Kotlin Bindings

The Kotlin bindings provide native XMTP functionality for Android applications using Mozilla’s UniFFI. These bindings expose the core LibXMTP Rust library to Kotlin through automatically generated FFI code and native libraries.

These bindings are low-level FFI interfaces. For most Android development, use the XMTP Android SDK instead, which provides a Kotlin-native API built on top of these bindings.

Installation

The bindings are distributed as part of the XMTP Android SDK. If you need to use the bindings directly:

Gradle

Add to your build.gradle.kts:

dependencies {
    implementation("org.xmtp:android:x.x.x")
}

Requirements

Android SDK 23+ (Android 6.0 Marshmallow)
Kotlin 1.9+
Java 17
Gradle 8.0+

Architecture

The Kotlin bindings use UniFFI to generate Kotlin code from Rust, with native .so libraries for all Android ABIs.

Key Technologies

UniFFI: Mozilla’s tool for generating foreign-language bindings from Rust
JNI: Java Native Interface for calling native code
Native Libraries: .so files for arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, x86_64, x86
Tokio Integration: Rust async runtime with Kotlin coroutine bridging

Binary Artifacts

The bindings include native libraries for all Android ABIs:

jniLibs/
├── arm64-v8a/      # 64-bit ARM (most modern devices)
├── armeabi-v7a/    # 32-bit ARM (older devices)
├── x86_64/         # 64-bit Intel (emulators)
└── x86/            # 32-bit Intel (older emulators)

Plus generated Kotlin bindings:

xmtpv3.kt - Generated UniFFI bindings

Object Lifetimes

UniFFI manages object lifetimes using Arc<> pointers:

Objects crossing the FFI boundary are wrapped in Arc<>
Kotlin’s garbage collector automatically releases Rust objects
No manual memory management required
Objects implement AutoCloseable for explicit cleanup

Async and Concurrency

The bindings use Tokio’s multi-threaded runtime:

Kotlin suspend functions map to Rust async functions
Rust operations may resume on different threads after await
All exposed objects are Send + Sync for thread safety
Supports concurrent operations across multiple threads

Basic Usage

Here’s a basic example of creating a client and sending messages:

import org.xmtp.android.library.Client
import org.xmtp.android.library.ClientOptions
import org.xmtp.android.library.XMTPEnvironment
import java.security.SecureRandom

// Generate encryption key for local database
val encryptionKey = SecureRandom().generateSeed(32)

// Configure client options
val options = ClientOptions(
    api = ClientOptions.Api(
        env = XMTPEnvironment.PRODUCTION,
        isSecure = true,
        appVersion = "MyApp/1.0.0"
    ),
    appContext = applicationContext,
    dbEncryptionKey = encryptionKey
)

// Create a client with a wallet
val client = Client.create(
    account = wallet,
    options = options
)

// Check if registered
val isRegistered = client.isRegistered
println("Client registered: $isRegistered")

// Get inbox ID
val inboxId = client.inboxId
println("Inbox ID: $inboxId")

// Create a group conversation
val group = client.conversations.newGroup(
    accountAddresses = listOf("0x1234...", "0x5678...")
)

// Send a message
group.send("Hello, XMTP!")

// Stream new messages
group.streamMessages().collect { message ->
    println("New message: ${message.body}")
}

Development

Prerequisites

For development, you need:

Android Studio
Android SDK and NDK
Rust toolchain with Android targets
Cross-compilation tools

The easiest way is using Nix:

# Enter Android development shell
nix develop .#android

Build Commands

# Build .so libraries + Kotlin bindings
./sdks/android/dev/bindings

# Or using just
just android build

Linting and Formatting

# Format Kotlin code
./gradlew spotlessApply

# Check formatting
./gradlew spotlessCheck

# Run Android lint
./gradlew :library:lintDebug

Configuration:

Spotless is configured in build.gradle.kts
Follows Kotlin official style guide

Testing

Running Tests

The Android bindings have two types of tests:

Unit Tests
Instrumented Tests

# Run JVM unit tests (no emulator needed)
./gradlew library:testDebug

Located in library/src/test/

# Start local backend
just backend up

# Run on emulator or device
./gradlew connectedCheck

Located in library/src/androidTest/

Test Structure

Instrumented tests in library/src/androidTest/:

ClientTest.kt - Client creation and management
ConversationsTest.kt - Conversation operations
GroupTest.kt - Group messaging
DmTest.kt - Direct messages
CodecTest.kt - Content type codecs

Example Test

import androidx.test.ext.junit.runners.AndroidJUnit4
import androidx.test.platform.app.InstrumentationRegistry
import kotlinx.coroutines.runBlocking
import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
import org.junit.Test
import org.junit.runner.RunWith
import org.xmtp.android.library.Client
import org.xmtp.android.library.ClientOptions
import org.xmtp.android.library.XMTPEnvironment
import org.xmtp.android.library.messages.PrivateKeyBuilder
import java.security.SecureRandom

