Niddler

Niddler has migrated on maven central to com.chimerapps.niddler:...!!!

Niddler is a network debugging utility for Android and java apps that caches network requests/responses, and exposes them over a websocket based protocol. It comes with a convenient interceptor for Square's OkHttpClient, as well as a no-op interceptor for use in release scenario's.

Niddler is meant to be used with Niddler-ui, which is a plugin for IntelliJ/Android Studio. When used together it allows you to visualize network activity, easily navigate JSON/XML responses, debug, ...

Example use (Android)

build.gradle:

//Ensure jcenter is in the repo list
debugCompile 'com.chimerapps.niddler:niddler:{latest version}'
releaseCompile 'com.chimerapps.niddler:niddler-noop:{latest version}'

Example usage with Android Application:

class NiddlerSampleApplication : Application() {

    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()

        val niddler = AndroidNiddler.Builder()
                    .setPort(0) //Use port 0 to prevent conflicting ports, auto-discovery will find it anyway!
                    .setNiddlerInformation(AndroidNiddler.fromApplication(this)) //Set com.niddler.icon in AndroidManifest meta-data to an icon you wish to use for this session
                    .setMaxStackTraceSize(10)
                    .build()

        niddler.attachToApplication(this) //Make the niddler service start whenever an activity starts

        //Create an interceptor for okHttp 3+
        val okHttpInterceptor = NiddlerOkHttpInterceptor(niddler, "Default")
        //Blacklist some items based on regex on the URL, these won't show up in niddler
        okHttpInterceptor.blacklist(".*raw\\.githubusercontent\\.com.*")

        //Create okhttp client. Note that we add this interceptor as an application layer interceptor, this ensures we see 'unpacked' responses
        //When using multiple interceptors, add niddler last!
        val okHttpClient = OkHttpClient.Builder()
                    .addInterceptor(okHttpInterceptor)
                    .build()

        // Every request done with this OkHttpClient will now be logged with Niddler

        //Advanced configuration, add stack traces when using retrofit
        val retrofitBuilder = Retrofit.Builder()
                    .baseUrl("https://example.com")
                    .client(okHttpClient)
                    ...

        //Inject custom call factory that adds stack trace information to retrofit
        NiddlerRetrofitCallInjector.inject(retrofitBuilder, niddler, okHttpClient)
        val retrofitInstance = retrofitBuilder.build()

        ...
    }

}

Calling niddler.attachToApplication(application) will launch a service with a notification. The service is partly bound to the lifecycle of your app, when activities start, it starts the server up. The notification provides visual feedback that Niddler is running, and allows you to stop the Niddler service. It is also a good reminder that Niddler is a debugging tool and not meant to be included in production apps.

Using the service is not required. You can also call niddler.start() and niddler.close() if you wish to start and stop Niddler manually.

Example use (Java)

build.gradle:

//Ensure jcenter is in the repo list (1.1.1 is the latest stable version)
debugCompile 'com.chimerapps.niddler:niddler-java:1.1.1'
releaseCompile 'com.chimerapps.niddler:niddler-java-noop:1.1.1'

Use with java application:

public class Sample {

    public static void main(final String[] args) {
        final JavaNiddlerNiddler niddler = new JavaNiddler.Builder("superSecretPassword")
                        .setPort(0)
                        .setNiddlerInformation(Niddler.NiddlerServerInfo("Example", "Example description"))
                        .build();

        final OkHttpClient okHttpClient = new OkHttpClient.Builder()
                        .addInterceptor(new NiddlerOkHttpInterceptor(niddler))
                        .build();

        niddler.start();

        //Run application
        // Every request done with this OkHttpClient will now be logged with Niddler

        niddler.close();
    }

}

For instructions on how to access the captured network data, see niddler-ui

Waiting for debugger attached

When launching android apps instrumented with the automatic niddler service, you can pass an intent extra to the starting activity that will force the app to 'wait' until a niddler debugger is connected.

You have to pass --ei Niddler-Wait-For-Debugger 1 to the activity manager (see the run configuration options dropdown in Android Studio) to enable this.

Session icons

Niddler supports reporting session icons to the UI since version 1.1.0. These icons provide an extra visual cue when browsing running sessions. You can pass the icon by passing it to the NiddlerServerInfo when building the niddler instance.

By default the following 4 icons are supported by the plugin: android, apple, dart, flutter. To use custom icons, place them in the .idea/niddler folder (square 20x20 or 40x40 @2x) with the name of file, the name of the icon

Android specific

Since v 1.1.1

When using the convenience method to create NiddlerServerInfo from an Android application context, you can pass the icon by setting it in the com.niddler.icon meta-data of the manifest.

Eg:

<application
        android:name=".NiddlerSampleApplication">

        <meta-data android:name="com.niddler.icon" android:value="android"/>

</application>