🪜 Build Ladder

Build Ladder is a Termux-first, interactive Android APK builder that lets you incrementally create, fix, and refine an Android app using guided steps — with optional Automatic AI assistance.

It is designed for:

• Building Android apps directly on-device (no PC required)
• Iterative development via small, safe “patch” steps
• Recovering automatically from build failures
• Users who want control, not opaque magic

Status: Alpha (Termux tested)

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✨ Key Features

• ✅ End-to-end Android APK builds in Termux
• 🧩 Step-by-step patch system (incremental & rollback-safe)
• 🔁 Automatic rollback on failed patches
• 🩺 build-ladder doctor environment diagnostics
• 🤖 Optional autonomous AI patch generation (local LLM supported)
• 🧱 Hardened for Termux (native aapt2, SDK fixes)
• ♻️ Self-updating runtime (build-ladder update)
• 🙏 Voluntary donations only (no paywalls)

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📦 Requirements

• Android device
• Termux (from F-Droid — recommended source) - https://f-droid.org/packages/com.termux/
• ~6–8 GB free storage (Android SDK + Gradle)
• Internet access (initial setup only)

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🚀 Installation

pkg install git -y
git clone https://github.com/just-stuff-tm/build-ladder.git
cd build-ladder
bash installer/install.sh

Verify install:

build-ladder doctor

Expected output: all green checkmarks ✅

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🛠 Basic Usage

Start (or continue) building an app:

build-ladder

You will be guided through:

1. App metadata (name, goal, package)
2. Incremental patch steps
3. Automatic builds after each step
4. Safe rollback on failure

Each step asks:

What is still wrong / missing?

You respond with intent, not boilerplate — unless you want to write code.

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🧠 AI Mode (Optional)

Build Ladder can drive itself using a local AI model (for example via Ollama).

Example:

export AI_MODE=auto
export AI_ENDPOINT=http://127.0.0.1:11434/api/generate
export AI_MODEL=deepseek-coder:6.7b
build-ladder

AI mode will:

• Read project metadata
• Inspect the last Gradle failure
• Generate patch scripts automatically
• Retry safely with rollback protection

⚠️ Cloud AI is NOT bundled.
You fully control the endpoint and model.

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🩺 Diagnostics

Run anytime:

build-ladder doctor

Checks:

• Java
• Gradle
• aapt2 (native Termux)
• Android SDK

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🔄 Updating

Build Ladder updates itself from GitHub:

build-ladder update

This refreshes all runtime scripts in:

~/.build-ladder/bin/

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📁 Project Layout

~/projects/current/
├── app/                 # Android application
├── scripts/patches/     # Incremental patch steps
├── .build-ladder.json   # Project metadata
├── gradle.properties
└── local.properties

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🙏 Support & Donations (Optional)

Build Ladder is free and open source.

If it saved you time or frustration, voluntary support is appreciated:

• CashApp: $yuptm

No ads.
No tracking.
No locked features.

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🏷️ Tags

#android #termux #apk-builder #mobile-dev #cli-tools #open-source

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📜 License

MIT License

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🤝 Credits

• Built and maintained by just-stuff-tm
• Powered by:
  • Termux: https://termux.dev
  • Android SDK & Gradle
  • Open-source tooling

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⚠️ Notes

• Alpha quality — expect rough edges
• Termux is the primary supported environment
• Desktop Linux/macOS are untested
• Android Studio integration is not a goal