Running Detox tests for Android on Github Actions Workflow

android.yml

name: Android

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: macos-latest

    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v1
      with:
        fetch-depth: 1

    - name: Node
      uses: actions/setup-node@v1

    - name: Use specific Java version for sdkmanager to work
      uses: joschi/setup-jdk@v1
      with:
        java-version: 'openjdk8'
        architecture: 'x64'

    - name: Download Android Emulator Image
      run: |
        echo "y" | $ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin/sdkmanager --install "system-images;android-29;google_apis;x86"
        echo "no" | $ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin/avdmanager create avd --force --name emu --device "Nexus 5X" -k 'system-images;android-29;google_apis;x86'
        $ANDROID_HOME/emulator/emulator -list-avds

    - name: Install node_modules
      run: |
        yarn install --frozen-lockfile
    
    - name: Build for detox
      run: |
        yarn build-detox-android

    - name: Android Emulator
      timeout-minutes: 10
      continue-on-error: true
      run: |
        echo "Starting emulator"
        nohup $ANDROID_HOME/emulator/emulator -avd emu -no-audio -no-snapshot -no-window &
        $ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools/adb wait-for-device shell 'while [[ -z $(getprop sys.boot_completed | tr -d '\r') ]]; do sleep 1; done; input keyevent 82'
        $ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools/adb devices
        echo "Emulator started"

    - name: Android Detox
      run: yarn start & yarn test-detox-android

package.json

{
  "scripts": {
    "build-detox-android": "detox build -c android.emu.debug",
    "test-detox-android": "detox test -c android.emu.debug"
  },
  "detox": {
    "configurations": {
      "android.emu.debug": {
        "binaryPath": "android/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk",
        "build":
        "cd android && ./gradlew assembleDebug assembleAndroidTest -DtestBuildType=debug && cd ..",
        "type": "android.emulator",
        "name": "emu"
      }
    }
  }
}

fwiw might try utilizing linux minutes instead of mac:

ref

@coip yes, I am aware of this. I did try to use Linux for Android Detox. However, I have encountered an issue that was not easily fixable.
If I remember correctly, the problem was that $ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin/sdkmanager and $ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin/adkmanager did not exist. It would require to install Android Build Tools from scratch and it would cause other issues.

I will try to revisit this and maybe this can be optimized.

😅 just went through this... you are correct. my apologies.

the magnitude of time seems in the favor of even downloading/installing given a ~12min build workflow.
I might end up using a self-hosted runner, unsure yet.

Complication with/Lack of KVM related deps on the Linux host drove me to just use a Mac runner for now, will try to circle back if I find a Linux path for this.
Thanks for sharing!