Deploy

This page covers how to get an APK onto a Board: building it with Godot’s own Android export, the one-time setup that keeps cold boot fast, and installing it from a browser or with an agent. No build scripts are required for the supported path.

For a quick “build and push” recipe, see Quick Start. For project-setup details, see Setup Reference.

Build APK

Build the APK with Godot’s standard Android export — no extra tooling.

• In the editor: Project > Export Project… > Android, then export to an .apk.

• Headless / CI:

  godot --headless --export-debug "Android" out.apk
  

With gradle_build/use_gradle_build=true in the Android export preset, this drives the Gradle build, bundles the addon’s board.aar (so libboard.so is present for the Board’s install gate) and the Piece Set Model into the PCK, and signs with the debug keystore. The model loads from the PCK, so a vanilla export Just Works — there’s no asset-staging step to run.

Use --export-debug (or the editor’s debug export) while iterating; build a release export (--export-release) for distribution — a debug build ships the unstripped Godot engine library (~75 MB on its own), so it’s far larger than a release build.

One-time setup: keep the PCK uncompressed

After installing Godot’s Custom Android Build Template (Project > Install Android Build Template), open android/build/build.gradle and add this line to the aaptOptions block, right after the ignoreAssetsPattern line:

aaptOptions {
    ignoreAssetsPattern "..."
    noCompress "pck", "sparsepck"
}

Godot’s stock template doesn’t set this. Without it the PCK is deflated inside the APK, and cold boot takes about two minutes instead of a few seconds because the engine has to inflate it on launch. You only need to do this once per project (re-apply it if you reinstall the build template).

Install and Launch

The Board exposes Board Connect, its built-in HTTP API, so there’s no USB cable involved. The Board shows its address under Settings > System.

From a browser (human)

1. Open the Board Connect web UI in your browser, using the address shown under Settings > System on the Board.
2. Drag your .apk onto the page to install it.
3. Launch the game from the Library.

With an agent (board-connect)

The board-connect CLI is the agent-facing Board Connect client — no ADB, no scripts. Install it from dev.board.fun/connect/install. You only pass the Board’s address to pair; that saves it as the default, so every later command resolves the target on its own:

1. board-connect pair <host> — run once; the user taps Approve on the device.
2. board-connect install <apk> --launch — install the exported APK and bring it to the foreground.
3. board-connect launch <package> — launch it.
4. board-connect logs <package> — tail the app’s logs (add --follow to stream live).
5. board-connect screenshot --out shot.png — capture the screen.

Accessing Sideloaded Games on Board

After installation, your game lives under Settings > Sideloaded Apps on the Board’s Home screen. Tap your title to launch.

Note: Requires BoardOS 1.10.0 or later.

Viewing Logs

Stream the app’s logs over Board Connect: from a browser, the Board Connect web UI shows logs for an installed app; with an agent, use board-connect logs <package> --follow while the app runs.

Troubleshooting

Board Not Detected

Installation Fails

App Crashes or Doesn’t Launch

Next Steps

• Quick Start — fastest path to a deployed APK
• Setup Reference — every project setting
• Sample Scene — walkthrough of the sample app