AAPT2

AAPT2 (Android Asset Packaging Tool) is a build tool that Android Studio and Android Gradle Plugin use to compile and package your app's resources. AAPT2 parses, indexes, and compiles the resources into a binary format that is optimized for the Android platform.

Android Gradle Plugin 3.0.0 and higher enables AAPT2 by default. You typically don't need to invoke aapt2 yourself. However, if you prefer to use your terminal and your own build system instead of Android Studio, you can use AAPT2 from the command line. You can also debug build errors related to AAPT2 from the command line. To do so, find AAPT2 as a standalone tool in Android SDK Build Tools 26.0.2 and higher.

To download Android SDK Build Tools from the command line, use sdkmanager and run the following command:

sdkmanager "build-tools;build-tools-version"

Once you have downloaded the SDK Build Tools, find AAPT2 in android_sdk/build-tools/version/.

Because revisions of the Android SDK Build Tools aren't released often, the version of AAPT2 included in your SDK Build Tools might not be the latest. To get the latest version of AAPT2, download AAPT2 from Google Maven.

To use AAPT2 from the command line on Linux or Mac, run the aapt2 command. On Windows, run the aapt2.exe command.

AAPT2 supports faster compilation of resources by enabling incremental compilation. To accomplish incremental compilation, resource processing is separated into two steps:

  • Compile: compiles resource files into binary formats.
  • Link: merges all compiled files and packages them to a single package.

This separation helps improve performance for incremental builds. For example, if there are changes in a single file, you need to recompile only that file.

Download AAPT2 from Google Maven

To get the newest version of AAPT2 that's not bundled in the build tools, download AAPT2 from Google's Maven repository as follows:

  1. In the repository index, navigate to com.android.tools.build > aapt2.
  2. Copy the name of the latest version of AAPT2.
  3. Insert the version name you copied into the following URL and specify your target operating system: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/android/tools/build/aapt2/ aapt2-version/aapt2-aapt2-version- [windows | linux | osx].jar

    For example, to download version 3.2.0-alpha18-4804415 for Windows, use: https://dl.google.com/dl/android/maven2/com/android/tools/build/aapt2/ 3.2.0-alpha18-4804415/aapt2-3.2.0-alpha18-4804415-windows.jar

  4. Navigate to the URL in a browser. AAPT2 will begin downloading shortly.

  5. Unpackage the JAR file you just downloaded.

    The JAR file should contain an aapt2 executable and some libraries that the executable depends on.

Compile

AAPT2 supports compilation of all Android resource types, such as drawables and XML files. When you invoke AAPT2 for compilation, pass a single resource file as an input per invocation. AAPT2 then parses the file and generates an intermediate binary file with a .flat extension.

When passing whole directories, AAPT2 recompiles all files in the directory even when only one resource has changed. Although you can pass resource directories containing more than one resource file to AAPT2 using the --dir flag, you don't gain the benefits of incremental resource compilation this way.

The output file types can differ based on the input you provide for compilation, as shown in the following table:

Table 1. The input and output file types for compilation

Input Output
XML resource files, such as String and Style, located in the res/values/ directory Resource table with *.arsc.flat as its extension.
All other resource files.

All files other than the files under res/values/ directory are converted to binary XML files with *.flat extensions.

Additionally all PNG files are crunched by default and adopt *.png.flat extensions. If you choose not to compress PNGs, you can use the --no-crunch option during compilation.

The files AAPT2 outputs are not executables, and you must later include these binary files as input in the link phase to generate an APK. However, the generated APK file is not an executable that you can deploy on an Android device right away, because it does not contain DEX files and is not signed.

Compile syntax

The general syntax for using compile is as follows:

aapt2 compile path-to-input-files [options] -o output-directory/

In the following example, AAPT2 compiles resource files named values.xml and myImage.png individually:

aapt2 compile project_root/module_root/src/main/res/values-en/strings.xml -o compiled/
aapt2 compile project_root/module_root/src/main/res/drawable/myImage.png -o compiled/

As shown in table 1, the name of the output file depends on the input filename and the name of its parent directory.

For the preceding example with strings.xml file as the input, aapt2 automatically names the output file as values-en_strings.arsc.flat. However, the compiled drawable file stored in the drawable directory is named drawable_img.png.flat.

Compile options

There are several options that you can use with the compile command, as shown in table 2:

Table 2. Compile command options

Option Description
-o path

Specifies the output path for the compiled resource(s).

This is a required flag, because you must specify a path to a directory where AAPT2 can output and store the compiled resources.

--dir directory

Specifies the directory to scan for resources.

