Android build now works end-to-end: JDK pin, p4a venv fix, kivy recipe

- build.sh: pin JAVA_HOME to java-17-openjdk for the build only (Gradle
  8.14.3 can't parse this machine's default java-26 class files).
- build.sh: delete p4a's internal pymodules venv before every run — it
  re-runs `python -m venv` without --clear on each build and corrupts
  its own pip (confirmed two dist-info dirs coexisting).
- CLAUDE.md / android/README.md: document all three build-tooling fixes
  from this session (kivy python_depends, p4a venv corruption, JDK pin)
  so a future session/rebuild doesn't have to re-diagnose them.

Confirmed: full BUILD SUCCESSFUL Gradle run, APK produced at
android/bin/eventtracker-0.1-arm64-v8a-debug.apk.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
AI_Assistant 2026-08-22 08:32:29 +00:00
commit 5e7cb1ced9
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3 changed files with 100 additions and 9 deletions

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@ -9,14 +9,21 @@ Context for future Claude sessions working on this repo.
relocatable data path, taskbar icon, "Time Since" column.
- Repo is pushed to `repo.tas-tech.net/tas-tech.net/event-tracker`
(private — will go public once there's a tagged release).
- Android build (`android/`) is in progress. Native recipe compilation
(SDL2, OpenSSL, sqlite3, pyjnius, hostpython3) succeeds. The last
blocker was a p4a upstream bug in the `kivy` recipe's `python_depends`
— see "Android companion — design decisions" below for the fix
(`android/p4a-recipes/kivy`). Not yet confirmed working end-to-end —
next session should check whether the user has run
`./build.sh android debug` since that fix landed and, if not, ask for
the latest log tail before touching anything else Android-related.
- **Android build (`android/`) works end-to-end** — `./build.sh android
debug` produces `android/bin/eventtracker-0.1-arm64-v8a-debug.apk`.
Confirmed via a full `BUILD SUCCESSFUL` Gradle run, not just "recipes
compiled." Three real, distinct bugs had to be fixed to get here (all
now baked into `build.sh`/`buildozer.spec`, nothing left to redo):
1. p4a's `kivy` recipe pulling in unused `requests`/`charset-normalizer`
that couldn't actually install — `android/p4a-recipes/kivy`.
2. p4a's own internal pymodules venv corrupting itself on every
re-build — `build.sh` deletes it before each run.
3. Gradle's build-script compiler rejecting this machine's default JDK
(java-26) — `build.sh` pins `JAVA_HOME` to `java-17-openjdk` for
just this build.
See "Android companion — design decisions" below for the full
root-cause writeup on each. Not yet installed/tested on an actual
phone — that's the next real checkpoint, not another build fix.
- **Outstanding, agreed but not implemented**: split `config.json` into
two files — event list (safe to sync between machines) vs. data file
path (must stay local per-device, same principle as the Android app's
@ -212,6 +219,38 @@ android/
mode than the one it fixed. Don't reintroduce it as a quick fix for a
future build error without checking whether it's actually leaking
something first.
- **`build.sh` deletes p4a's internal pymodules venv before every run** —
separate from `android/build/venv` (ours, for buildozer/cython) and
separate from the `p4a-recipes` bug above. p4a creates its own
throwaway venv per arch at
`.buildozer/android/platform/build-<arch>/build/venv` to pip-install
pure-Python deps, and unconditionally re-runs `python -m venv venv`
over it on *every* build without `--clear`. First build: ensurepip
bootstraps whatever pip version shipped with this system's Python
(25.3). p4a then runs `pip install -U pip` inside it (26.2.1). Next
build: `python -m venv` re-invokes ensurepip, which unpacks its older
bundled pip back over the newer one without removing the newer
version's now-orphaned files — confirmed by hand, both
`pip-25.3.dist-info` and `pip-26.2.1.dist-info` present in the same
site-packages afterward, producing exactly the kind of mismatched-file
crash you'd expect (`ImportError: cannot import name
'BuildDependencyInstallError' from 'pip._internal.exceptions'` — a
newer file expecting a class only the newer exceptions.py defines).
`build.sh` just deletes that venv before every buildozer invocation;
costs a few seconds (pip + Cython reinstall in a tiny throwaway venv),
leaves the expensive SDK/NDK/recipe build state untouched.
- **`build.sh` pins `JAVA_HOME` to `java-17-openjdk` for the build only**
— this machine's `archlinux-java` default is java-26 (rolling
release), and Gradle 8.14.3 (pulled in by this p4a version) ships a
Groovy/ASM build-script compiler that can't parse that new a class
file: `BUG! ... Unsupported class file major version 70`. java-17 is
installed alongside the default (`archlinux-java status` lists both);
`JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD` at the top of `build.sh` points at it without
touching the system-wide default JDK used by everything else. If this
ever needs to change (different machine, JDK package renamed), that's
the one line to edit — `build.sh` fails loudly with a clear message if
the path doesn't exist rather than silently falling through to
whatever `java` resolves to on PATH.
## Conventions for changes

