Configuration Guide

config.json Reference

The config.json file is the heart of your mkapk project. It defines all build settings and project structure.

Basic Structure

{
  "NAME": "MyApplication",
  "BIN_DIR": "./bin",
  "SRC_DIR": "./src/main",
  "RES_DIR": "./src/res",
  "ASSETS_DIR": "./assets",
  "MANIFEST": "./src/main/AndroidManifest.xml",
  "SDK_ROOT": "~/android-sdk",
  "TARGET_SDK": "34",
  "JAVA_VERSION": "17",
  "COMPOSE_PLUGIN": "",
  "PROGUARD_RULES": "./proguard-rules.pro",
  "KEYSTORE": "~/.android/debug.keystore",
  "KEYSTORE_ALIAS": "androiddebugkey",
  "NDK_BIN": "~/android-ndk/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-aarch64/bin",
  "SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBS": ["c++_shared"],
  "NATIVE_TARGETS": []
}

Field Reference

Field	Type	Required	Description
`NAME`	String	Yes	Application name (used for APK filename)
`BIN_DIR`	String (path)	Yes	Build output directory
`SRC_DIR`	String (path)	Yes	Source code directory (Java/Kotlin)
`RES_DIR`	String (path)	Yes	Android resources directory
`ASSETS_DIR`	String (path)	No	App assets directory (images, data files)
`MANIFEST`	String (path)	Yes	Path to AndroidManifest.xml
`SDK_ROOT`	String (path)	Yes	Android SDK root directory
`TARGET_SDK`	String (number)	Yes	Target API level (e.g., "34" for Android 14)
`JAVA_VERSION`	String (number)	No	Java source compatibility (default: "17")
`COMPOSE_PLUGIN`	String	No	Jetpack Compose plugin name
`PROGUARD_RULES`	String (path)	No	ProGuard/R8 obfuscation rules file
`KEYSTORE`	String (path)	Yes (for release)	Release keystore file path
`KEYSTORE_ALIAS`	String	Yes (for release)	Keystore certificate alias
`NDK_BIN`	String (path)	No	Android NDK bin directory (for native compilation)
`SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBS`	Array[String]	No	System libraries to include (e.g., c++_shared, log)
`NATIVE_TARGETS`	Array[Object]	No	Native compilation targets (see below)

Native Targets Configuration

Define native C/C++ compilation targets:

"NATIVE_TARGETS": [
  {
    "NAME": "mynativelib",
    "SOURCES": [
      "src/native/main.cpp",
      "src/native/utils.cpp"
    ],
    "EXTRA_FLAGS": [
      "-fexceptions",
      "-frtti",
      "-std=c++17"
    ]
  }
]

Native Target Fields

Field	Type	Description
`NAME`	String	Library name (output: libnamehere.so)
`SOURCES`	Array[String]	List of .cpp, .c, .h files to compile
`EXTRA_FLAGS`	Array[String]	Additional compiler flags (e.g., -std=c++17)

System Shared Libraries

Specify shared libraries to include in your APK:

"SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBS": [
  "c++_shared",
  "log",
  "android",
  "EGL",
  "GLESv2"
]

ProGuard Configuration

Create a proguard-rules.pro file for code obfuscation (release builds only):

# Keep all public classes and methods
-keep public class * {
    public *;
}

# Keep native methods
-keepclasseswithmembernames class * {
    native ;
}

# Keep enumerations
-keepclassmembers enum * {
    public static **[] values();
    public static ** valueOf(java.lang.String);
}

# Keep activity names (required for app to run)
-keep public class * extends android.app.Activity
-keep public class * extends android.app.Service
-keep public class * extends android.content.BroadcastReceiver

Example Configurations

Simple Java App

{
  "NAME": "SimpleApp",
  "BIN_DIR": "./bin",
  "SRC_DIR": "./src/main",
  "RES_DIR": "./src/res",
  "MANIFEST": "./src/main/AndroidManifest.xml",
  "SDK_ROOT": "~/android-sdk",
  "TARGET_SDK": "34",
  "JAVA_VERSION": "17"
}

App with Native Code

{
  "NAME": "NativeApp",
  "BIN_DIR": "./bin",
  "SRC_DIR": "./src/main",
  "RES_DIR": "./src/res",
  "MANIFEST": "./src/main/AndroidManifest.xml",
  "SDK_ROOT": "~/android-sdk",
  "TARGET_SDK": "34",
  "JAVA_VERSION": "17",
  "NDK_BIN": "~/android-ndk/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-aarch64/bin",
  "SYSTEM_SHARED_LIBS": ["c++_shared", "log"],
  "NATIVE_TARGETS": [
    {
      "NAME": "mylib",
      "SOURCES": ["src/native/main.cpp"],
      "EXTRA_FLAGS": ["-std=c++17"]
    }
  ]
}

Release Build Setup

{
  "NAME": "ProductionApp",
  "BIN_DIR": "./bin",
  "SRC_DIR": "./src/main",
  "RES_DIR": "./src/res",
  "MANIFEST": "./src/main/AndroidManifest.xml",
  "SDK_ROOT": "~/android-sdk",
  "TARGET_SDK": "34",
  "JAVA_VERSION": "17",
  "PROGUARD_RULES": "./proguard-rules.pro",
  "KEYSTORE": "~/my-release.keystore",
  "KEYSTORE_ALIAS": "my-key-alias"
}