6`, `pixel_tablet`, `wear_round`, etc.).

-c

List every SDK package — system images, build tools, platform tools, NDK. Use to find system image ids before creating an AVD.

--include_obsolete

Download the Android <api> system image with Google APIs (Play Store / Maps etc.) for x86_64. The image id format is `<type>;<version>;<variant>;<abi>`.

Apple-silicon variant (arm64) — no hardware acceleration required on M-series Macs.

Create a new AVD interactively-non-interactively. `-n` is the friendly name; `-k` is the system-image package id; `-d` is the device id from `avdmanager list device`.

-f overwrite existing AVD with the same name; -p <path> override default AVD path; --sdcard <size|M|G>

Auto-answer the "Create custom hardware profile?" prompt with `no` so the command can run in CI.

Tag an AVD for Play Store–flavored system images, useful for testing in-app purchase / Google Sign-In flows.

Delete an AVD (definition + default snapshots).

-f don't prompt for confirmation

Move an AVD to a new directory (handy when migrating `ANDROID_AVD_HOME`).

Rename an AVD without re-creating it.

Boot the named AVD in the current terminal. Requires an emulator package + accelerated virtualisation (KVM/HVF/WHPX).

-no-window; -no-audio; -no-boot-anim; -no-snapshot; -gpu swiftshader_indirect

CI-friendly headless boot — no display, no sound, skip boot animation, do not load saved snapshot (always cold boot).

-accel auto|off; -gpu host|swiftshader_indirect

Bind the emulator console to a specific port (default 5554 for the first instance; subsequent emulators get 5556, 5558, ...).

-port 5554; -no-snapshot

Print every AVD name — useful for scripts that iterate or pick an AVD automatically.

Cold-boot the AVD every time, ignoring any saved snapshot. Use when snapshot state is suspect.

Save the current emulator state as a named snapshot.

Restore a named snapshot on next boot.

Make a host port reachable from the emulator (e.g. dev server on `localhost:3000`).

Override the DNS server inside the emulator — needed when corporate networks block the Google DNS default.

Cap the emulator RAM. Default is derived from the device profile; lower it for CI runners.

Set the number of CPU cores reported to the guest.

Choose the graphics backend: `host` uses host GPU (fastest, hardware acceleration), `swiftshader_indirect` is software fallback (CI-safe), `off` disables GPU.

host | swiftshader_indirect | guest | off

Override the AVD's screen skin (`1080x1920`, `480x800`, `Nexus 5`, ...).

Set the rear camera source: `emulated` (animated scene), `webcam0`, `webcam1`, `none`.

emulated | webcam<N> | none

Install an APK on a specific emulator by its ADB serial (`emulator-5554`, `emulator-5556`, ...).

Capture the emulator screen — useful for screenshot regression tests.

Gracefully shutdown the named emulator.

Print the AVD storage directory (default `~/.android/avd`). Override to move AVDs to a fast SSD.

Print the SDK install root. Both `ANDROID_SDK_ROOT` and `ANDROID_HOME` work; newer scripts prefer the latter.

Print the emulator config dir (default `$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/emulator`). Useful when chasing `~/.android/` vs SDK paths.

Print avdmanager / cmdline-tools version.

Print emulator package version.

List every avdmanager subcommand with one-line description.