Prerequisites¶

Everything you need installed before the Quickstart or the integration guide. Install these once, in order; each row has a one-line check so you know it worked.

New to Android development?

If you've never built an Android app, get comfortable with Android Studio, the SDK, creating an emulator, and running an app first — developer.android.com/get-started. The rest of these docs assume you can build and run a basic Android app.

Toolchain¶

Tool	Version	Why	Check
JDK	17	AGP 8.13 build toolchain (the SDK targets Java 11 bytecode)	`java -version` → `17.x`
Android Studio	latest stable	IDE, SDK manager, emulator	Help → About
Android SDK	compileSdk 36, minSdk 30	the SDK requires `minSdk 30` (Block Store + Credential Manager)	SDK Manager
Docker Desktop	running	the localnet stack (node + indexer + proof server)	`docker info` (no error)
Node.js	20+	runs the `mn` Midnight CLI	`node -v` → `v20+`
`mn` CLI	latest	airdrop + localnet control	`npm i -g midnight-wallet-cli` → `mn --version`
Compact toolchain	compactc `0.31.0`	compile `.compact` contracts	`compact --version`

You do NOT need the Android NDK

The SDK ships prebuilt native libraries (arm64-v8a + x86_64). You don't compile any native code, so there's no NDK step — don't go install one.

Pinned stack (tested together)¶

Layer	Version
Kuira SDK	`0.1.0-alpha05`
Kuira contract plugin	`0.1.0-alpha05`
midnight-node (localnet)	`0.22.5` — on-chain Compact runtime `0.16.0`
compactc / language / runtime	`0.31.0` / `0.23.0` / `0.16.0`

Node version matters

midnight-node:0.22.5 ships on-chain Compact runtime 0.16.0 — the runtime your contract targets. Older nodes (≤ 0.22.3) run 0.15.0 and reject a contract compiled for 0.16.0 with a runtime-version error. mn localnet up pulls the right image; if you run the Docker stack by hand, pin the node tag to 0.22.5.

Emulator or device¶

EmulatorPhysical device

Any arm64 or x86_64 AVD works on SDK 0.1.0-alpha05+ — the native library ships both ABIs.

x86_64 emulators need alpha04+

On alpha03 and earlier the native lib is arm64-v8a only, so an x86_64 (Intel-host) AVD fails at launch with java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError. Use 0.1.0-alpha05+, or create an arm64-v8a AVD.

Enable Developer Options → USB debugging, then forward the localnet ports to the phone:

adb reverse tcp:9944 tcp:9944   # node RPC
adb reverse tcp:8088 tcp:8088   # indexer
adb reverse tcp:6300 tcp:6300   # proof server

(Or apply the io.github.kuiralabs.localnet Gradle plugin, which does this for you.)

SIM-less phone with no 'Install via USB'?

Push and install the APK directly:

./gradlew :app:assembleDebug
adb push app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk /data/local/tmp/app.apk
adb shell pm install -r /data/local/tmp/app.apk

Operating-system notes¶

macOSLinuxWindows

Apple Silicon and Intel both work. Apple-Silicon emulators are arm64; Intel-host emulators are x86_64 (needs alpha04+, above).

Works. Make sure KVM is available for a hardware-accelerated emulator.

mn localnet up can fail with spawnSync … cmd.exe ETIMEDOUT. Bring the stack up directly instead:

docker compose -f ~/.midnight/localnet/compose.yml up -d

The Compact toolchain is easiest under WSL2.

Next: Quickstart — clone a working dApp and run it end-to-end.