Starting March 27, 2025, we recommend using android-latest-release instead of aosp-main to build and contribute to AOSP. For more information, see Changes to AOSP.
Developer-Powered CTS
Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
This page outlines the usage guidelines for Developer-Powered CTS (CTS-D).
Test coverage
CTS-D, like CTS & CTS Verifier, can only enforce the following:
- All public APIs that are described in the developer SDK
(developer.android.com) for a certain API level.
- All MUST requirements that are included in the Android Compatibility
Definition Document (CDD) for a certain API level.
Non-MUST requirements, such as STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, SHOULD, MAY, are optional
and can’t be tested using CTS.
Because all APIs and CDD requirements are tied to a specific API level, all CTS
tests (CTS, CTS-D, and CTS Verifier) are tied to the same API level as their
associated APIs or requirements. If a specific API is deprecated or changed,
its corresponding test must be deprecated or updated.
CTS test creation rules
- A test must produce the same objective result consistently.
- A test must determine whether a device passes or fails by testing that device
one time out of the box.
- Test creators must remove all possible factors that could affect test results.
- If a device needs a certain hardware condition/environment/setup, that setup
must be clearly defined in the commit message. For example setup instructions,
see Setting Up CTS.
- The test must not run for more than 6 hours at a time. If it needs to run for
longer, please include the reasoning in your test proposal so that we can review it.
The following is an example set of test conditions for testing an app
restriction:
- Wifi is stable (for a test that relies on Wifi).
- The device remains stationary during the test (or not, depending on the test).
- The device is unplugged from any power source with X percent of battery level.
- No apps, foreground services, or background services are running, except for
CTS.
- The screen is off while running CTS.
- The device is NOT
isLowRamDevice.
- Battery saver / app restrictions have not been changed from the
“out-of-the-box” state.
Test eligibility
We accept new tests that enforce a behavior that isn't tested by existing CTS,
CTS Verifier, or CTS-D tests. Any test that checks a behavior outside the scope
of our test coverage will be rejected.
CTS submission process
- Write a test proposal: An app developer submits a test proposal using
Google Issue Tracker,
describing the issue that has been identified and proposing a test to check
for it. The proposal must include the associated CDD requirement ID.
The Android team reviews the proposal.
- Develop a CTS test: After a proposal is approved, its submitter creates
a CTS test on AOSP on the Android latest release branch
(
android16-release). The Android team reviews the code and
if accepted, cherrypicks the change and merges it into the internal
development branch. For details, see
Where should I propose changes to AOSP?.
CTS-D test writing guidelines
- Follow the Java Code Style Guide.
- Follow all the steps described in CTS Development.
- Add your tests to the appropriate test plan:
- Use
include-filters to add your new tests to the CTS-D test plan: platform/cts/tools/cts-tradefed/res/config/cts-developer.xml.
- Use
exclude-filters to exclude your new tests from the main CTS test plan: platform/cts/tools/cts-tradefed/res/config/cts-developer-exclude.xml.
- Handle all
errorprone warnings and suggestions in build_error.log.
- Rebase your changes to
head. This includes the cts-developer.xml and
cts-developer-exclude.xml test plans.
- Work with your Google engineering contact to determine whether your test case
can be included in an existing CTS module. If it can't, they'll help you
create a new module.
- For each new test module created, create an OWNERS file in the new test module
directory.
- Your OWNERS file should contain the following information, obtained from
the Google test owner you're working with:
# Bug component: xxx- Google test owner ldap
- In
AndroidTest.xml, specify the following parameters. Refer to
the sample files (1,
2)
for examples:
Instant_app or not_instant_appsecondary_user or not_secondary_userall_foldable_states or no_foldable_states
- To specify the correct minSDK, refer to the <uses-sdk> documentation.
- When checking in new test methods, classes, or modules, add them to the CTS-D
test plan and exclude them from the main CTS test plan in the same way as for
new tests.
Run your CTS-D test
Run the CTS-D test plan from the command line
using run cts --plan cts-developer.
To run a specific test case, use run cts --include-filter "test_module_name test_name".
For information on running the full CTS, see Run CTS tests.
Acceptance and release
Once a test request is submitted, an internal team will review it to make sure
it tests a CDD requirement or a documented API behavior. If the test is
determined to be checking for a valid requirement or behavior, the team
will forward this test case to a Google engineer for further review. The Google
engineer will reach out to you with feedback on how the test can be improved
before it can be accepted into CTS.
See
Release schedule and branch information
for details on the CTS release schedule.
