Robot Runner is a modern, cross-platform GUI tool designed to simplify test automation workflows using Robot Framework and Appium. Built with Tauri v2, React, and TypeScript, it provides a native, efficient experience for QA engineers and developers working on Android automation.
Key Features:
Device Management: Supports ADB device detection, wireless connection via pairing code (Android 11+), remote access via ngrok, and device diagnostics.
Test Execution: Offers flexible modes including file-based execution, folder runs, and argument files. Includes a smart automation root for path resolution and live logs viewing.
Advanced Tools: Features configuration profiles, a powerful UI Inspector, screen mirroring powered by scrcpy, and performance monitoring with data export capabilities.
History & Reports: Provides access to past test runs, re-run capabilities, and integrated logcat viewer with filtering.
Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for QA engineers, developers, and automation testers seeking a streamlined approach to managing Android automation projects. Robot Runner enhances efficiency by consolidating essential tools into a single interface, reducing manual setup, and improving test execution workflows.
The application can be installed via winget on Windows using winget install lucasdeeiroz.RobotRunner.
README
🤖 Robot Runner
The Professional Command Center for Android Automation.
Robot Runner is a high-performance desktop ecosystem engineered to bridge the gap between manual exploration and professional automation. Built for Quality Analysts, SDETs, and System Architects, it streamlines the entire testing lifecycle—from initial device connection to AI-powered artifact generation—using a unified, resource-efficient interface.
🌟 The QA Advantage: Why Robot Runner?
In a traditional workflow, a QA engineer switches between Appium Inspector, terminal windows for ADB/Logcat and CLI commands, device monitoring tools, and various performance monitors. Robot Runner eliminates this context-switching. It provides a seamless, integrated environment where diagnostics and automation design happen in parallel.
🚀 Core Capabilities
🎛️ Unified Device Command Center
Intelligent Discovery: Instant detection of USB and Wi-Fi devices.
Wireless Freedom: Seamless pairing via Android 11+ Pairing Codes and TCP/IP.
Global Reach: Integrated ngrok tunneling for remote device testing across different networks.
High-Fidelity Mirroring: Ultra-low latency screen mirroring powered by scrcpy, supporting full interaction (tap, double-tap, swipe) even during test design.
Visual Selection: Select elements directly from the screen mirroring.
Smart Selection Candidates: The inspector automatically prioritizes elements based on automation best practices (resource-id > content-desc > text).
Multi-Attribute Locators: Build complex, stable locators using multiple attributes (clickable, enabled, focusable) with support for match types (Equals, Contains, Regex).
Hierarchy Visualization: Deep-dive into the view hierarchy with an interactive breadcrumb system and XML dump analysis.
📊 Real-Time Diagnostics & Performance Monitoring
Smart Logcat: Real-time system and app logs with advanced package-based filtering and search.
Deep Performance Insights: Track CPU usage, RAM consumption, and Battery health (including temperature) in real-time.
App-Specific Metrics: Monitor FPS and specific resource usage for the application under test.
Data-Driven QA: Record performance sessions and export them to CSV for detailed bottleneck analysis and reporting.
🧠 AI-Driven Mapping & Test Design
Visual App Mapping: Create a digital twin of your application by mapping screens, modals, and drawers.
Flowchart Visualization: Automatically generate interactive flowcharts of your app's navigation logic.
Screen Tagging: Organize large-scale applications using custom tags for targeted filtering and analysis.
AI Artifact Generation: Leverage Google Gemini AI to transform your app mapping into professional-grade BDD Test Cases, Product Backlog Items (PBIs), or Bug Reports, exportable directly to XLSX and DOCX.
⚡ Professional-Grade Execution
Execution Modes: Native support for individual .robot files, entire directories, and complex .args configurations. Maestro is also supported.
Automation Root: Intelligent working directory management to ensure relative path resolution for complex projects.
Configuration Profiles: Instantly switch between multiple project setups, API keys, and environment variables.
Execution History: Detailed historical logs and reports, organized by device, OS version, or date, with single-click "Re-run" capability.
▶️ Video Presentation
📥 Installation
Windows
winget install lucasdeeiroz.RobotRunner
Or download the latest .exe or .msi from the Releases Page.
Linux & macOS
Support for AppImage, .deb, .rpm, and .dmg available on the Releases Page.
🛠️ Technical Stack & Architecture
Robot Runner is built with modern, industrial-grade technologies for maximum performance and security:
Backend: Rust (Fast, thread-safe process management).
Runtime: Tauri v2 (Low memory footprint, native system integration).
Automation Core: Robot Framework + Appium.
Diagnostics: ADB + Scrcpy integration.
⚙️ Configuring Your Automation Project
To use Robot Runner with your project, you need to configure the paths in the Settings tab.
1. Project Structure
Robot Runner works best with a standard Robot Framework structure:
my-automation-project/ # Your Automation Root
├── suites/ # Your .robot test files
├── resources/ # Resource files (.resource, .py, variables)
├── args/ # Argument files for complex runs
└── results/ # Output directory (handled by Runner)
2. Setting Up Paths
Go to Settings > Paths and configure:
Suites Directory: Point to your suites/ folder.
Automation Root: If your project uses relative paths (e.g., Resource ../resources/common.robot), set this to your project's root folder.
3. Running Tests
Go to the Run tab.
Select your target Device.
Choose your mode (File, Folder, or Args).
Click Run.
4. Reserved Variables (Robot Framework)
Robot Runner automatically injects device metadata into your Robot Framework sessions. You can access these variables without declaring them:
${udid}: The unique identifier (Serial Number) of the target device.
${device_name}: The human-readable model name (e.g., Pixel 7, Samsung Galaxy S23).
${os_version}: The Android version currently running on the device.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Do not use these names for your own variables in project suites if you wish to use the values provided by the Runner's device selection.
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Lucas de Eiroz Rodrigues