Although you can use this flag to compile multiple resource files with one command, it disables the benefits of incremental compilation. Therefore, this flag shouldn't be used for large projects.

--pseudo-localize Generates pseudolocalized versions of default strings, such as en-XA and en-XB.
--no-crunch Disables PNG processing.

Use this option if you have already processed the PNG files or if you are creating debug builds that don't require file size reduction. Enabling this option results in faster execution but increases the output file size.

--legacy Treats errors that are permissible when using earlier versions of AAPT as warnings.

This flag should be used for unexpected compile-time errors. To resolve known behavior changes that might occur while using AAPT2, read Behavior changes when using AAPT2.

-zip file file is a ZIP file containing the res directory to scan for resources.
-output-text-symbols file Generates a text file containing the resource symbols in the specified file.
-preserve-visibility-of-styleables If specified, applies the same visibility rules for styleables that are used for all other resources. Otherwise, all styleables are made public.
-visibility [public|private|default|] Sets the visibility of the compiled resources to the specified level.
-trace-folder folder Generates a systrace JSON trace fragment to the specified folder.
-source-path path Sets the compiled resource file's source file path to path.
-h Displays the tools help.
-v Enables verbose logging.

In the link phase, AAPT2 merges all the intermediate files that the compilation phase generates, such as resource tables, binary XML files, and processed PNG files, and then packages the files into a single APK. Additionally, other auxiliary files, such as R.java and ProGuard rules files, can be generated during this phase. However, the generated APK does not contain DEX bytecode and is unsigned. You can't deploy this APK to a device.

If you're not using the Android Gradle plugin to build your app from the command line, you can use other command-line tools, such as d8 to compile Java bytecode into DEX bytecode and apksigner to sign your APK.

The general syntax for using link is as follows:

aapt2 link path-to-input-files [options] -o
outputdirectory/outputfilename.apk --manifest AndroidManifest.xml

In the following example, AAPT2 merges two intermediate files, drawable_Image.flat and values_values.arsc.flat, and the AndroidManifest.xml file. AAPT2 links the result against the android.jar file, which holds the resources defined in the android package:

 aapt2 link -o output.apk
 -I android_sdk/platforms/android_version/android.jar
    compiled/res/values_values.arsc.flat
    compiled/res/drawable_Image.flat --manifest /path/to/AndroidManifest.xml -v

You can use the following options with the link command:

Table 3. Link command options

Option Description
-o path

Specifies the output path for the linked resource APK.

This is a required flag, because you must specify the path for the output APK that can hold the linked resources.

--manifest file

Specifies the path to the Android manifest file to build.

This is a required flag, because the manifest file encloses essential information about your app, like package name and application ID.

-I

Provides the path to the platform's android.jar or other APKs, like framework-res.apk, which might be useful while building features.

This flag is required if you are using attributes with the android namespace in your resource files.
-A directory Specifies an assets directory to be included in the APK.

You can use this directory to store original, unprocessed files. To learn more, read Accessing original files.

-R file Passes an individual .flat file to link, using overlay semantics without using the <add-resource> tag.

When you a provide a resource file that overlays an existing file, the last conflicting resource given is used.

--package-id package-id Specifies the package ID to use for your app.

The package ID you specify must be greater than or equal to 0x7f unless used in combination with --allow-reserved-package-id.

--allow-reserved-package-id

Allows the use of a reserved package ID.

Reserved package IDs are IDs that are normally assigned to shared libraries and in the range from 0x02 to 0x7e, inclusive. By using --allow-reserved-package-id, you can assign IDs that fall in the range of reserved package IDs.

This option should only be used for packages with a min-sdk version of 26 or lower.

--java directory Specifies the directory to generate R.java in.
--proguard proguard_options Generates the output file for ProGuard rules.
--proguard-conditional-keep-rules Generates the output file for ProGuard rules for the main DEX.
--no-auto-version Disables automatic style and layout SDK versioning.
--no-version-vectors Disables automatic versioning of vector drawables. Use this flag only when building your APK with the Vector Drawable Library.
--no-version-transitions Disables automatic versioning of transition resources. Use this flag only when building your APK with the Transition Support library.
--no-resource-deduping Disables automatic de-duplication of resources with identical values across compatible configurations.
--enable-sparse-encoding Enables encoding of sparse entries using a binary search tree. This is useful for optimization of APK size but at the cost of resource retrieval performance.
-z Requires localization of strings marked 'suggested'.
-c config Provides a comma-separated list of configurations.

For example, if you have dependencies on the support library, which contains translations for multiple languages, you can filter resources just for the given language configuration, like English or Spanish.

