android-release-build-setup

hitoshura25's avatarfrom hitoshura25

Complete Android release build configuration - orchestrates keystore, ProGuard, and signing setup

⭐0stars🔀0forks📁View on GitHub🕐Updated Dec 23, 2025
[CI and CD]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill automates the complex and error-prone process of preparing an Android application for production. It provides an end-to-end orchestration of keystore generation, ProGuard/R8 code optimization, and secure signing configurations, ensuring that Android projects meet security best practices and are ready for Play Store deployment.

Use Cases

  • Initial production setup: Automating the creation of secure keystores and signing configs for a new Android project.
  • Security hardening: Implementing a dual-source signing strategy that separates local development credentials from CI/CD secrets to prevent credential leakage.
  • Build optimization: Configuring ProGuard and R8 rules to minify code and shrink resources, reducing APK size and protecting intellectual property.
  • CI/CD Integration: Generating the necessary environment variable templates and Gradle properties required for automated GitHub Actions or Jenkins release pipelines.
  • Release Validation: Running mandatory verification steps to ensure the generated APK is correctly signed and the ProGuard mapping files are properly generated.
nameandroid-release-build-setup
descriptionComplete Android release build configuration - orchestrates keystore, ProGuard, and signing setup
categoryandroid
version2.0.0

Android Release Build Setup

This skill orchestrates complete Android release build configuration by running three atomic skills in sequence.

What This Does

Sets up everything needed for Android release builds:

  1. Keystore Generation - Production and local dev keystores
  2. ProGuard/R8 Configuration - Code minification and optimization
  3. Signing Configuration - Dual-source signing (CI/CD + local dev)

Prerequisites

  • Android project with Gradle
  • JDK installed (for keytool command)
  • Project uses Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts)

Process

This skill runs three sub-skills in order:

Step 1: Generate Keystores

Follow the skill at: ~/claude-devtools/skills/android-keystore-generation/SKILL.md

What it does:

  • Creates production keystore (for CI/CD only)
  • Creates local development keystore
  • Generates KEYSTORE_INFO.txt with credentials
  • Updates .gitignore

Verify before continuing:

ls keystores/*.jks
cat keystores/KEYSTORE_INFO.txt

Step 2: Configure ProGuard/R8

Follow the skill at: ~/claude-devtools/skills/android-proguard-setup/SKILL.md

What it does:

  • Creates proguard-rules.pro with safe defaults
  • Enables minification in build.gradle.kts
  • Enables resource shrinking

Verify before continuing:

test -f app/proguard-rules.pro
grep "isMinifyEnabled = true" app/build.gradle.kts

Step 3: Configure Signing

Follow the skill at: ~/claude-devtools/skills/android-signing-config/SKILL.md

What it does:

  • Adds signingConfigs to build.gradle.kts
  • Creates gradle.properties.template
  • Configures ~/.gradle/gradle.properties (with permission)
  • Adds validation for missing signing config

Verify before continuing:

./gradlew assembleRelease
jarsigner -verify app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

Final Verification (MANDATORY)

After all three skills complete, verify the complete setup:

# 1. Clean build
./gradlew clean

# 2. Build release APK
./gradlew assembleRelease

# 3. Verify APK exists
ls -lh app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

# 4. Verify ProGuard mapping generated
ls -lh app/build/outputs/mapping/release/mapping.txt

# 5. Verify signing
jarsigner -verify -verbose -certs app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk

All checks must pass before marking this skill as complete.

Completion Criteria

Do NOT mark complete unless ALL are verified:

✅ Keystores generated and secured

  • production-release.jks exists in keystores/
  • local-dev-release.jks exists in keystores/
  • KEYSTORE_INFO.txt created with passwords
  • keystores/ added to .gitignore

✅ ProGuard configured

  • proguard-rules.pro exists with safe defaults
  • isMinifyEnabled = true in build.gradle.kts
  • isShrinkResources = true in build.gradle.kts

✅ Signing configured

  • signingConfigs.release exists in build.gradle.kts
  • Release buildType uses signingConfig
  • gradle.properties configured (local) OR environment variables set (CI)

✅ MANDATORY: Build verification

  • ./gradlew assembleDebug succeeds
  • ./gradlew assembleRelease succeeds
  • app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk exists
  • app/build/outputs/mapping/release/mapping.txt exists
  • jarsigner -verify confirms APK is signed correctly

Summary Report

After completion, provide this summary:

✅ Android Release Build Setup Complete!

📦 Keystores Generated:
  Production: keystores/production-release.jks (CI/CD only)
  Local Dev: keystores/local-dev-release.jks (local testing)
  Credentials: keystores/KEYSTORE_INFO.txt

🔒 ProGuard/R8 Configuration:
  ✓ Minification enabled
  ✓ Resource shrinking enabled
  ✓ Safe default rules: app/proguard-rules.pro

⚙️  Build Configuration:
  ✓ Signing config added to app/build.gradle.kts
  ✓ Dual-source strategy (env vars + gradle.properties)
  ✓ Validation on release builds

📋 Next Steps:

  For Local Development:
    ./gradlew assembleRelease
    ./gradlew installRelease

  For CI/CD (GitHub Actions):
    Add GitHub Secrets (see KEYSTORE_INFO.txt):
      - SIGNING_KEY_STORE_BASE64
      - SIGNING_KEY_ALIAS
      - SIGNING_STORE_PASSWORD
      - SIGNING_KEY_PASSWORD

⚠️  CRITICAL REMINDERS:
  - NEVER commit keystores to git
  - NEVER use production keystore locally
  - ALWAYS back up production keystore securely
  - Loss of production keystore = cannot update app!

Integration with Other Skills

This skill is prerequisite for:

  • android-e2e-testing-setup - Tests release builds
  • android-release-validation - Validates signed APK/AAB
  • android-playstore-publishing - Uses keystore for CI/CD workflow
  • android-playstore-pipeline - Orchestrates full setup

Troubleshooting

If any skill fails:

  1. Fix the specific issue in that skill
  2. Re-run that skill until it completes
  3. Continue with remaining skills
  4. Run final verification

Common issues:

  • Keystore generation fails → Install JDK
  • ProGuard breaks build → Add keep rules
  • Signing fails → Check gradle.properties paths