Operator App

Purpose

Diagnose installation, permission, handshake, and crash-recovery problems involving the Androperator Operator APK.

Sources

Setup command: apps/node/src/cli/commands/operatorSetup.ts
Setup phases: apps/node/src/domain/device/setupOperator.ts
Permission grants: apps/node/src/domain/device/grantPermissions.ts
Readiness checks: apps/node/src/domain/doctor/checks/readinessChecks.ts
Error codes: apps/node/src/contracts/errors.ts

Operator Setup Phases

androperator operator setup is a three-phase workflow:

install APK
grant accessibility and notification permissions
verify the package is installed

Failures are surfaced with distinct structured codes:

Phase	Code
local APK path missing	`OPERATOR_APK_NOT_FOUND`
adb install failed	`OPERATOR_INSTALL_FAILED`
permission grant failed	`OPERATOR_GRANT_FAILED`
post-install verification failed	`OPERATOR_VERIFY_FAILED`

Successful setup returns all three phase objects plus a follow-up message:

{
  "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
  "install": {
    "ok": true
  },
  "permissions": {
    "accessibility": {
      "ok": true
    },
    "notification": {
      "ok": true,
      "skipped": false
    },
    "notificationListener": {
      "ok": true
    }
  },
  "verification": {
    "ok": true,
    "packageInstalled": true
  },
  "message": "Operator installed and ready. Run androperator doctor to verify."
}

Verification pattern after any repair:

androperator operator setup --apk <path> --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>
androperator doctor --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>
androperator snapshot --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>

Treat the repair as complete only when:

operator setup returns install.ok: true, successful permission objects, and verification.ok: true
doctor reports criticalOk: true
readiness.apk.presence and readiness.handshake are both passing checks
snapshot returns a success envelope

Installation Failures

`OPERATOR_APK_NOT_FOUND`

Meaning:

the local file given to --apk does not exist

Fix:

verify the path on disk
rerun androperator operator setup --apk <path>

Exact failure shape:

{
  "code": "OPERATOR_APK_NOT_FOUND",
  "message": "APK file not found: /abs/path/to/operator.apk",
  "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
  "install": {
    "ok": false,
    "error": "APK file not found: /abs/path/to/operator.apk"
  }
}

`OPERATOR_INSTALL_FAILED`

Meaning:

adb install -r <apkPath> returned non-zero

The error payload includes the install phase details from setupOperator().

Typical fixes:

confirm the device is connected and in adb state device
rerun with the intended package variant
verify the APK itself is buildable or downloadable

Exact failure shape:

{
  "code": "OPERATOR_INSTALL_FAILED",
  "message": "adb: failed to install /abs/path/to/operator.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE]",
  "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
  "install": {
    "ok": false,
    "error": "adb: failed to install /abs/path/to/operator.apk: Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_VERSION_DOWNGRADE]",
    "exitCode": 1
  }
}

`OPERATOR_VERIFY_FAILED`

Meaning:

install completed, but pm list packages could not confirm the expected package afterward

Typical causes:

multiple variants installed and package selection ambiguous
wrong package expected after install

Exact failure shape:

{
  "code": "OPERATOR_VERIFY_FAILED",
  "message": "Package com.androperator.operator.dev was not found after install.",
  "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
  "install": {
    "ok": true
  },
  "verification": {
    "ok": false,
    "packageInstalled": false,
    "error": "Package com.androperator.operator.dev was not found after install."
  }
}

Permission Issues

`OPERATOR_GRANT_FAILED`

Meaning:

one of the permission grant steps failed after install

Current permission steps are:

accessibility service enablement
notification permission grant
notification listener enablement

Important implementation details:

notification permission grant may be marked as skipped but still treated as okay for known Android responses like "already granted", "unknown permission", or "not a changeable permission type"
accessibility and notification listener grants must succeed

Exact failure shape:

{
  "code": "OPERATOR_GRANT_FAILED",
  "message": "Could not set accessibility_enabled",
  "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
  "install": {
    "ok": true
  },
  "permissions": {
    "accessibility": {
      "ok": false,
      "error": "Could not set accessibility_enabled"
    },
    "notification": {
      "ok": true,
      "skipped": false
    },
    "notificationListener": {
      "ok": true
    }
  }
}

`DEVICE_ACCESSIBILITY_NOT_RUNNING`

This usually appears from doctor or handshake flows when the APK is installed but the accessibility service is not active.