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@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ Run on the Linux machine you're building from (not the phone):
```sh
command -v buildozer && buildozer version 2>&1
command -v java && java -version 2>&1
archlinux-java status 2>&1
python3 -c "import cython; print('cython:', cython.__version__)" 2>&1
```
@ -32,9 +33,19 @@ python3 -c "import cython; print('cython:', cython.__version__)" 2>&1
**Arch / EndeavourOS:**
```sh
sudo pacman -S --needed jdk-openjdk
sudo pacman -S --needed jdk17-openjdk
```
Gradle (pulled in by buildozer/p4a) needs a JDK it actually supports —
`jdk-openjdk` on a rolling-release system tracks whatever's newest, and
a too-new JDK breaks Gradle's build-script compiler with `Unsupported
class file major version …`. `jdk17-openjdk` specifically, installed
alongside whatever your system default is (`archlinux-java status`
lists both — no need to switch the default). `build.sh` points this
build at it via `JAVA_HOME` on its own; if `archlinux-java status` shows
it under a different name on your machine, update
`JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD` at the top of `build.sh` to match.
buildozer and cython go in an isolated venv, not system Python — see
next step. (No `pip install --break-system-packages`; that pollutes the
system Python site-packages for no reason when a venv does the job.)

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@ -3,6 +3,18 @@
# buildozer through it directly. Usage: ./build.sh android debug
set -euo pipefail
# ---- Configuration ----
# Gradle 8.14.3 (pulled in by this p4a/buildozer version) ships a
# Groovy/ASM build-script compiler that doesn't understand class files
# newer than it was built against. This system's `java` default is
# java-26-openjdk (`archlinux-java status`), and Gradle chokes on it:
# BUG! ... Unsupported class file major version 70
# java-17-openjdk is also installed on this machine and works — set only
# for this build, via JAVA_HOME below, so the system-wide default JDK
# (used by everything else) is untouched. If Arch's package layout ever
# changes this path, `archlinux-java status` shows the current one.
JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD="/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk"
SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
VENV_BIN="$SCRIPT_DIR/build/venv/bin"
BUILDOZER="$VENV_BIN/buildozer"
@ -12,7 +24,14 @@ if [ ! -x "$BUILDOZER" ]; then
exit 1
fi
if [ ! -d "$JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD" ]; then
echo "Expected JDK not found at $JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD — run 'archlinux-java status' and update JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD in this script." >&2
exit 1
fi
cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
export JAVA_HOME="$JAVA_HOME_FOR_BUILD"
export PATH="$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH"
# Running buildozer by absolute path skips everything `source venv/bin/activate`
# normally sets up, so it's replicated by hand:
# - PATH: buildozer shells out to find tools like `cython`, which only
@ -23,4 +42,26 @@ cd "$SCRIPT_DIR"
# a venv, uses --user, and pip refuses (no user site-packages in a venv).
export PATH="$VENV_BIN:$PATH"
export VIRTUAL_ENV="$SCRIPT_DIR/build/venv"
# p4a creates its OWN throwaway venv per arch (.buildozer/.../build/venv,
# distinct from our build/venv above) to pip-install pure-Python deps for
# the app, and unconditionally re-runs `python -m venv venv` over it on
# every single build — without --clear. The first time, ensurepip bundles
# whatever pip version shipped with this system's Python (e.g. 25.3); if
# a previous build then ran `pip install -U pip` inside it (p4a does this
# every time too), the NEXT build's `python -m venv` re-invokes ensurepip,
# which unpacks its older bundled pip back over the newer one WITHOUT
# removing the newer version's now-orphaned files — two dist-info dirs
# end up coexisting, and a newer file (e.g. build_env/installer.py,
# importing a class only the newer pip's exceptions.py defines) can end
# up paired with an older file that doesn't define it, e.g.:
# ImportError: cannot import name 'BuildDependencyInstallError' from
# 'pip._internal.exceptions'
# Confirmed by hand: pip-25.3.dist-info and pip-26.2.1.dist-info both
# present in the same site-packages after a second build. Deleting that
# venv before every build keeps it single-version and costs a few
# seconds (pip + Cython reinstall) — cheap next to the SDK/NDK/recipe
# build state, which this leaves untouched.
rm -rf "$SCRIPT_DIR"/.buildozer/android/platform/build-*/build/venv
exec "$BUILDOZER" "$@"