What is MobileCtl?

MobileCtl is a modern, production-ready DevOps automation tool for mobile app development. It simplifies the entire mobile deployment pipeline with a single, unified CLI.

The Problem

Mobile app deployment is unnecessarily complex:

• Multiple platforms: Different commands for Android and iOS
• Version management: Manually updating version numbers across files
• Changelog creation: Writing release notes by hand
• Build complexity: Different build types, flavors, and signing configurations
• Deployment chaos: Different upload processes for each app store
• Notification fatigue: Manually informing teams about releases

The Solution

MobileCtl unifies your entire mobile DevOps workflow into simple, intuitive commands:

# Instead of this mess:
cd android && ./gradlew assembleRelease
cd ../ios && xcodebuild -scheme MyApp -configuration Release
# ... manually bump versions in 5 different files
# ... manually write changelog
# ... upload to Firebase manually
# ... upload to TestFlight manually
# ... send Slack notification manually

# Just do this:
mobilectl deploy --all-flavors --bump-version patch --changelog

Core Features

🏗️ Build Automation

Compile Android and iOS apps with a single command:

mobilectl build android          # Build Android
mobilectl build ios              # Build iOS
mobilectl build all              # Build both

Auto-detection, multiple flavors, build types, and signing - all handled automatically.

🔢 Version Management

Semantic versioning across all your version files:

mobilectl version bump major     # 1.2.3 → 2.0.0
mobilectl version bump minor     # 1.2.3 → 1.3.0
mobilectl version bump patch     # 1.2.3 → 1.2.4

Updates pubspec.yaml, package.json, build.gradle, and any file you configure.

📝 Changelog Generation

Generate beautiful changelogs from your git commits:

mobilectl changelog generate

Supports conventional commits, custom commit types, emoji, breaking changes, and multi-version append mode.

📦 Multi-Platform Deployment

Deploy to multiple destinations with one command:

mobilectl deploy firebase        # Firebase App Distribution
mobilectl deploy testflight      # iOS TestFlight
mobilectl deploy play-console    # Google Play Console
mobilectl deploy --all-flavors   # All configured destinations

🔒 Production Ready

Built with production reliability in mind:

• Atomic writes: Safe file operations with temp files
• Automatic backups: Every write creates a backup
• Error recovery: Rollback on verification failure
• Comprehensive validation: Catch errors before they happen
• Clear error messages: Actionable feedback

Technology Stack

MobileCtl is built with modern, reliable technologies:

• Kotlin Multiplatform (KMM): Cross-platform, type-safe, and performant
• Clikt: Intuitive CLI framework with great UX
• JGit: Pure Java Git implementation (no shell commands)
• SnakeYAML: Robust YAML parsing
• Kotlinx Serialization: Type-safe configuration

No Ruby dependencies - everything is pure Kotlin/JVM.

Philosophy

MobileCtl follows these principles:

1. Simple by default, powerful when needed: Works out of the box, but highly configurable
2. Safety first: Backups, validation, and atomic operations
3. Developer experience: Clear errors, helpful suggestions, beautiful output
4. CI/CD friendly: Designed for automation
5. No magic: Transparent operations, clear logs

Use Cases

Solo Developers

Simplify your deployment workflow without complex scripts:

mobilectl deploy --bump-version patch --changelog

Teams

Standardize deployments across team members:

# mobileops.yaml - committed to git
deploy:
  android:
    firebase:
      testGroups: [qa-team, beta-testers]

CI/CD Pipelines

Perfect for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins:

- name: Deploy to Firebase
  run: mobilectl deploy firebase --confirm

Multi-App Organizations

One tool for all your mobile projects:

# Project A
cd project-a && mobilectl deploy production

# Project B
cd ../project-b && mobilectl deploy staging

What Makes It Different?

Feature	MobileCtl	Traditional Tools
Languages	Kotlin (JVM)	Ruby, Shell scripts
Platforms	Android + iOS	Usually separate
Configuration	Single YAML file	Multiple config files
Git Operations	JGit (reliable)	Shell commands (fragile)
Backups	Automatic	Manual or none
Error Handling	Comprehensive	Often silent failures
Testing	89% coverage	Variable
Architecture	SOLID principles	Often ad-hoc

Current Status

✅ Production Ready (v0.3.2)

• Version bumping with multi-file support
• Changelog generation with backups
• Build automation for Android & iOS
• Deploy to Firebase, TestFlight, Play Console
• Comprehensive test coverage (89%)
• SOLID architecture

🔄 Coming Soon

• HTML/JSON changelog output
• Custom templates
• Pre/post hooks
• Advanced filtering
• Cloud/SaaS mode

Next Steps

Ready to get started?

• Installation Guide
• Quick Start Tutorial
• Configuration Reference

Have questions?

• GitHub Issues
• View Examples