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SSH / Wireless ADB

Run your agent on one machine, control a phone that lives somewhere else.

Use Cases

  • Your DevDuck lives on a Jetson / VPS / cloud box
  • Your phone is on a desk, on a different network, or in a different room
  • You want no-cable phone control (after initial pairing)

Wireless ADB (same network)

Fast, zero-overhead. Android 11+ has native wireless debugging.

# On phone: Settings → Developer options → Wireless debugging → enable
# Tap "Pair device with pairing code"
adb pair 192.168.1.42:41337
# enter 6-digit code from phone

adb connect 192.168.1.42:5555
adb devices
# 192.168.1.42:5555  device

Persist:

echo 'alias phone="adb connect 192.168.1.42:5555"' >> ~/.zshrc

SSH Tunnel (remote network)

Phone at home, agent in the cloud:

On home machine (with phone connected via USB/wireless):

# Run adb server listening on all interfaces
adb -a -P 5037 nodaemon server &

From remote agent host:

ssh -L 5037:localhost:5037 user@home-machine.example.com
# in that SSH session:
adb devices    # sees the phone connected at home

Your DevDuck → localhost:5037 → tunneled → home-machine:5037 → actual phone.

Termux: adb on the phone itself

Install Termux on the phone, then:

# in Termux
pkg update
pkg install android-tools openssh
sshd
# set a password: passwd

# enable USB debugging + adb over tcpip
adb tcpip 5555
adb connect localhost:5555

SSH into the phone's Termux from anywhere, run adb commands against localhost.

Fleet: One Agent, Many Phones

# agent.py
import os
from strands import Agent
from strands_adb import adb

phones = {
    "home":   "192.168.1.42:5555",
    "office": "10.0.0.5:5555",
    "lab":    "192.168.5.12:5555",
}

agent = Agent(tools=[adb])

for name, serial in phones.items():
    os.environ["ADB_SERIAL"] = serial
    agent(f"take a screenshot of {name} and report screen state")

Security Notes

  • Never expose adb server to the internet without a tunnel. Anyone who can reach :5037 can root the phone.
  • SSH keys > passwords for any remote adb setup.
  • Wireless debugging should be off when you're not using it.
  • Pairing codes are one-time. Unpair old hosts in Developer Options.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Fix
connection refused Wireless debugging is off, or wrong port
5555 not working Try the port from Wireless debugging page (varies)
Drops after phone suspend Normal — reconnect on demand or keep phone awake
Works via USB, fails wireless Check both are on the same wifi (no AP isolation)
SSH tunnel works but no devices Run adb kill-server && adb start-server after tunnel is up

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