You must define the language configuration by a two-letter ISO 639-1 language code, optionally followed by a two letter ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 region code preceded by lowercase 'r'. For example, en-rUS.

--preferred-density density Allows AAPT2 to select the closest matching density and strip out all others.

There are several pixel density qualifiers available to use in your app, such as ldpi, hdpi, and xhdpi. When you specify a preferred density, AAPT2 selects and stores the closest matching density in the resource table and removes all others.

--output-to-dir Outputs the APK contents to a directory specified by -o.

If you get any errors using this flag, you can resolve them by upgrading to Android SDK Build Tools 28.0.0 or higher.

--min-sdk-version min-sdk-version Sets the default minimum SDK version to use for AndroidManifest.xml.
--target-sdk-version target-sdk-version Sets the default target SDK version to use for AndroidManifest.xml.
--version-code version-code Specifies the version code to inject into AndroidManifest.xml if none is present.
--version-name version-name Specifies the version name to inject into AndroidManifest.xml if none is present.
--revision-code revision-code Specifies the revision code to inject into AndroidManifest.xml file if none is present.
--replace-version If --version-code, --version-name, or --revision-code are specified, these values replace any value already in the manifest. By default, nothing changes if the manifest already defines these attributes.
--compile-sdk-version-nacodeme compile-sdk-version-name Specifies the version code to inject into AndroidManifest.xml file if none is present.
--compile-sdk-version-name compile-sdk-version-name Specifies the version name to inject into AndroidManifest.xml file if none is present.
--proto-format Generates compiled resources in Protobuf format.

Suitable as input to the bundletool for generating an Android App Bundle.

--non-final-ids Generates R.java with non-final resource IDs. References to the IDs from app’s code aren't inlined during kotlinc or javac compilation.
--emit-ids path Emits a file at the given path with a list of names of resource types and their ID mappings. This is suitable to use with --stable-ids.
--stable-ids outputfilename.ext Consumes the file generated with --emit-ids containing the list of names of resource types and their assigned IDs.

This option allows assigned IDs to remain stable even when you delete or add new resources while linking.

--custom-package package_name Specifies the custom Java package to generate R.java under.
--extra-packages package_name Generates the same R.java file, but with different package names.
--add-javadoc-annotation annotation Adds a JavaDoc annotation to all generated Java classes.
--output-text-symbols path Generates a text file containing the resource symbols of the R class in the specified file.

You must specify the path to the output file.

--auto-add-overlay Allows the addition of new resources in overlays without using the <add-resource> tag.
--rename-manifest-package manifest-package Renames the package in AndroidManifest.xml file.
--rename-instrumentation-target-package instrumentation- target-package Changes the name of the target package for instrumentation.

This option should be used in conjunction with --rename-manifest-package.

-0 extension

Specifies the extensions of files that you don't want to compress.

--split path:config[,config[..]] Splits resources based on a set of configurations to generate a different version of the APK.

You must specify the path to the output APK along with the set of configurations.

--proguard-main-dex file Output file for generated ProGuard rules for the main DEX.
--proguard-minimal-keep-rules Generates a minimal set of ProGuard keep rules.
--no-resource-removal Disables automatic removal of resources without defaults. Use this option only when building runtime resource overlay packages.
-x Legacy flag that specifies the use of the package identifier 0x01.
--product products-list Specifies a comma-separated list of product names to keep.
--no-xml-namespaces Removes XML namespace prefix and URI information from AndroidManifest.xml file and XML binaries in res/*.
--shared-lib Generates a shared Android runtime library.
--static-lib Generates a static Android library.
--no-static-lib-packages Merges all library resources under the app's package.
--no-proguard-location-reference Keeps ProGuard rules files from having a reference to the source file.
--private-symbols package-name package-name specifies the package name to use when generating R.java for private symbols. If not specified, public and private symbols use the app's package name.
--override-styles-instead-of-overlaying Causes styles defined in -R resources to replace previous definitions instead of merging them.
--rename-resources-package package-name Renames the package in the resources table to package-name.
--no-compress Doesn't compress any resources.
--keep-raw-values Preserves raw attribute values in XML files.
--no-compress-regex regular-expression Doesn't compress extensions matching regular-expression. Use the $ symbol for end of line. Uses a case-sensitive ECMAScript regular expression grammar.
--warn-manifest-validation Treats manifest validation errors as warnings.
--exclude-configs qualifier[,qualifier[..]] Excludes values of resources whose configs contain the specified qualifiers.
--debug-mode Inserts android:debuggable="true" in to the application node of the manifest, making the application debuggable even on production devices.
--strict-visibility Doesn't allow overlays with different visibility levels.
--exclude-sources Doesn't serialize source file information when generating resources in Protobuf format.
--trace-folder folder Generates systrace JSON trace fragment to specified folder.
--merge-only Only merges the resources without verifying resource references. This flag should only be used with the --static-lib flag.
-h Displays the help menu.
-v Enables increased verbosity of the output.

