Getting Started

This guide will help you get started with Node-APK to parse Android application packages.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20 or later
• npm, yarn, or pnpm

Installation

npm

npm install node-apk

yarn

yarn add node-apk

pnpm

pnpm add node-apk

Basic Usage

Import the Library

import { Apk } from "node-apk";

Create an Apk Instance

You can create an Apk instance from either a file path or a Buffer:

// From file path
const apk = new Apk("/path/to/your/app.apk");

// From Buffer (useful for uploads or in-memory processing)
const buffer = await fs.readFile("/path/to/your/app.apk");
const apk = new Apk(buffer);

Extract Manifest Information

const manifest = await apk.getManifestInfo();

console.log("Package:", manifest.package);
console.log("Version Code:", manifest.versionCode);
console.log("Version Name:", manifest.versionName);

// List all permissions
for (const permission of manifest.permissions) {
  console.log("Permission:", permission);
}

// List broadcast receivers
for (const receiver of manifest.receivers) {
  console.log("Receiver:", receiver.name);
  console.log("  Permission:", receiver.permission);
  console.log("  Exported:", receiver.exported);
}

Get Localized App Name

// Get the default app name
const label = await apk.getLabel();
console.log("App Name:", label);

// Get a localized name
const frenchLabel = await apk.getLabel({ locale: "fr" });
console.log("French Name:", frenchLabel);

Extract Launcher Icon

// Get the best available launcher icon
const icon = await apk.getLauncherIcon();

// Get a specific density icon
const hdpiIcon = await apk.getLauncherIcon({ density: "hdpi" });

// Save the icon to a file
await fs.writeFile("icon.png", icon);

Get Signing Certificates

const certs = await apk.getCertificateInfo();

for (const cert of certs) {
  console.log("Subject:", cert.subject.get("CN"));
  console.log("Issuer:", cert.issuer.get("CN"));
  console.log("Valid Until:", cert.validUntil);
  
  // Access the full certificate chain
  for (const chainCert of cert.chain) {
    console.log("  Chain:", chainCert.subject.get("CN"));
  }
}

Extract Files from APK

// Extract a specific file
const manifestXml = await apk.extract("AndroidManifest.xml");

// Extract assets
const configFile = await apk.extract("assets/config.json");
const config = JSON.parse(configFile.toString("utf8"));

Error Handling

All methods return Promises and can throw errors:

import { Apk } from "node-apk";

try {
  const apk = new Apk("app.apk");
  const manifest = await apk.getManifestInfo();
  console.log("Package:", manifest.package);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof Error) {
    console.error("Failed to parse APK:", error.message);
  }
}

Next Steps

• Installation - Detailed installation instructions
• API Reference - Complete API documentation
• Examples - More usage examples
• TypeScript - TypeScript-specific guides