Recovery:

androperator grant-device-permissions --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>
androperator doctor --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>

Check the doctor response for:

checks[].id == "readiness.handshake"
checks[].code == "DEVICE_ACCESSIBILITY_NOT_RUNNING" when accessibility is still the problem
nextActions including androperator grant-device-permissions --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>

If that does not recover the device:

reopen Android Accessibility Settings
ensure the Androperator accessibility service is enabled
rerun doctor

Variant Mismatch

`OPERATOR_VARIANT_MISMATCH`

Meaning:

the device has one known Operator package installed, but it is not the package currently requested

Typical cases:

Requested	Installed	Fix
`com.androperator.operator`	`com.androperator.operator.dev`	pass `--operator-package com.androperator.operator.dev` or reinstall release
`com.androperator.operator.dev`	`com.androperator.operator`	pass `--operator-package com.androperator.operator` or reinstall debug

Use androperator doctor to confirm which variant the readiness check found.

The readiness check emits a warning, not a hard setup failure:

{
  "id": "readiness.apk.presence",
  "status": "warn",
  "code": "OPERATOR_VARIANT_MISMATCH",
  "summary": "Wrong Operator variant installed.",
  "detail": "Expected com.androperator.operator.dev but found com.androperator.operator.",
  "fix": {
    "title": "Switch variant"
  }
}

Handshake Failures

`RESULT_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT`

Meaning:

Node sent the command, but no [Androperator-Result] envelope was received before the timeout

The doctor handshake check uses:

Android payload timeout: 5000
envelope wait timeout: 7000

Exact doctor failure shape:

{
  "id": "readiness.handshake",
  "status": "fail",
  "code": "RESULT_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT",
  "summary": "Handshake timed out.",
  "detail": "No [Androperator-Result] envelope received within 7000ms. Broadcast dispatch: sent. Operator package: com.androperator.operator.dev. Device: <device_serial>. No correlated Android log lines were captured. This often indicates an APK/CLI version mismatch or an accessibility service issue. Run 'androperator doctor --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>' to diagnose."
}

The trailing Re-run with --verbose to inspect correlated Android log lines. sentence is conditional and still appears when correlated Android log lines were captured. When no correlated log lines were captured, the timeout detail now points toward version compatibility or accessibility setup.

Recommended recovery:

androperator grant-device-permissions --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>
androperator snapshot --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package> --timeout 5000 --verbose
androperator doctor --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>

`BROADCAST_FAILED`

Meaning:

adb broadcast dispatch to the Operator package failed before a result envelope could be read

This is different from envelope timeout:

timeout means dispatch happened but result was missing
broadcast failure means the dispatch itself failed

If the broadcast diagnostics show the package is missing, the code can be OPERATOR_NOT_INSTALLED instead of BROADCAST_FAILED.

Typical failure shape:

{
  "code": "BROADCAST_FAILED",
  "message": "Failed to dispatch broadcast to Operator package.",
  "details": {
    "broadcastDispatchStatus": "failed",
    "operatorPackage": "com.androperator.operator.dev",
    "deviceId": "<device_serial>"
  }
}

Recovery pattern:

if the package is missing, reinstall with androperator operator setup --apk <path> ...
if the package is present, rerun doctor --verbose and inspect the handshake detail plus adb logcat

Crash Recovery

There is no dedicated "operator crashed" error code in the Node API. In practice, a crash often looks like one of these:

RESULT_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT
DEVICE_ACCESSIBILITY_NOT_RUNNING
handshake fails after a previously healthy setup

Recovery sequence:

rerun androperator doctor --device <serial> --operator-package <pkg>
if accessibility is down, run androperator grant-device-permissions ...
if package presence is wrong or missing, rerun androperator operator setup --apk <path> ...
rerun doctor
confirm with androperator snapshot ...

