Stream Android

Stream Android - skill router + execution flow

Rules: Read RULES.md once per session - every non-negotiable rule is stated there, nowhere else.

This file is the single entrypoint: intent classification, local project detection, and module pointers for Stream work in Android apps.

Step 0: Intent classifier (mandatory first - never skip)

Before any tool call, decide the track from the user's input alone - no probes first.

Signals -> track

Disambiguation flow

If the request is ambiguous between build/integrate and reference lookup, ask one short question and wait:

Do you want me to wire this into the project, or just map the Android SDK pattern and files?

After classification

• Tracks A, B, D -> run Step 0.5 (credentials) first, then Project signals once per session, then continue in builder.md and sdk.md. Do not probe the project before credentials.
• Track C -> skip both steps if the product + UI layer are explicit. Only run Project signals on demand if the SDK or UI layer is ambiguous.

Migration flag (orthogonal to the track)

If the user is migrating an existing app off Sendbird, run sendbird-migration.md — a repeatable Sendbird → Stream Chat procedure that sits on top of Track B. It detects the integration shape (Sendbird uikit-compose / XML uikit / custom UI on the low-level sendbird-chat SDK / spaghetti; MVVM/MVI; single- vs multi-activity; Compose-Nav vs fragments+Jetpack-Nav) and picks one of three paths: UIKit → Stream Compose bundled screens; custom-UI → keep the app's UI, swap only the SDK/state layer (surgical); XML UIKit → Stream Compose hosted in the existing fragments (cross-framework). It preserves the app's architecture and navigation, changing only SDK touchpoints. The load-bearing part is the gap-handling protocol (§3.5): for every screen the Sendbird source exposed that a naive swap would drop (creation, settings, members, invitation), either wire the bundled Stream equivalent (GroupChannelInfoScreen/DirectChannelInfoScreen) or — for screens Stream doesn't bundle (channel creation) — tell the user it isn't out-of-the-box, link the public cookbook (getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/android/compose-cookbook/<slug>/), and offer to build it from that cookbook. Never silently drop a screen and never invent one. It reuses Step 0.5's credential flow (credentials.md) and the region rigor of design-matching.md for per-screen fidelity, and — once the code migration builds, connects, and matches the source — offers the data migration (the shared, language-agnostic runbook).

Styling-depth flag (orthogonal to the track)

If the request carries a target appearance - an attached screenshot, a Figma frame, or "make the chat look like WhatsApp / Telegram / Slack / <app>" - run design-matching.md before writing UI code. It sits on top of the Track A/B work (it is how you build the requested UI), not instead of it. A reference is a checklist of regions (header, composer, where the timestamp + read receipts sit, bubble shape/tail, channel-list rows, date separators, attachments...), and most differ from Stream's Compose defaults structurally, not just by color - setting the accent + wallpaper and stopping is the known failure. Classify each screenshot to its screen (channel list vs message vs thread - Step 0), decompose every region capturing dimensions not just colors, then route each difference to one of the two axes: a theming token (StreamDesign.Colors/Typography) or a ChatComponentFactory slot (structure - padding / corner-radius / bubble-shape / composer layout live here; Android has no Styles axis, so those are structure, not theming). Recurring traps the doc guards against: overriding a composite slot (MessageContainer, the header, MessageComposer) silently drops the sub-features the default drew (incoming avatar, grouping, reactions, replies, status, send/voice) unless you reproduce them; the message-header trailing slot defaults to a channel avatar (override it for action icons); the composer differs by row count / field shape / alignment far more than by icon set; DMs must not be prefixed with # in the list or titled "Channel" in the header. The match is not done until you build, seed data that triggers every region, compare region-by-region on the real navigation path, and iterate - implement every region, the composer included; a region left at the SDK default is a FAIL, not a footnote.

Step 0.5: Credentials, token, and seed data (tracks A, B, D only)

Order: intent classification -> Step 0.5 (this step) -> Project signals probe -> track work. Do this before running the Project signals shell command, even if a track table below lists "Detect" as phase 1. Run once per session for tracks A, B, and D. Skip for Track C.

Follow credentials.md to:

• collect the Stream API key from the dashboard (or from the user)
• generate a user token via the Stream CLI (or accept one from the user)
• run any product-specific setup (Chat: optionally seed channels; Feeds: confirm feed groups; Video: nothing — calls are ephemeral)

Wire the API key from getstream env's output (e.g. BuildConfig.STREAM_API_KEY) and use the real user token in code snippets - never placeholder strings. If a track A/B/D task reaches code work and credentials haven't been collected yet, return to credentials.md before continuing.