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class)
class ClientTest : BaseInstrumentedTest() {
    @Test
    fun testCanBeCreatedWithBundle() {
        val key = SecureRandom().generateSeed(32)
        val context = InstrumentationRegistry
            .getInstrumentation()
            .targetContext
        val fakeWallet = PrivateKeyBuilder()
        val options = ClientOptions(
            ClientOptions.Api(XMTPEnvironment.LOCAL, false),
            appContext = context,
            dbEncryptionKey = key,
        )
        
        val client = runBlocking {
            Client.create(
                account = fakeWallet,
                options = options
            )
        }

        val clientIdentity = fakeWallet.publicIdentity
        runBlocking {
            val canMessage = client.canMessage(
                listOf(clientIdentity)
            )
            assert(canMessage[clientIdentity.identifier] == true)
        }

        val fromBundle = runBlocking {
            Client.build(
                clientIdentity,
                options = options
            )
        }
        assertEquals(client.inboxId, fromBundle.inboxId)
    }
}

Key Dependencies

Runtime
Development

uniffi-xmtpv3 - Generated FFI bindings
Native .so libraries - Rust code compiled for Android
kotlinx-coroutines - Async/await support
androidx.lifecycle - Android lifecycle integration

spotless - Code formatting
junit - Testing framework
androidx.test - Android testing utilities
mockk - Mocking library

Advanced Patterns

Database Encryption

All local data is encrypted using a key you provide:

import android.security.keystore.KeyGenParameterSpec
import android.security.keystore.KeyProperties
import java.security.KeyStore
import javax.crypto.KeyGenerator

// Generate a secure key using Android Keystore
fun generateEncryptionKey(): ByteArray {
    val keyGenerator = KeyGenerator.getInstance(
        KeyProperties.KEY_ALGORITHM_AES,
        "AndroidKeyStore"
    )
    val keyGenSpec = KeyGenParameterSpec.Builder(
        "xmtp_db_key",
        KeyProperties.PURPOSE_ENCRYPT or KeyProperties.PURPOSE_DECRYPT
    )
        .setBlockModes(KeyProperties.BLOCK_MODE_GCM)
        .setEncryptionPaddings(KeyProperties.ENCRYPTION_PADDING_NONE)
        .setKeySize(256)
        .build()
    
    keyGenerator.init(keyGenSpec)
    val secretKey = keyGenerator.generateKey()
    return secretKey.encoded
}

// Use the key when creating a client
val encryptionKey = generateEncryptionKey()
val options = ClientOptions(
    api = ClientOptions.Api(XMTPEnvironment.PRODUCTION, true),
    appContext = applicationContext,
    dbEncryptionKey = encryptionKey
)

Environment Configuration

// Production environment
val prodOptions = ClientOptions(
    api = ClientOptions.Api(
        env = XMTPEnvironment.PRODUCTION,
        isSecure = true,
        appVersion = "MyApp/1.0.0"
    ),
    appContext = applicationContext,
    dbEncryptionKey = encryptionKey
)

// Development environment
val devOptions = ClientOptions(
    api = ClientOptions.Api(
        env = XMTPEnvironment.DEV,
        isSecure = true,
        appVersion = "MyApp/1.0.0-dev"
    ),
    appContext = applicationContext,
    dbEncryptionKey = encryptionKey
)

// Local testing
val localOptions = ClientOptions(
    api = ClientOptions.Api(
        env = XMTPEnvironment.LOCAL,
        isSecure = false,
        appVersion = "MyApp/Testing"
    ),
    appContext = applicationContext,
    dbEncryptionKey = encryptionKey
)

Inbox State Management

// Get current inbox state
val inboxState = client.inboxState(refreshFromNetwork = true)

println("Inbox ID: ${inboxState.inboxId}")
println("Installations: ${inboxState.installations.size}")
println("Recovery address: ${inboxState.recoveryAddress}")

// Get inbox states for multiple inboxes
val inboxStates = Client.inboxStatesForInboxIds(
    inboxIds = listOf(inboxId1, inboxId2),
    api = ClientOptions.Api(
        env = XMTPEnvironment.PRODUCTION,
        isSecure = true
    )
)

Streaming with Coroutines

import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.collect
import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
import androidx.lifecycle.lifecycleScope

// Stream conversations
lifecycleScope.launch {
    client.conversations.stream().collect { conversation ->
        println("New conversation: ${conversation.id}")
    }
}

// Stream messages in a conversation
lifecycleScope.launch {
    group.streamMessages().collect { message ->
        println("From: ${message.senderInboxId}")
        println("Content: ${message.body}")
    }
}

// Stream with error handling
lifecycleScope.launch {
    try {
        group.streamMessages().collect { message ->
            handleNewMessage(message)
        }
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        println("Stream error: ${e.message}")
    }
}

