AI agent skill · by @aj-geddes

Android Kotlin Development

Develop native Android apps with Kotlin. Covers MVVM with Jetpack, Compose for modern UI, Retrofit for API calls, Room for local storage, and navigation architecture.

Archived 2026-10-23 · Source updated 2026-03-04 · License: MIT. Check the original repository for the latest version.

SKILL.md instructions

# Android Kotlin Development

## Table of Contents

- [Overview](#overview)
- [When to Use](#when-to-use)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Reference Guides](#reference-guides)
- [Best Practices](#best-practices)

## Overview

Build robust native Android applications using Kotlin with modern architecture patterns, Jetpack libraries, and Compose for declarative UI.

## When to Use

- Creating native Android applications with best practices
- Using Kotlin for type-safe development
- Implementing MVVM architecture with Jetpack
- Building modern UIs with Jetpack Compose
- Integrating with Android platform APIs

## Quick Start

Minimal working example:

```kotlin
// Models
data class User(
  val id: String,
  val name: String,
  val email: String,
  val avatarUrl: String? = null
)

data class Item(
  val id: String,
  val title: String,
  val description: String,
  val imageUrl: String? = null,
  val price: Double
)

// API Service with Retrofit
interface ApiService {
  @GET("/users/{id}")
  suspend fun getUser(@Path("id") userId: String): User

  @PUT("/users/{id}")
  suspend fun updateUser(
    @Path("id") userId: String,
    @Body user: User
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)
```

## Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the `references/` directory:

| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| [Models & API Service](references/models-api-service.md) | Models & API Service |
| [MVVM ViewModels with Jetpack](references/mvvm-viewmodels-with-jetpack.md) | MVVM ViewModels with Jetpack |
| [Jetpack Compose UI](references/jetpack-compose-ui.md) | Jetpack Compose UI |

## Best Practices

### ✅ DO

- Use Kotlin for all new Android code
- Implement MVVM with Jetpack libraries
- Use Jetpack Compose for UI development
- Leverage coroutines for async operations
- Use Room for local data persistence
- Implement proper error handling
- Use Hilt for dependency injection
- Use StateFlow for reactive state
- Test on multiple device types
- Follow Android design guidelines

### ❌ DON'T

- Store tokens in SharedPreferences
- Make network calls on main thread
- Ignore lifecycle management
- Skip null safety checks
- Hardcode strings and resources
- Ignore configuration changes
- Store passwords in code
- Deploy without device testing
- Use deprecated APIs
- Accumulate memory leaks