sdkmanager

The sdkmanager is a command-line tool that lets you view, install, update, and uninstall packages for the Android SDK. If you're using Android Studio, then you don't need to use this tool, and you can instead manage your SDK packages from the IDE.

The sdkmanager tool is provided in the Android SDK Command-Line Tools package. To use the SDK Manager to install a version of the command-line tools, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest "command line tools only" package from the Android Studio downloads page and unzip the package.
2. Move the unzipped cmdline-tools directory into a new directory of your choice, such as android_sdk. This new directory is your Android SDK directory.
3. In the unzipped cmdline-tools directory, create a sub-directory called latest.
4. Move the original cmdline-tools directory contents, including the lib directory, bin directory, NOTICE.txt file, and source.properties file, into the newly created latest directory. You can now use the command-line tools from this location.

5. (Optional) To install a previous version of the command-line tools, run the following command:

   android_sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager --install "cmdline-tools;version"
   

   Substitute version with the version you want to install, for example 5.0.

Usage

You can use the sdkmanager to list installed and available packages, install packages, and update packages. For more details, see the following sections.

List installed and available packages

To list installed and available packages, use the following syntax:

sdkmanager --list [options] \
           [--channel=channel_id] // Channels: 0 (stable), 1 (beta), 2 (dev), or 3 (canary)

Use the channel option to include a package from a channel up to and including channel_id. For example, specify the canary channel to list packages from all channels.

Install packages

To install packages, use the following syntax:

sdkmanager packages [options]

The packages argument is an SDK-style path, as shown with the --list command, wrapped in quotes. For example, "build-tools;34.0.0" or "platforms;android-33".

You can pass multiple package paths, separated with a space, but they must each be wrapped in their own set of quotes. For example, here's how to install the latest platform tools and the SDK tools for API level 33:

sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-33"

Alternatively, you can pass a text file that specifies all packages:

sdkmanager --package_file=package_file [options]

The package_file argument is the location of a text file in which each line is an SDK-style path of a package to install (without quotes).

To uninstall, add the --uninstall flag:

sdkmanager --uninstall packages [options]
sdkmanager --uninstall --package_file=package_file [options]

To install CMake or the NDK, use the following syntax:

sdkmanager --install
           ["ndk;major.minor.build[suffix]" | "cmake;major.minor.micro.build"]
           [--channel=channel_id] // NDK channels: 0 (stable), 1 (beta), or 3 (canary)

For example, use the following command to install the specified NDK version regardless of which channel it is currently on:

sdkmanager --install "ndk;21.3.6528147" --channel=3 // Install the NDK from the canary channel (or below)
sdkmanager --install "cmake;10.24988404" // Install a specific version of CMake

Update all installed packages

To update all installed packages, use the following syntax:

sdkmanager --update [options]

Accept licenses

You are required to accept the necessary license for each package you have installed. This step occurs during the installation flow when you install packages from within Android Studio.

If you don't have Android Studio installed, or it is for a CI server or other headless Linux device without a GUI installed, do the following from the command-line:

sdkmanager --licenses

This prompts you to accept any licenses that haven't already been accepted.

Options

The following table lists the available options for the commands listed in the preceding section: