termux/termux-api

Termux:API is an Android app that acts as a bridge between the Termux terminal environment and the hardware and software features built into your Android device. Termux is a terminal emulator for Android that lets you run Linux command-line tools on your phone, but by itself it cannot interact with Android-specific features like the camera, GPS, SMS, or clipboard. This add-on app unlocks those capabilities, making them available as commands you can call from the Termux shell or include in scripts. The way it works is that a helper binary in Termux communicates with this app via Android's broadcast messaging system. When you call a Termux API command in your terminal, the helper sends a request to this app, which then talks to the relevant Android API and sends the result back. The data flows through two socket connections: one carries the input and the other carries the output, allowing it to behave like a standard command-line tool that reads from standard input and writes to standard output. The app must be signed with the same cryptographic key as the main Termux app for the permission system to work correctly. Because of this, if you switch where you install Termux from (for example, switching between F-Droid and GitHub Actions builds), you need to uninstall the existing Termux apps first before reinstalling, since builds from different sources use different signing keys. Installation is available through F-Droid, the open-source Android app repository, or via debug builds from GitHub Actions for those who want to test unreleased changes. The app is released under the GPLv3 license.