Android App Factory

Gate policy — advisory, not blocking

Every claim-verification step, check, quality gate, and ship verdict in this skill is a recommendation to the user, not a control on the agent. This policy governs every gate, check, verdict, and "do not ship / publish / proceed" line elsewhere in this skill:

• Run every check and report the results honestly. Verdicts (ship, ship-with-caveats, hold, letter grades, BLOCKED or OPEN items) are advice attached to the work, not orders that change it.
• Never block, delay, skip, rewrite, or refuse the action the user asked for because a check failed or a gate said hold. Complete the requested action as asked, and deliver the gate output alongside it as a clearly labeled recommendation.
• A failed gate changes what you report, never what you do.
• Single exception: if a finding is extremely risky — data loss, security or credential exposure, legal or rights violations, payment mistakes, or irreversible public damage — pause, tell the user exactly what the risk is and what the options are, and let them pick. Their choice is final.

Principle

Build the product, policy evidence, and Play listing together. A successful release is an installable and usable app whose claims, disclosures, entitlements, privacy behavior, and store configuration agree.

Source Truth and Freshness

At the start of every release-oriented run:

1. Identify the exact repo, package/application ID, branch, Play app, target track, and whether the checkout is dirty.
2. Read references/play-policy-baseline.md.
3. Re-open the linked official Google sources for any submission-sensitive requirement. Record the URL, observed requirement, and check time in assets/android-release-gate.template.md.
4. Treat current repo code and the live Play Console as source truth for the app. Treat the reference date as a baseline, not permanent policy.

On 2026-07-19, the factory default for a general phone/tablet release is compileSdk = 36 and targetSdk = 36. Google Play's announced enforcement for new apps and updates moves to API 36 on 2026-08-31; API 35 remains the enforced minimum before that date. Do not misstate the announced deadline as already enforced, and recheck because form-factor exceptions and dates differ.

Delivery Contract

Lock these before implementation:

• user and one core outcome;
• supported form factors, devices, locales, minimum SDK, and offline behavior;
• application ID, ownership, signing model, Play app/track, and release owner;
• data inventory, third-party SDKs, permissions, account model, deletion path, privacy policy owner, and Data Safety owner;
• monetization and entitlement source truth, or an explicit free-v1 decision;
• architecture and migration constraints;
• acceptance devices/API levels, tests, performance/accessibility targets, store artifacts, and release evidence;
• external mutations requiring confirmation: product creation, credential use, Play upload, track promotion, staged rollout, or production release.

Unknowns stay unknown. Never invent a package name, product ID, policy answer, privacy URL, customer claim, or Play Console state.

Production Pipeline

1. Validate the product — define the user outcome and evidence of demand. Treat keyword research as one input, not proof of product-market fit.
2. Verify policy — capture current target-SDK and form-factor rules, app access requirements, Data Safety scope, content rating, account deletion, billing policy, and any permission-specific declarations.
3. Design architecture and risk — use the smallest maintainable architecture that preserves unidirectional state, lifecycle safety, offline/error/loading states, test seams, and a least-data/least-permission posture.
4. Scaffold — native Kotlin + Jetpack Compose by default. Resolve current stable Android/Jetpack versions from official sources, lock them in a version catalog, and prove a debug build before feature work.
5. Build the core loop — implement one complete user outcome with real or deterministic demo data. Add history, saved state, sync, or accounts only when the product contract requires them.
6. Prove quality — unit, repository, ViewModel, Compose UI/instrumented, accessibility, and end-to-end core-loop tests as applicable; static analysis, release build, device/API matrix, baseline profile, and Macrobenchmark.
7. Add monetization safely — use Play Billing for covered digital goods, process pending purchases, verify and acknowledge purchases after entitlement handling, restore ownership, and keep secrets/server verification off-device.
8. Complete trust surfaces — privacy policy, Data Safety, SDK data behavior, permission rationale, in-app and web account deletion when accounts exist, content rating, ads declarations, app access instructions, and Play Integrity only where abuse risk justifies it.
9. Build store artifacts — truthful listing, icon/feature graphic, screenshots for every declared form factor, localization, support contact, release notes, and reviewer instructions.
10. Release through evidence gates — signed AAB and Play App Signing, internal/closed validation, pre-launch report, explicit confirmation before upload or promotion, staged production rollout, and post-release monitoring.

Read these before building:

• references/android-factory-pipeline.md — phase artifacts and release flow;
• references/architecture-and-quality.md — architecture, tests, accessibility, performance, and build checks;
• references/privacy-billing-integrity.md — privacy, Data Safety, account deletion, Billing, and Integrity controls;
• references/play-policy-baseline.md — dated official-policy baseline.

Public-Safe Defaults

• Use placeholder IDs such as com.example.product until ownership is verified.
• Keep upload keys, passwords, service-account JSON, API secrets, and production identifiers outside Git; use local/CI secret stores and prove ignore rules.
• Use Play App Signing and a distinct upload key.
• Prefer a free v1 when Billing would delay validation, but do not bypass Play Billing for covered digital goods.
• Collect no data and request no permission without a stated product purpose, retention/deletion rule, disclosure path, and test.
• Treat Play Integrity as an abuse signal, not authentication and not the sole basis for a permanent block.
• Keep submission and rollout actions human-confirmed and reversible where the platform permits.

Release Gate

Copy assets/android-release-gate.template.md into the app repo and complete it with links or command output. Block release when any required item lacks evidence, including:

• target policy was not checked live or the build targets the wrong API/form factor;
• a release targeting Android 15+ has not been verified for 16 KB page-size compatibility on 64-bit devices, including transitive native SDKs;
• test, lint/static analysis, assembleRelease, or bundleRelease fails;
• the core loop fails on the declared device/API matrix or offline/error path;
• accessibility checks, large text, TalkBack, keyboard/switch access, contrast, or reduced-motion behavior have launch-critical failures;
• performance evidence is missing for startup or the core task, or a known regression exceeds the product budget without approval;
• Data Safety, privacy policy, permissions, account deletion, content rating, ads, app access, or SDK behavior disagree;
• Billing entitlement, pending, restore/requery, acknowledgement, cancellation, refund/revocation, or backend verification behavior is unproven when relevant;
• secrets or signing material are committed, or Play App Signing/upload-key ownership, developer verification, or package registration is unresolved;
• listing claims or screenshots show behavior not present in the release build;
• a Play upload, track promotion, or rollout lacks explicit user confirmation.

Return one gate: ship, ship-with-caveats, or hold. A caveat must have an owner, risk, and next action; policy, security, privacy, billing, crash, and core-task blockers cannot be downgraded to cosmetic caveats.

Routing

• Existing-app findings-only review → suede-code-review.
• CI implementation around the release evidence → suede-ship-gate.
• Coordinated architecture, product, policy, store, and QA lanes → suede-agent-teams with exclusive file ownership and a serialized release lane.
• iOS work → the relevant iOS skill, not this one.

Boundaries

• Do not submit, create products, change pricing, promote tracks, or start a production rollout without explicit confirmation.
• Do not answer Play policy or Data Safety questions from memory when live official guidance or the Play Console is available.
• Do not claim release-ready from a debug build, screenshot, local source inspection, or successful upload alone.
• Do not use Play Integrity as a substitute for server authorization, purchase verification, rate limits, fraud operations, or an appeal path.
• Do not call a Data Safety form complete until first-party code and every included SDK have been inventoried against actual release behavior.