Lifecycle Integration

import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.MutableStateFlow
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.StateFlow
import kotlinx.coroutines.launch

class ChatViewModel(private val client: Client) : ViewModel() {
    private val _messages = MutableStateFlow<List<DecodedMessage>>(emptyList())
    val messages: StateFlow<List<DecodedMessage>> = _messages

    fun startMessageStream(groupId: String) {
        viewModelScope.launch {
            val group = client.conversations.list()
                .find { it.id == groupId }
                ?: return@launch

            group.streamMessages().collect { message ->
                _messages.value = _messages.value + message
            }
        }
    }

    override fun onCleared() {
        super.onCleared()
        // Streams are automatically cancelled when viewModelScope is cancelled
    }
}

Performance Considerations

Memory Management

UniFFI uses Arc for shared ownership between Kotlin and Rust
Kotlin GC automatically deallocates objects
Implement AutoCloseable for explicit cleanup

client.use { client ->
    // Client is automatically closed when block exits
    val group = client.conversations.newGroup(...)
    group.send("Hello!")
}

Threading

Tokio runtime uses multiple threads for Rust operations
Kotlin coroutines integrate seamlessly
All callbacks are thread-safe

Database Performance

SQLite with encryption (SQLCipher)
Write-ahead logging (WAL) enabled
Connection pooling for concurrent access

ABI Filtering

To reduce APK size, filter ABIs in build.gradle.kts:

android {
    defaultConfig {
        ndk {
            // Only include 64-bit architectures
            abiFilters += listOf("arm64-v8a", "x86_64")
        }
    }
}

Troubleshooting

Native Library Not Found

If you see “UnsatisfiedLinkError: dlopen failed”:

# Rebuild native bindings
./sdks/android/dev/bindings

# Clean and rebuild
./gradlew clean build

Database Errors

If you encounter database errors:

// Delete local database
val dbPath = File(client.dbPath)
dbPath.deleteRecursively()

// Create a new client
val newClient = Client.create(
    account = wallet,
    options = options
)

Coroutine Context Required

Many methods are suspend functions:

// ❌ Wrong - no coroutine context
val client = Client.create(account = wallet, options = options)

// ✅ Correct - in suspend function
suspend fun setupClient(): Client {
    return Client.create(
        account = wallet,
        options = options
    )
}

// ✅ Correct - with runBlocking (avoid in production)
val client = runBlocking {
    Client.create(
        account = wallet,
        options = options
    )
}

// ✅ Correct - with lifecycleScope
lifecycleScope.launch {
    val client = Client.create(
        account = wallet,
        options = options
    )
}

Debugging

Debugging FFI can be challenging:

Enable Logging

import uniffi.xmtpv3.FfiLogLevel
import uniffi.xmtpv3.FfiLogRotation

// Set up FFI logger
val logger = object : FfiLogger {
    override fun log(level: FfiLogLevel, message: String) {
        when (level) {
            FfiLogLevel.ERROR -> Log.e("XMTP", message)
            FfiLogLevel.WARN -> Log.w("XMTP", message)
            FfiLogLevel.INFO -> Log.i("XMTP", message)
            FfiLogLevel.DEBUG -> Log.d("XMTP", message)
            FfiLogLevel.TRACE -> Log.v("XMTP", message)
        }
    }
}

// Register logger
ffiSetLogger(logger)

Examine Database

# Find database location from logs
adb logcat | grep "dbPath"

# Pull database from device
adb pull /data/data/com.yourapp/databases/xmtp.db3 .

# Open with sqlcipher
brew install sqlcipher
sqlcipher xmtp.db3

# Decrypt if needed
sqlcipher> PRAGMA key = "hex_encoded_key";

Resources

UniFFI Documentation

Learn about the UniFFI framework

Source Code

View the bindings source code

XMTP Android SDK

Use the high-level Kotlin SDK

Example Tests

See real usage examples

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Language Bindings

Security

Development

​Installation

​Gradle

​Requirements

​Architecture

​Key Technologies

​Binary Artifacts

​Object Lifetimes

​Async and Concurrency

​Basic Usage

​Development

​Prerequisites

​Build Commands

​Linting and Formatting

​Testing

​Running Tests

​Test Structure

​Example Test

​Key Dependencies

​Advanced Patterns

​Database Encryption

​Environment Configuration

​Inbox State Management

​Streaming with Coroutines

​Lifecycle Integration

​Performance Considerations

​Memory Management

​Threading

​Database Performance

​ABI Filtering

​Troubleshooting

​Native Library Not Found

​Database Errors

​Coroutine Context Required

​Debugging

​Enable Logging

​Examine Database

​Resources

UniFFI Documentation

Source Code

XMTP Android SDK

Example Tests

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Installation

Gradle

Requirements

Architecture

Key Technologies

Binary Artifacts

Object Lifetimes

Async and Concurrency

Basic Usage

Development

Prerequisites

Build Commands

Linting and Formatting

Testing

Running Tests

Test Structure

Example Test

Key Dependencies

Advanced Patterns

Database Encryption

Environment Configuration

Inbox State Management

Streaming with Coroutines

Lifecycle Integration

Performance Considerations

Memory Management

Threading

Database Performance

ABI Filtering

Troubleshooting

Native Library Not Found

Database Errors

Coroutine Context Required

Debugging

Enable Logging

Examine Database

Resources