The runtime hint generated by execution failures also points here. When accessibility is down, runExecution.ts adds a hint like:

androperator doctor --fix --device <device_id>
androperator operator setup --apk <path-to-apk> --device <device_id>

If you need a fresh stable release APK outside install.sh, always redownload it from the canonical public URL before rerunning setup:

https://androperator.com/operator.apk

Crash Logs Access

The Node CLI does not currently expose a dedicated crash-log command. Use adb logcat directly.

Useful commands:

adb -s <device_serial> logcat
adb -s <device_serial> logcat | rg 'androperator|AndroidRuntime|FATAL EXCEPTION'
adb -s <device_serial> logcat -d

For command-specific correlation, also use:

androperator snapshot --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package> --verbose

That helps line up CLI execution with Android-side logging.

Verification pattern:

clear or dump logcat close to the failing command
rerun one failing command such as snapshot --verbose
search for androperator, AndroidRuntime, and FATAL EXCEPTION
correlate the timestamp with the CLI command that failed

Recommended Recovery Order

Use this order for a broken Operator state:

verify device connectivity with androperator devices
run androperator doctor --device <serial> --operator-package <pkg>
fix permissions with androperator grant-device-permissions ... if accessibility is the problem
rerun androperator operator setup --apk <path> ... if install or variant state is wrong
rerun doctor
confirm with androperator snapshot ...

What Success Looks Like

Treat the Operator as recovered only when:

doctor returns criticalOk: true
checks includes a passing readiness.apk.presence
checks includes a passing readiness.handshake
a follow-up snapshot returns envelope.status == "success"

Diagnostics and Logging

Use androperator logs to stream the log file in real time:

# In Terminal 1: start streaming logs
androperator logs

# In Terminal 2: run the failing command
androperator snapshot --device <device_serial> --operator-package <package>

The logs command dumps all existing log entries then streams new ones as they arrive. Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Log file location: ~/.androperator/logs/androperator-YYYY-MM-DD.log

Useful patterns:

# Check for skill lifecycle events
grep '"event":"skills.run.start"' ~/.androperator/logs/androperator-$(date +%F).log

# Parse events with jq
jq -c 'select(.event | startswith("skills.run."))' ~/.androperator/logs/androperator-$(date +%F).log

# Follow logs in real time
tail -f ~/.androperator/logs/androperator-$(date +%F).log

See Logging for complete documentation.

Operator App

Purpose

Sources

Operator Setup Phases

Installation Failures

OPERATOR_APK_NOT_FOUND

OPERATOR_INSTALL_FAILED

OPERATOR_VERIFY_FAILED

Permission Issues

OPERATOR_GRANT_FAILED

DEVICE_ACCESSIBILITY_NOT_RUNNING

Variant Mismatch

OPERATOR_VARIANT_MISMATCH

Handshake Failures

RESULT_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT

BROADCAST_FAILED

Crash Recovery

Crash Logs Access

Recommended Recovery Order

What Success Looks Like

Diagnostics and Logging

Related Pages

`OPERATOR_APK_NOT_FOUND`

`OPERATOR_INSTALL_FAILED`

`OPERATOR_VERIFY_FAILED`

`OPERATOR_GRANT_FAILED`

`DEVICE_ACCESSIBILITY_NOT_RUNNING`

`OPERATOR_VARIANT_MISMATCH`

`RESULT_ENVELOPE_TIMEOUT`

`BROADCAST_FAILED`