Project signals (tracks A/B/D - once per session; Track C on demand only)

Read-only local probe. Use it to detect whether the user is in an Android Studio / Gradle project, a Kotlin module, or an empty directory.

bash -c 'echo "=== GRADLE ROOT ==="; find . -maxdepth 2 \( -name "settings.gradle.kts" -o -name "settings.gradle" -o -name "build.gradle.kts" -o -name "build.gradle" \) -print 2>/dev/null; echo "=== APP MODULES ==="; find . -maxdepth 3 -type f \( -name "build.gradle.kts" -o -name "build.gradle" \) -path "*/*/build.gradle*" -print 2>/dev/null; echo "=== VERSION CATALOG ==="; find . -maxdepth 3 -name "libs.versions.toml" -print 2>/dev/null; echo "=== MANIFESTS ==="; find . -maxdepth 4 -name "AndroidManifest.xml" -print 2>/dev/null; echo "=== EMPTY ==="; test -z "$(ls -A 2>/dev/null)" && echo "EMPTY_CWD" || echo "NON_EMPTY"'

Hold the result in conversation context. Don't re-run it unless the user changes directory or the project shape clearly changed.

Use the result to produce a one-line status, for example:

• Compose app detected - app/build.gradle.kts - libs.versions.toml present - ready for Stream wiring
• Multi-module Gradle project detected - preserve existing module layout
• XML / View-based app detected - keep current UI layer unless the user asks to migrate
• No Gradle project found - user needs to create the app in Android Studio first

Module map

Reference layout

Shared Android/Kotlin patterns live in sdk.md. The curated procedure for reproducing a reference design with the pre-built Compose components (the region -> ChatComponentFactory-slot map and the build/verify loop) lives in design-matching.md - loaded via the styling-depth flag above, on top of whichever track applies.

Product and UI-layer specifics live under references/ using a flat naming scheme that can grow with the full Stream Android surface:

• Reference: references/<PRODUCT>-<UI_LAYER>.md
• Blueprints: references/<PRODUCT>-<UI_LAYER>-blueprints.md

Current extracted modules:

• Chat + Compose: references/CHAT-COMPOSE.md + references/CHAT-COMPOSE-blueprints.md
• Chat + XML: references/CHAT-XML.md + references/CHAT-XML-blueprints.md
• Video + Compose: references/VIDEO-COMPOSE.md + references/VIDEO-COMPOSE-blueprints.md
• Feeds + Compose: references/FEEDS-COMPOSE.md + references/FEEDS-COMPOSE-blueprints.md

Feeds has no pre-built UI components. FEEDS-COMPOSE.md covers the headless data SDK (FeedsClient, FeedState, ActivityState); FEEDS-COMPOSE-blueprints.md is custom Composable scaffolding driven by those state flows. Load both for any Feeds request.

Future Android product coverage should stay in this naming family instead of creating more top-level skills.

If the requested product/UI layer file is not bundled yet, say so plainly, use sdk.md for the shared Android patterns, and only switch to live docs if the user asks.

Track A - New app

Full detail: builder.md - use the new-project path.

Track B - Existing app

Full detail: builder.md - use the existing-project path.

Track C - Reference lookup

Load only the relevant files for the requested product and UI layer.

• Shared lifecycle / auth / state patterns -> sdk.md
• Chat Compose setup and gotchas -> references/CHAT-COMPOSE.md
• Chat Compose screen structure -> references/CHAT-COMPOSE-blueprints.md
• Chat XML setup and gotchas -> references/CHAT-XML.md
• Chat XML screen structure -> references/CHAT-XML-blueprints.md
• Video Compose setup and gotchas -> references/VIDEO-COMPOSE.md
• Video Compose call/screen structure -> references/VIDEO-COMPOSE-blueprints.md
• Feeds Compose SDK patterns -> references/FEEDS-COMPOSE.md
• Feeds Compose blueprints -> references/FEEDS-COMPOSE-blueprints.md

If the user asks for a product/UI-layer combo that is not bundled (e.g. Video XML, Feeds XML), say that clearly instead of inventing API details.

Track D - Bootstrap / setup

Use when the user wants the install and wiring path more than a feature build:

• run Step 0.5 (credentials) first
• detect the project shape
• choose Compose vs XML ownership
• install Stream packages with the project's existing dependency strategy (version catalog or inline)
• wire auth and ChatClient lifetime via sdk.md
• stop before product-specific UI if the user only asked for setup