Appium Automation Contract

The automation contract launches the app directly to a specific screen with controlled state, bypassing normal navigation. It is the foundation for every Appium test.

Source of truth: Kotlin AutomationLaunchContract.kt in app/src/main/kotlin/com/poyka/ripdpi/automation/. Python mirror: appium/lib/launch_contract.py.

Launch Flow

conftest.py::launch_app (autouse fixture)
  1. Read @pytest.mark.automation(...) kwargs from test
  2. adb am force-stop com.poyka.ripdpi
  3. sleep 0.5s (process teardown settle)
  4. adb am start -n com.poyka.ripdpi/.activities.MainActivity \
       --ez com.poyka.ripdpi.automation.ENABLED true \
       --es com.poyka.ripdpi.automation.START_ROUTE {route} \
       ... (remaining extras)
  5. wait_for_element(driver, "{route}-screen", timeout=15)
  6. yield (test runs)
  7. Screenshot on failure -> screenshots/{test_name}.png

Intent Extras

Python Constant	Extra Key	Type	Default	Purpose
ENABLED	...automation.ENABLED	bool	true	Activate automation mode
RESET_STATE	...automation.RESET_STATE	bool	true	Clear persisted state before launch
DISABLE_MOTION	...automation.DISABLE_MOTION	bool	true	Disable Compose animations
START_ROUTE	...automation.START_ROUTE	string	"home"	Target screen
PERMISSION_PRESET	...automation.PERMISSION_PRESET	string	"granted"	Simulated permission state
SERVICE_PRESET	...automation.SERVICE_PRESET	string	"idle"	Simulated service state
DATA_PRESET	...automation.DATA_PRESET	string	"clean_home"	Pre-populated data fixtures

All extras are prefixed with com.poyka.ripdpi.automation..

Preset Reference

start_route

Route	Screen Resource ID	Typical data_preset
home	home-screen	clean_home
onboarding	onboarding-screen	clean_home
config	config-screen	settings_ready
diagnostics	diagnostics-screen	diagnostics_demo
history	history-screen	settings_ready
logs	logs-screen	settings_ready
settings	settings-screen	settings_ready
mode_editor	mode_editor-screen	settings_ready
dns_settings	dns_settings-screen	settings_ready
advanced_settings	advanced_settings-screen	settings_ready
about	about-screen	settings_ready
data_transparency	data_transparency-screen	settings_ready
app_customization	app_customization-screen	settings_ready

permission_preset

Value	Simulates
granted	All permissions granted (default)
vpn_missing	VPN permission not granted
notifications_missing	Notification permission not granted
battery_review	Battery optimization not disabled

service_preset

Value	Simulates
idle	Service not running (default)
connected_proxy	Proxy service connected
connected_vpn	VPN service connected
live	Live connection with real service

data_preset

Value	Simulates
clean_home	Fresh install state (default)
settings_ready	Settings populated, configs available
diagnostics_demo	Demo diagnostic data pre-loaded

Marker Usage

# Minimal -- all defaults (home screen, granted, idle, clean_home)
@pytest.mark.automation()
def test_home_loads(driver): ...

# Deep-link to sub-screen with populated data
@pytest.mark.automation(
    start_route="dns_settings",
    data_preset="settings_ready",
)
def test_dns_plain_save(driver): ...

# Permission-denied scenario
@pytest.mark.automation(
    start_route="home",
    permission_preset="vpn_missing",
)
def test_vpn_permission_banner(driver): ...

# Connected state testing
@pytest.mark.automation(
    start_route="home",
    service_preset="connected_vpn",
    data_preset="clean_home",
)
def test_connected_vpn_stats(driver): ...

All parameters are keyword-only. Omitted params use defaults shown in the Intent Extras table.

Adding a New Route

1. Add route string to Kotlin Route sealed class
2. Add handling in AutomationLaunchContract.kt to navigate to the new screen
3. Set Modifier.testTag("{route}-screen") on the screen's root composable
4. Use @pytest.mark.automation(start_route="{route}") in the Python test
5. The conftest.py wait (wait_for_element(driver, f"{route}-screen", timeout=15)) works automatically

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Forgetting reset_state=True	Previous test's data leaks in. Default is True -- only set False if intentionally preserving state.
Wrong data_preset for the screen	Screen renders empty or missing elements. Match route to its typical preset (see table above).
Omitting disable_motion=True	Animations cause timing issues, especially in CI. Default is True -- only set False to test animations.
start_route value not in Kotlin Route	App silently falls back to home screen. Verify the route exists in Route.kt.
Screen resource-id doesn't match {route}-screen	wait_for_element times out on launch. The convention is {route}-screen.
Testing connected state with service_preset="idle"	Stats/metrics cards won't be visible. Use connected_vpn or connected_proxy.

See Also

• .github/skills/appium-test-authoring/SKILL.md -- How to write tests using the automation marker
• .github/skills/appium-test-debug/SKILL.md -- Troubleshooting when launch fails
• .github/skills/android-device-debug/SKILL.md -- Raw ADB commands for device interaction