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License. Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-06-26 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-06-26 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Developer-Powered CTS\n\nThis page outlines the usage guidelines for Developer-Powered CTS (CTS-D).\n\nTest coverage\n-------------\n\nCTS-D, like CTS \\& CTS Verifier, can only enforce the following:\n\n- All public APIs that are described in the developer SDK (developer.android.com) for a certain API level.\n- All MUST requirements that are included in the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for a certain API level.\n\nNon-MUST requirements, such as STRONGLY RECOMMENDED, SHOULD, MAY, are optional\nand can't be tested using CTS.\n\nBecause all APIs and CDD requirements are tied to a specific API level, all CTS\ntests (CTS, CTS-D, and CTS Verifier) are tied to the same API level as their\nassociated APIs or requirements. If a specific API is deprecated or changed,\nits corresponding test must be deprecated or updated.\n\nCTS test creation rules\n-----------------------\n\n- A test must produce the same objective result consistently.\n- A test must determine whether a device passes or fails by testing that device one time out of the box.\n- Test creators must remove all possible factors that could affect test results.\n- If a device needs a certain hardware condition/environment/setup, that setup must be clearly defined in the commit message. For example setup instructions, see [Setting Up CTS](/docs/compatibility/cts/setup).\n- The test must not run for more than 6 hours at a time. If it needs to run for longer, please include the reasoning in your test proposal so that we can review it.\n\nThe following is an example set of test conditions for testing an app\nrestriction:\n\n- Wifi is stable (for a test that relies on Wifi).\n- The device remains stationary during the test (or not, depending on the test).\n- The device is unplugged from any power source with X percent of battery level.\n- No apps, foreground services, or background services are running, except for CTS.\n- The screen is off while running CTS.\n- The device is NOT `isLowRamDevice`.\n- Battery saver / app restrictions have not been changed from the \"out-of-the-box\" state.\n\n### Test eligibility\n\nWe accept new tests that enforce a behavior that isn't tested by existing CTS,\nCTS Verifier, or CTS-D tests. Any test that checks a behavior outside the scope\nof [our test coverage](#coverage) will be rejected.\n\nCTS submission process\n----------------------\n\n1. **Write a test proposal:** An app developer submits a test proposal using [Google Issue Tracker](https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=1124973&template=1633344), describing the issue that has been identified and proposing a test to check for it. The proposal must include the associated [CDD requirement ID](/docs/compatibility/cts/development#annotation). The Android team reviews the proposal.\n2. **Develop a CTS test:** After a proposal is approved, its submitter creates a CTS test on AOSP on the Android latest release branch (`android16-release`). The Android team reviews the code and if accepted, cherrypicks the change and merges it into the internal development branch. For details, see [Where should I propose changes to AOSP?](/docs/setup/about/faqs#changes-aosp).\n\nCTS-D test writing guidelines\n-----------------------------\n\n- Follow the [Java Code Style Guide](/docs/setup/contribute/code-style).\n- Follow all the steps described in [CTS Development](/docs/compatibility/cts/development).\n- Add your tests to the appropriate test plan:\n - Use `include-filters` to add your new tests to the CTS-D test plan: `platform/cts/tools/cts-tradefed/res/config/cts-developer.xml`.\n - Use `exclude-filters` to exclude your new tests from the main CTS test plan: `platform/cts/tools/cts-tradefed/res/config/cts-developer-exclude.xml`.\n- Handle all `errorprone` warnings and suggestions in `build_error.log`.\n- Rebase your changes to `head`. This includes the `cts-developer.xml` and `cts-developer-exclude.xml` test plans.\n- Work with your Google engineering contact to determine whether your test case can be included in an existing CTS module. If it can't, they'll help you create a new module.\n- For each new test module created, create an OWNERS file in the new test module directory.\n - Your OWNERS file should contain the following information, obtained from the Google test owner you're working with:\n - `# Bug component: xxx`\n - Google test owner ldap\n- In `AndroidTest.xml`, specify the following parameters. Refer to the sample files ([1](https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/android-latest-release:cts/tests/sample/), [2](https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/+/android-latest-release:cts/hostsidetests/sample/)) for examples:\n - `Instant_app` or `not_instant_app`\n - `secondary_user` or `not_secondary_user`\n - `all_foldable_states` or `no_foldable_states`\n- To specify the correct minSDK, refer to [the \\\u003cuses-sdk\\\u003e documentation](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/uses-sdk-element).\n- When checking in new test methods, classes, or modules, add them to the CTS-D test plan and exclude them from the main CTS test plan in the same way as for new tests.\n\nRun your CTS-D test\n-------------------\n\nRun the CTS-D test plan [from the command line](/docs/compatibility/cts/command-console-v2)\nusing `run cts --plan cts-developer`.\n\nTo run a specific test case, use `run cts --include-filter \"test_module_name test_name\"`.\n\nFor information on running the full CTS, see [Run CTS tests](/docs/compatibility/cts/run).\n\nAcceptance and release\n----------------------\n\nOnce a test request is submitted, an internal team will review it to make sure\nit tests a CDD requirement or a documented API behavior. If the test is\ndetermined to be checking for a valid requirement or behavior, the team\nwill forward this test case to a Google engineer for further review. The Google\nengineer will reach out to you with feedback on how the test can be improved\nbefore it can be accepted into CTS.\n\nSee\n[Release schedule and branch information](/docs/compatibility/cts/development#release-schedule)\nfor details on the CTS release schedule."]]
