# ax/apk.sh

Makes reverse engineering Android apps easier, automating repetitive tasks like pulling, decoding, rebuilding and patching an APK.

Repository: https://github.com/ax/apk.sh
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/apksh
Language: Shell
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: android, apk, frida, reverse-engineering, android-reverse-engineering, frida-gadget, split-apk, objection
Last push: 2026-01-26T18:41:58+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 64, release rhythm 68, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1441, "days_push": 219, "days_rel": 219, "gap_med": 14.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3822, forks 226 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:21.532711+00:00)

## What it is
A Bash script that automates Android APK reverse engineering tasks such as pulling, decoding, rebuilding, and patching APKs. It wraps apktool and automates Frida gadget injection, supporting split APKs and multiple architectures without requiring a rooted device.

## Use cases
- pull an APK from a connected Android device
- decode an APK into readable resources and smali
- rebuild a decoded APK back into a binary APK
- patch an APK to load frida-gadget.so for instrumentation
- merge split APKs from app bundles into a single APK
- sign a rebuilt APK with apksigner
- instrument an app with Frida without rooting the device

## When to choose
- you need to reverse engineer or dynamically instrument an Android app
- you want to inject Frida gadget into an APK without a rooted device
- you need to handle split APKs or app bundles
- you want to automate repetitive apktool/frida workflows from the command line

## When to avoid
- you need a GUI-based reverse engineering tool
- you are doing static analysis only and don't need APK rebuilding or patching
- you need iOS or non-Android mobile reverse engineering

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: reverse-engineering, security, developer-tools, cli
- domain: reverse-engineering, security, mobile-development, android-tools, developer-tools
- platform: cli
- tags: android, apk, frida, frida-gadget, apktool, split-apk, objection, shell-script, mobile-security, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- ax/apk.sh (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:21.532711+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:26:24.526116+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ax/apk.sh (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:21.532711+00:00, sha 2989dbbda0a8)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.