Android Kotlin Compose Development

Create production-quality Android applications following Google's official architecture guidance and best practices. Use when building Android apps with Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, MVVM architecture, Hilt dependency injection, Room database, or Android multi-module projects. Triggers on requests to create Android projects, screens, ViewModels, repositories, feature modules, or when asked about Android architecture patterns.

Quick Reference

Workflow Decision Tree

Creating a new project? → Start with templates/settings.gradle.kts.template for settings and module includes
→ Start with templates/libs.versions.toml.template for the version catalog
→ Read modularization.md for structure and module types
→ Use gradle-setup.md for build files and build logic

Configuring Gradle/build files? → Use gradle-setup.md for module build.gradle.kts patterns
→ Keep convention plugins and build logic in build-logic/ as described in gradle-setup.md

Setting up code quality / Detekt? → Use code-quality.md for Detekt convention plugin setup
→ Start from templates/detekt.yml.template for rules and enable Compose rules

Adding or updating dependencies? → Follow dependencies.md
→ Update templates/libs.versions.toml.template if the dependency is missing

Adding a new feature/module? → Follow module naming in modularization.md
→ Implement Presentation in the feature module
→ Follow dependency flow: Feature → Core/Domain → Core/Data

Building UI screens/components? → Read compose-patterns.md → Always align Kotlin code with kotlin-patterns.md
→ Create Screen + ViewModel + UiState in the feature module
→ Use shared components from core/ui when possible

Writing any Kotlin code? → Always follow kotlin-patterns.md
→ Ensure practices align with architecture.md, modularization.md, and compose-patterns.md

Setting up data/domain layers? → Read architecture.md
→ Create Repository interfaces in core/domain → Implement Repository in core/data → Create DataSource + DAO in core/data

Setting up navigation? → Follow Navigation Coordination in modularization.md
→ Configure navigation graph in the app module
→ Use feature navigation destinations and navigator interfaces

Adding tests? → Use testing.md for patterns and examples
→ Keep test doubles in core/testing

Handling runtime permissions? → Follow android-permissions.md for manifest declarations and Compose permission patterns
→ Request permissions contextually and handle "Don't ask again" flows

Sharing logic across ViewModels or avoiding base classes? → Use delegation via interfaces as described in kotlin-delegation.md
→ Prefer small, injected delegates for validation, analytics, or feature flags

Adding crash reporting / monitoring? → Follow crashlytics.md for provider-agnostic interfaces and module placement
→ Use DI bindings to swap between Firebase Crashlytics or Sentry

Enabling StrictMode guardrails? → Follow android-strictmode.md for app-level setup and Compose compiler diagnostics
→ Use Sentry/Firebase init from crashlytics.md to ship StrictMode logs

Choosing design patterns for a new feature, business logic, or system? → Use design-patterns.md for Android-focused pattern guidance
→ Align with architecture.md and modularization.md

Measuring performance regressions or startup/jank? → Use android-performance.md for Macrobenchmark setup and commands
→ Keep benchmark module aligned with benchmark build type in gradle-setup.md

Adding icons, images, or custom graphics? → Use android-graphics.md for Material Symbols icons and custom drawing
→ Download icons via Iconify API or Google Fonts (avoid deprecated Icons.Default.* library)
→ Use Modifier.drawWithContent, drawBehind, or drawWithCache for custom graphics

Creating custom UI effects (glow, shadows, gradients)? → Check android-graphics.md for Canvas drawing, BlendMode, and Palette API patterns
→ Use rememberInfiniteTransition for animated effects

Ensuring accessibility compliance (TalkBack, touch targets, color contrast)? → Follow android-accessibility.md for semantic properties and WCAG guidelines
→ Provide contentDescription for all icons and images
→ Ensure 48dp × 48dp minimum touch targets
→ Test with TalkBack and Accessibility Scanner

Working with images and color extraction? → Use android-graphics.md for Palette API and Coil3 integration
→ Extract colors from images for dynamic theming

Implementing complex coroutine flows or background work? → Follow coroutines-patterns.md for structured concurrency patterns
→ Use appropriate dispatchers (IO, Default, Main) and proper cancellation handling
→ Prefer StateFlow/SharedFlow over channels for state management

Need to share behavior across multiple classes? → Use kotlin-delegation.md for interface delegation patterns
→ Avoid base classes; prefer composition with delegated interfaces
→ Examples: Analytics, FormValidator, CrashReporter

Refactoring existing code or improving architecture? → Review architecture.md for layer responsibilities
→ Check design-patterns.md for applicable patterns
→ Follow kotlin-patterns.md for Kotlin-specific improvements
→ Ensure compliance with modularization.md dependency rules

Debugging performance issues or memory leaks? → Enable android-strictmode.md for development builds
→ Use android-performance.md for profiling and benchmarking
→ Check coroutines-patterns.md for coroutine cancellation patterns

Setting up CI/CD or code quality checks? → Use code-quality.md for Detekt baseline and CI integration
→ Use gradle-setup.md for build cache and convention plugins
→ Use testing.md for test organization and coverage

Handling sensitive data or privacy concerns? → Follow crashlytics.md for data scrubbing patterns
→ Use android-permissions.md for proper permission justification
→ Check android-strictmode.md for detecting cleartext network traffic

Migrating legacy code (LiveData, Fragments, etc.)? → Replace LiveData with StateFlow using coroutines-patterns.md
→ Replace Fragments with Compose screens using compose-patterns.md
→ Update navigation to Navigation3 using modularization.md
→ Follow architecture.md for modern MVVM patterns

Optimizing Compose recomposition or stability? → Use compose-patterns.md for @Immutable/@Stable annotations
→ Check gradle-setup.md for Compose Compiler metrics and stability reports
→ Use kotlin-patterns.md for immutable data structures

Working with databases (Room)? → Define DAOs and entities in core/database per modularization.md
→ Use testing.md for in-memory database testing and migration tests
→ Follow architecture.md for repository patterns with Room

Implementing network calls (Retrofit)? → Define API interfaces in core/network per modularization.md
→ Use architecture.md for RemoteDataSource patterns
→ Follow dependencies.md for Retrofit, OkHttp, and serialization setup
→ Handle errors with generic Result<T> from kotlin-patterns.md

Creating custom lint rules or code checks? → Use code-quality.md for Detekt custom rules
→ Follow gradle-setup.md for convention plugin setup
→ Check android-strictmode.md for runtime checks