Root.AICLI

One-tap installer for AI coding CLIs on rooted Android Termux.

Install

Channel	Status
GitHub Releases (direct sideload)	✅ live
Obtainium — add https://github.com/Crypt0Shmipt0/root-aicli as a source	✅ live
IzzyOnDroid third-party F-Droid repo	🟡 submission pending
F-Droid main	🟡 submission pending (!41552)

Root.AICLI is a small Android app that installs and repairs the major AI coding command-line clients inside Termux on rooted devices, with no manual shell wrangling. It auto-detects your environment, picks the right install path for each CLI, and applies the SELinux MLS gymnastics needed to keep Termux from breaking on the next reboot.

Supported CLIs:

CLI	Vendor	Install path	Auth
Claude Code	Anthropic	Alpine (current) or bare Termux pinned to 2.1.112	OAuth or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
Antigravity (agy)	Google	Wallentx Termux fork (Bionic bridge + TCMalloc fix)	Google OAuth
Codex CLI	OpenAI	Native musl arm64 binary on bare Termux	OAuth or OPENAI_API_KEY
Grok Build CLI	xAI	Native arm64 on bare Termux, Alpine fallback	OAuth or XAI_API_KEY

Why this exists

Every AI vendor ships a curl-pipe-to-bash installer that assumes a "normal" Linux. Termux on Android is not normal:

• The libc is Bionic, not glibc, so glibc-only binaries refuse to exec.
• Files written under su come back without the Termux app's SELinux MLS categories, and the next Termux session gets exec: Operation not permitted.
• Magisk's su runs in an isolated mount namespace by default, so installer scripts can't see Termux's filesystem unless invoked with su -mm.
• Each CLI vendor solves "Android arm64" differently: some ship musl, some ship glibc, some hand it to community forks.
• A native claude self-update recreates ~/.local/bin/claude, which sits ahead of $PREFIX/bin in PATH and shadows the Alpine dispatcher — so claude silently breaks while every other CLI keeps working.

Root.AICLI handles all of this. You tap a button, it figures out which path applies to your device, and runs the right install.

Requirements

• Rooted Android 8+ (Magisk, KernelSU, or APatch).
• Termux installed from F-Droid (com.termux package, F-Droid build). The Play Store build is signature-incompatible with Termux companion apps.
• Optional but recommended: Termux:Boot, Termux:Widget, Termux:API from the same source.
• Optional: proot-distro install alpine for the latest Claude Code (versions 2.1.113+ require glibc/musl).

Quick start

1. Install Termux from F-Droid: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.termux/
2. Download RootAICLI.apk from the releases page and install it.
3. Open Root.AICLI. On first tap, your root manager prompts for su access. Grant and remember.
4. Tap Status to see what's installed.
5. Tap any CLI button to install it. Wait for [exit 0].
6. Tap Permanent Fix once to install the boot-time persistence hook. This re-applies Termux SELinux contexts on every boot and reasserts the Claude dispatcher on all entry points (boot + each login shell) so CLI auto-updates can't break Termux exec or shadow claude.
7. Open Termux and run the CLI (e.g. claude, codex, agy, grok). Authenticate per the prompts shown in the app.

How it works

The APK is a thin Java shell. Every button taps fires su -mm -c <bash + module> which runs one of the install scripts under modules/ with the global mount namespace (so the APK's su can see Termux's private storage at /data/data/com.termux/files/). Termux's own bash is invoked with LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$PREFIX/lib so it can load its libc.

Files:

root-aicli/
├── android-app/          The APK (Java + native View, no Gradle, no Compose)
├── modules/              One install script per CLI plus detect + persistence
├── lib/common.sh         Shared helpers: UID detection, MLS computation, etc.
├── root-aicli            The Termux CLI front-end (also callable from the APK)
├── docs/                 Architecture + troubleshooting
├── fastlane/             F-Droid metadata
└── .github/workflows/    Reproducible APK CI

Authentication after install

Each CLI has its own first-run auth. Root.AICLI never touches credentials.

CLI	Headless option	Interactive
Claude Code	export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... or claude setup-token	claude (browser OAuth)
Antigravity (agy)	(none; Google OAuth only)	agy login
Codex	export OPENAI_API_KEY=...	codex (browser OAuth)
Grok Build	export XAI_API_KEY=...	grok (browser OAuth)

If you're on a handheld with no easy browser, use the headless env-var path.

Building from source

You need a Mac or Linux with bash, python3+Pillow, and the Android SDK command-line tools. From the project root:

brew install openjdk@17
mkdir -p ~/Library/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools
cd ~/Library/Android/sdk/cmdline-tools
curl -sSL -o cmdline-tools.zip https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-mac-11076708_latest.zip
unzip -q cmdline-tools.zip && mv cmdline-tools latest && rm cmdline-tools.zip
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Library/Android/sdk
export PATH=$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH
yes | sdkmanager --licenses
sdkmanager "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0" "platform-tools"

Then:

cd android-app
./build.sh           # produces build/RootAICLI.apk
./install-apk.sh     # ADB install on the first connected device

CI does the same thing reproducibly. See .github/workflows/build.yml.

Documentation

Doc	Read this when
Quickstart	You just want it working in 5 minutes
Installation	You need detailed install steps for any path (APK, F-Droid, source)
CLI Reference	You need per-CLI auth + first-run guidance
FAQ	You have a question; check here before opening an issue
Troubleshooting	Something is not working
Known Issues	Confirmed quirks we have not fixed yet
Compatibility	Which Android versions / root managers / devices are tested
Architecture	You want to understand how it works under the hood
Contributing	You want to add a CLI or fix a bug
Changelog	What changed between versions
Security	Threat model and vulnerability disclosure
Code of Conduct	Community standards

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Root.AICLI does not redistribute the AI CLI binaries themselves. It only orchestrates the official upstream installers. Each CLI is governed by its own vendor's terms.

Credits

• The mount-master + MLS-context debugging story that made this app possible was originally worked out for the Ayn Odin 3 in a project called Tomer Tweaks. Root.AICLI is the open-source generalization.
• The wallentx fork of Antigravity is what makes agy work on Termux at all. Without their TCMalloc 39-bit-VA patch, agy refuses to start under proot. https://github.com/wallentx/antigravity-cli-termux

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. PRs welcome for new CLIs (Aider, Continue, llm, etc.), bug fixes, and translations.