[FEATURE] Android emulator panel in the desktop Code tab (like the iOS Simulator panel)

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

The iOS Simulator panel in the Code tab of the Claude desktop app works very well. The model can see the app, tap, swipe, and type, and I can watch it live. Android has nothing similar.

For Android, the model must use adb screenshots and adb shell input from Bash. There is no live view. It is slow, and I cannot see what the model does.

Proposed Solution

An Android emulator panel and tool, the same as the iOS Simulator panel:

• A live panel that shows the emulator screen. A click on the panel sends a tap.
• Model tools for screenshot, tap, swipe, text, keys (Back, Home, Recents), and APK install and start.
• Start an emulator from Claude, with no IDE open. The panel lists the AVDs from emulator -list-avds. It starts the selected one headless with gRPC on (emulator -avd <name> -no-window -grpc <port>), as Android Studio does for its embedded emulator.
• Attach to an emulator that already runs, for example one that Android Studio or IntelliJ IDEA started.

How it could work. Android Studio uses this approach in its "Running Devices" window:

• The emulator has a gRPC service, EmulatorController (emulator_controller.proto). streamScreenshot sends a continuous stream of frames. sendTouch, sendKey and sendMouse send input. No adb is necessary for the frames, so the latency is low.
• Each running emulator writes a discovery file to ~/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/avd/running/pid_<pid>.ini on macOS. The file gives the gRPC port and the auth data (a token, or a JWKS folder for the client public key).
• Android Studio and IntelliJ IDEA always start the emulator with gRPC on. gRPC accepts more than one client. So Claude can attach to an emulator that the IDE started, and both apps can show the screen at the same time.
• For physical devices, Android Studio pushes a screen-sharing agent over adb and decodes the H.264/AV1 video. This could come later.

Alternative Solutions

• adb from Bash (adb exec-out screencap, adb shell input). It is slow, and I cannot see what the model does.
• An Android MCP server (for example mobile-mcp). It gives the model adb tools, but there is no live panel in the app.
• A plugin. I tried this. The plugin API gives no way to show a live, clickable screen in a desktop pane.

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

Other

Use Case Example

Case 1: start from Claude, with no IDE.

1. I open the Claude desktop app and ask Claude to test my Android app.
2. Claude lists my AVDs and starts Pixel 8 headless. The panel shows the screen.
3. Claude builds the app with Gradle, installs it, and taps through the new screen.
4. Claude takes screenshots to check the result. I watch in the panel and tap myself when necessary.

Case 2: attach to an emulator that IntelliJ IDEA started.

1. I start the Pixel 8 emulator in IntelliJ IDEA and run my app.
2. I move to the Claude desktop app to finish a feature.
3. Claude attaches to the running emulator and shows it in a panel.
4. Claude builds the app, installs it, taps through the new screen, and takes screenshots to check the result.
5. I watch in the panel and tap myself when necessary.

Additional Context

• Claude desktop app (Code tab), macOS, Claude Code 2.1.295.
• The related request #90528 asks for a human-assist mode for GUI actions. This request is different: it asks for a native Android emulator panel.