Android DataStore Inspector – Debug DataStore from Browser

Debugging SharedPreferences and Jetpack DataStore in Android is painful — especially when you need to inspect or modify values at runtime.

Android DataStore Inspector is a lightweight debugging tool that lets you view, edit, and manage SharedPreferences, DataStore Preferences, and Proto DataStore directly from your browser.

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Why this exists

Android Studio’s Database Inspector does not support:

• DataStore Preferences
• Proto DataStore
• Runtime editing of values

This tool fills that gap with a simple browser-based inspector that works in real time.

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Features

• View, edit, and delete SharedPreferences fields across all files
• View, edit, and delete DataStore Preferences fields
• View and edit Proto DataStore fields
• Color-coded type badges (String, Int, Long, Float, Double, Boolean, StringSet)
• Search keys by name in any tab
• Clear all keys from a store in one click
• Auto-refresh on a configurable interval (toggle in the UI)
• Light and dark theme

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Setup

Step 1 — Add JitPack to your root settings.gradle.kts

dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        maven { url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
}

Step 2 — Add the dependencies

Use debugImplementation for the full library and releaseImplementation for the no-op module. The no-op module provides empty stub implementations of the same API so release builds compile without any inspector code or overhead.

dependencies {
    debugImplementation("com.github.Yashraj254.Android-DataStore-Inspector:inspector:latest-version")
    releaseImplementation("com.github.Yashraj254.Android-DataStore-Inspector:no-op:latest-version")
}

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Usage

The inspector starts automatically — no call to start() needed. Just register your DataStore instances and open the browser.

Register as many DataStore instances as you need by chaining calls:

class SampleApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        DataStoreInspector
            .registerDataStore("user_preferences", userPreferencesDataStore)
            .registerDataStore("app_settings", appSettingsDataStore)
            .registerProto("user_prefs", userProtoDataStore)
            .registerProto("app_config", appConfigDataStore)
    }
}

SharedPreferences are detected automatically — no registration needed.

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Open the inspector

Forward the port (works over USB or wireless adb):

adb forward tcp:5050 tcp:5050

Then open http://localhost:5050 in your browser.

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Custom port

The default port is 5050. The inspector auto-starts via App Startup before Application.onCreate() runs, so the server is already bound to 5050 by the time your code runs. To use a different port, just call start() with the port you want — the auto-started server will be stopped and rebound on the requested port:

class SampleApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        DataStoreInspector.start(this, port = 8080)
        DataStoreInspector.registerDataStore("user_preferences", userPreferencesDataStore)
    }
}

If you'd rather skip the brief restart and have the server bind directly to your custom port, disable the auto-start initializer in your AndroidManifest.xml:

<application>
    <provider
        android:name="androidx.startup.InitializationProvider"
        android:authorities="${applicationId}.androidx-startup"
        android:exported="false"
        tools:node="merge">
        <meta-data
            android:name="com.yashraj.datastoreinspector.inspector.DataStoreInspectorInitializer"
            tools:node="remove" />
    </provider>
</application>

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Proto DataStore

Proto DataStore fields are read using reflection by default — no extra setup needed if your proto message follows standard getter conventions.

For full control over field names and type conversions, provide a custom ProtoInspectorMapper:

class UserPreferencesProtoMapper : ProtoInspectorMapper<UserPreferences> {

    override fun toEntries(proto: UserPreferences): List<ProtoEntry> = listOf(
        ProtoEntry("username", proto.username, "String"),
        ProtoEntry("email", proto.email, "String"),
        ProtoEntry("number", proto.number, "String"),
        ProtoEntry("age", proto.age.toString(), "Int"),
        ProtoEntry("is_premium", proto.isPremium.toString(), "Boolean"),
        ProtoEntry("rating", proto.rating.toString(), "Float"),
        ProtoEntry("last_login", proto.lastLogin.toString(), "Long"),
        ProtoEntry("account_balance", proto.accountBalance.toString(), "Double"),
    )

    override fun updateField(proto: UserPreferences, key: String, value: String): UserPreferences {
        val builder = proto.toBuilder()
        when (key) {
            "username" -> builder.username = value
            "email" -> builder.email = value
            "number" -> builder.number = value
            "age" -> builder.age = value.toInt()
            "is_premium" -> builder.isPremium = value.toBoolean()
            "rating" -> builder.rating = value.toFloat()
            "last_login" -> builder.lastLogin = value.toLong()
            "account_balance" -> builder.accountBalance = value.toDouble()
        }
        return builder.build()
    }
}

Pass it when registering:

DataStoreInspector.registerProto("user_prefs", userProtoDataStore, UserPreferencesMapper())

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Screenshots

Light Theme

Dark Theme

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License

Copyright 2026 Yashraj Singh Jadon

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.