Dump

dump is used for printing information about the APK you generated using the link command.

Dump syntax

The general syntax for using dump is as follows:

aapt2 dump sub-command filename.apk [options]

The following example prints content from the resource table of the specified APK:

aapt2 dump resources output.apk

Dump sub-commands

Specify one of the following sub-commands with the dump command:

Table 4. Dump sub-commands

Sub-commandDescription
apc Prints the contents of the AAPT2 Container (APC) generated during compilation.
badging Prints information extracted from the APK's manifest.
configurations Prints every configuration used by a resource in the APK.
overlayable Prints the overlayable resources of the APK.
packagename Prints the APK's package name.
permissions Prints the permissions extracted from the APK's manifest.
strings Prints the contents of the APK's resource table string pool.
styleparents Prints the parents of styles used in the APK.
resources Prints the contents of the APK's resource table.
xmlstrings Prints strings from the APK's compiled XML.
xmltree Prints a tree of the APK's compiled XML.

Dump options

Use the following options with dump:

Table 5. Dump options

OptionDescription
--no-values Suppresses the output of values when displaying resource.
--file file Specifies a file as an argument to be dumped from the APK.
-v Increases verbosity of the output.

Diff

Use diff to compare two APKs and identify any differences between them.

Diff syntax

The general syntax for using diff is as follows:

aapt2 diff first.apk second.apk

There are no options for the diff command.

Optimize

optimize is used to run optimizations on the merged resources and resources.arsc before they are packaged into the APK. This optimization can reduce APK size by around 1-3%, depending on the size and number of resources that are being used.

Optimize syntax

The general syntax for using optimize is as follows:

aapt2 optimize options file[,file[..]]

The following example optimizes the resources in input.apk and creates a new, optimized APK in output.apk. It replaces the usual flat table representation with a more compact binary search tree, resulting in a smaller APK at the cost of retrieval performance:

aapt2 optimize -o output.apk --enable-sparse-encoding input.apk

Optimize options

You can use the following options with optimize:

Table 6. Optimize options

OptionDescription
-o path Specifies the output path for the linked resource APK.

This is a required flag, because you must specify the path for the output APK that can hold the linked resources.

-d directory Specifies the path to the output directory for splits.
-x path Specifies the path to the XML configuration file.
-p Prints the multi-APK artifacts and exit.
--target-densities density[,density[..]] Specifies a comma-separated list of the screen densities that the APK is optimized for. All resources that would be unused on devices of the given densities are removed from the APK.
--resources-config-path path

Specifies the path to the resources.cfg file containing the list of resources and directives to each resource.

Format: type/resource_name#[directive][,directive]

-c config[,config[..]] Specifies a comma-separated list of configurations to include. The default is all configurations.
--split path:config[,config[..]] Splits resources based on a set of configurations to generate a different version of the APK.

You must specify the path to the output APK along with the set of configurations.

--keep-artifacts artifact[,artifact[..]] Specifies a comma-separated list of artifacts to keep. If none are specified, all artifacts are kept.
--enable-sparse-encoding Enables encoding of sparse entries using a binary search tree. This option is useful for optimization of APK size but at the cost of resource retrieval performance.
--collapse-resource-names Collapses resource names to a single value in the key string pool. Resources are exempted using the no_collapse directive in a file specified by --resources-config-path.
--shorten-resource-paths Shortens the paths of resources inside the APK.
--resource-path-shortening-map path Specifies the path to output the map of old resource paths to shortened paths.
-v Increases verbosity of the output.
-h Displays the tool help.

Convert

By default, the AAPT compile command compiles resources in to a binary format that is suitable for APKs. It is possible to also specify protobuf format that is suitable for AABs by specifying --proto-format. The convert command converts APKs between the two formats.

Convert syntax

The general syntax for convert is as follows:

aapt2 convert -o output-file options file[,file[..]]

The following example converts the resources in input.apk and creates a new, APK in output.apk containing protobuf format resources. It replaces the usual flat table representation with a more compact binary search tree, resulting in a smaller APK at the cost of retrieval performance:

aapt2 convert -o output.apk --output-format proto --enable-sparse-encoding input.apk

Convert Options

Use the following options with convert:

Table 7. Convert options

OptionDescription
-o path

Specifies the output path for the linked resource APK.

