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Caspian-Explorer edited this page Mar 4, 2026 · 3 revisions

Caspian Emulator

Android emulator management for VS Code — no Android Studio required.

VS Code Marketplace Installs

Managing Android emulators traditionally means installing Android Studio, configuring SDK paths, and constantly switching between tools. Caspian Emulator eliminates all of that. Install the extension, and it handles the rest — SDK download, AVD creation, device management, logcat, screen mirroring, and file browsing — all inside VS Code.

Get Started in 2 Minutes

  1. Install — search "Caspian Emulator" in the VS Code Extensions panel, or run: 
    code --install-extension CaspianTools.caspian-emulator
  2. Open — click the phone icon in the Activity Bar
  3. Setup — click "Download & Install Android SDK" (requires Java 17+ only)
  4. Launch — your default virtual device appears in the sidebar — click play

That's it. No Android Studio. No manual path configuration. Just install and go.

See the full Getting Started guide for detailed steps.

Why Caspian Emulator?

Traditional (Android Studio) Caspian Emulator
IDE required Android Studio (~2 GB download) VS Code only
SDK setup Manual download and path configuration One-click automatic download
Prerequisites Android Studio + Java Java 17+ only
Emulator management Separate AVD Manager window Sidebar tree view with right-click actions
Logcat Separate window in Android Studio Embedded webview with filtering and search
Screen mirroring Not built in Embedded in VS Code with touch input
File browser Device File Explorer (limited) Full sidebar tree with upload, download, delete
Context switching Constant switching between IDE and editor Everything in one window

Features

Automatic SDK Download

No Android Studio. No manual SDK configuration. Click one button and the extension downloads the Android SDK command-line tools, installs adb, the emulator, and a system image, then creates a default virtual device — ready to launch.

  • Requires only Java 17+ (JDK)
  • Downloads from Google's official CDN
  • Installs platform-tools, emulator, and system images
  • Accepts SDK licenses automatically
  • Creates a default AVD (Pixel 6, Android 35)
  • Detects existing installations via ANDROID_HOME and common paths
  • Resumes interrupted downloads automatically
  • Architecture-aware: picks x86_64 on Intel, arm64-v8a on Apple Silicon

Configuration details

AVD Management

Create, launch, stop, delete, and edit Android Virtual Devices from the VS Code sidebar. No separate AVD Manager window needed.

  • Running/stopped status with color-coded icons
  • Choose from available system images and device profiles
  • Edit AVD config.ini directly in VS Code
  • Custom emulator launch arguments via settings
  • One-click launch and stop

AVD Management

Connected Devices

Live-updating list of all connected devices — emulators and physical USB devices — with automatic refresh every 3 seconds.

  • Shows model name, serial number, and connection state
  • Distinguishes emulators from physical devices with distinct icons
  • Status bar shows connected device count
  • Right-click any device for quick actions

ADB Controls

ADB Controls

Essential Android Debug Bridge operations available from the right-click menu on any connected device.

  • Install APK — select and install .apk files with one click
  • Screenshot — capture and save device screenshots as PNG
  • Screen Recording — record device screen to MP4
  • ADB Shell — open an integrated terminal with full shell access

ADB Controls

Logcat Viewer

Real-time log viewer in a dedicated webview panel with filtering and search.

  • Priority filtering: Verbose, Debug, Info, Warning, Error, Fatal
  • Tag and message text search
  • Pause and resume streaming
  • Color-coded output by log level
  • Auto-scroll with manual override
  • Configurable max line count (default: 10,000)

Logcat Viewer

Emulator Screen Mirror

See your emulator's screen directly inside VS Code. Click to tap, navigate with Back/Home/Recents buttons.

  • Live screen capture updated every second
  • Touch input forwarding — click anywhere to tap
  • Navigation buttons: Back, Home, Recents
  • Optional scrcpy integration for higher frame rate

Screen Mirroring

Device File Explorer

Browse, download, upload, and delete files on your device from the VS Code sidebar.

  • Lazy-loading directory tree starting from root
  • Download files from device to local machine
  • Upload files from local machine to device
  • Delete files and directories
  • Directories sorted before files, alphabetically

File Explorer

By the Numbers
Commands 19 in the Command Palette
Settings 4 configurable options
Sidebar Views 3 — Virtual Devices, Connected Devices, Device Files
Webview Panels 2 — Logcat Viewer, Emulator Screen
Prerequisites 1 — Java 17+
Android Studio Not required

Requirements

Requirement Details
VS Code 1.85 or later
Java JDK 17+ (Eclipse Adoptium)
Disk Space ~5 GB for automatic SDK download (not needed if SDK already installed)
Android Studio Not required
OS Windows 10+, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Linux (x86_64)

Documentation

Page Description
Getting Started Install the extension and launch your first emulator
Configuration SDK paths, emulator arguments, logcat settings, scrcpy
AVD Management Create, launch, stop, delete, and edit virtual devices
ADB Controls APK install, screenshots, screen recording, shell
Logcat Viewer Live log streaming with filtering and search
Screen Mirroring Embedded emulator display and touch input
File Explorer Browse, download, upload, and delete device files
Troubleshooting Common issues and solutions
FAQ Frequently asked questions

VS Code Marketplace | GitHub | Issues | MIT License

Caspian Emulator

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