bdb (Board Developer Bridge)

Legacy. bdb is being phased out in favor of Board Connect and may be deprecated in a future release. Existing bdb workflows will keep working for the foreseeable future, but new workflows, scripts, and integrations should be built on Board Connect rather than bdb. See Tools for the comparison.

bdb is the original USB-based command-line tool for installing and managing builds on Board hardware. It works the same way regardless of which SDK you build with: any Board-compatible APK can be installed, launched, and inspected with bdb.

Getting bdb: Board Developer Bridge is distributed separately from the SDKs. Request access if you don’t have it yet.

Connect Board

Connect Board to your computer via USB-C. The developer service runs automatically on Board, so bdb auto-detects the connection.

Check connection

bdb status

Displays connection status and device information.

Check Board OS version

bdb version

Displays the Board OS version. bdb requires Board OS 1.3.8 or later.

Install your app

bdb install path/to/your-game.apk

bdb uploads the APK and installs it on Board, showing upload progress and a success message when complete.

$ bdb install ./Builds/MyGame.apk
Installing MyGame.apk (45000000 bytes)
Detected Board at /dev/cu.usbmodem14201 (Serial: BD12345)
Uploading: 100%
Installation successful

Launch and stop

bdb launch com.yourcompany.yourgame
bdb stop com.yourcompany.yourgame

The package name is whatever you configured as your app’s application ID at build time. To list packages you’ve installed via bdb:

bdb list

Accessing sideloaded games on Board

After installing a game with bdb install, you can launch it from the device itself. Open Settings > Sideloaded from the Home screen to see all games installed via bdb, and launch any of them directly.

Settings showing the Sideloaded panel with installed games

Note: The Sideloaded panel only appears when at least one game has been sideloaded, and is only visible when Settings is opened from the Home screen (not while a game is running).

Requires Board OS 1.6.2+. Check your version in Settings > System > Firmware.

Viewing logs

bdb logs com.yourcompany.yourgame

Press Control+C to stop streaming. Use logs to debug issues on device and diagnose crashes.

Managing apps

# Remove a single developer-installed app
bdb remove com.yourcompany.yourgame

# Remove all apps you've installed via bdb (system apps are preserved)
bdb cleanup

Command reference

Command Description
bdb version Show Board OS version
bdb status Check connection status
bdb install <apk> Install an APK to Board
bdb launch <package> Launch an installed app
bdb stop <package> Stop a running app
bdb logs <package> Stream logs from an app
bdb list List developer-installed apps
bdb remove <package> Remove an installed app
bdb cleanup Remove all developer-installed apps
bdb list-ports List available serial ports (debugging)
bdb help Show help message

Troubleshooting

Board not detected

  1. Verify the USB cable is connected (data-capable, not charge-only)
  2. Try a different USB port
  3. Run bdb list-ports to see available serial ports

Installation fails

  • Ensure the APK was built for ARM64 (arm64-v8a)
  • Verify sufficient storage on Board (bdb status shows device info)
  • Check any SDK-specific build requirements (see your SDK’s Build & Deploy guide)

For SDK-specific build and packaging steps, see the Build & Deploy guide for your SDK.