This is a required flag, because you must specify the path for the output APK that can hold the linked resources.

--output-format [proto|binary] Format of the output. Accepted values are proto and binary. When not set, defaults to binary.
--enable-sparse-encoding Enables encoding of sparse entries using a binary search tree. This option is useful for optimization of APK size but at the cost of resource retrieval performance.
--keep-raw-values Preserves raw attribute values in XML files.
-v Increases verbosity of the output.
-h Displays the tool help.

Daemon mode

AAPT version 2.19 introduced daemon mode for issuing commands. Daemon mode lets you enter multiple commands in a single AAPT session.

Daemon syntax

Start daemon mode with the following command:

aapt2 daemon

Once daemon mode is running, you can enter commands. Each argument of the command must be on a separate line, with a blank line at the end of the command. Exit daemon mode by typing Control+D.

Consider the following individual compile commands:

aapt2 compile project_root/module_root/src/main/res/values-en/strings.xml -o compiled/
aapt2 compile project_root/module_root/src/main/res/drawable/myImage.png -o compiled/

These commands can be entered in daemon mode as:

aapt2 daemon
Ready
compile
project_root/module_root/src/main/res/values-en/strings.xml
-o
compiled/

Done
compile
project_root/module_root/src/main/res/drawable/myImage.png
-o
compiled/

Done
^D
Exiting daemon

Daemon mode options

The single option for daemon mode is --trace-folder folder, which generates a systrace JSON trace fragment to specified folder.

Version

Determine the version of AAPT2 you are using with the version command:

aapt2 version
Android Asset Packaging Tool (aapt) 2.19-8678579

Behavior changes when using AAPT2

Prior to AAPT2, AAPT was the default version of the Android Asset Packaging Tool, which is now deprecated. Although AAPT2 should immediately work with older projects, this section describes some behavior changes you should be aware of.

Element hierarchies in the Android manifest

In previous versions of AAPT, elements nested in incorrect nodes in the AndroidManifest.xml file were either ignored or resulted in a warning. For example, consider the following example:

<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
   package="com.example.myname.myapplication">
   <application
       ...
       <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
           <intent-filter>
               <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
               <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
           </intent-filter>
           <action android:name="android.intent.action.CUSTOM" />
       </activity>
   </application>
</manifest>

Previous versions of AAPT would simply ignore the misplaced <action> tag.

With AAPT2, you receive the following error:

AndroidManifest.xml:15: error: unknown element <action> found.

To resolve the issue, make sure your manifest elements are nested correctly. For more information, read the App Manifest overview.

Declaration of resources

You can no longer indicate the type of a resource from the name attribute. The following example incorrectly declares an attr resource item:

<style name="childStyle" parent="parentStyle">
    <item name="attr/my_attr">@color/pink</item>
</style>

Declaring a resource type this way results in the following build error:

Error: style attribute 'attr/attr/my_attr (aka my.package:attr/attr/my_attr)'
not found.

To resolve this error, explicitly declare the type using type="attr":

<style name="childStyle" parent="parentStyle">
  <item type="attr" name="my_attr">@color/pink</item>
</style>

Additionally, when declaring a <style> element, its parent must also be a style resource type. Otherwise, you get an error similar to the following:

Error: (...) invalid resource type 'attr' for parent of style

Incorrect use of @ resource reference symbols

AAPT2 throws build errors when you omit or incorrectly place resource reference symbols (@). For example, if you omit the symbol when specifying a style attribute:

<style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.DarkActionBar">
  ...
  <!-- Note the missing '@' symbol when specifying the resource type. -->
  <item name="colorPrimary">color/colorPrimary</item>
</style>

When building the module, AAPT2 throws the following build error:

ERROR: expected color but got (raw string) color/colorPrimary

Additionally, if you incorrectly include the symbol when accessing a resource from the android namespace:

...
<!-- When referencing resources from the 'android' namespace, omit the '@' symbol. -->
<item name="@android:windowEnterAnimation"/>

When building the module, AAPT2 throws the following build error:

Error: style attribute '@android:attr/windowEnterAnimation' not found

Incorrect configuration of libraries

If your app has a dependency on a third-party library that was built using older versions of the Android SDK Build Tools, your app might crash at runtime without displaying any errors or warnings. This crash might occur because during the library's creation, the R.java fields are declared final. As a result, all the resource IDs are inlined in the library's classes.

AAPT2 relies on being able to re-assign IDs to library resources when building your app. If the library assumes the IDs are final and inlines them in the library DEX, there is a runtime mismatch.

To resolve this error, contact the library author to rebuild the library using the latest version of the Android SDK Build Tools, and republish the library.